Author Topic: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update  (Read 25074 times)

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Offline WetRaider

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Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« on: January 11, 2013, 08:59:40 PM »
I'm starting the legwork for our Rathbun meet.

To those who made it last year - Let's do it again!  Bring a friend.

To those who thought about it - don't miss out this time.

Dates;

June 7, 8 & 9 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)

General Information:

Lake Rathbun is located in southern Iowa.  It is a reservoir on the Chariton River, and is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  The maintained surface area is 11,000 acres.  With heavy rain, and water levels at the spillway, the maximum surface area nearly doubles to 21,000 acres.  The maximum open water length is 21 miles from the dam to the river headway.  Evenings often bring a glassy smooth surface ... just ask our group from last year.  The lake is rarely busy ... last year's event overlapped a national Crappie Masters qualifier and we wouldn't have noticed without the Marina being crowded for official weigh in.

Speaking of Marina's.  There are two.  The marina's are privately owned.  The Buck Creek Marina has a small hotel, a deep water ramp, plenty of slips, a restaurant & bar, as well as fuel (on water), and a service shop.  The South Fork marina is owned by the same couple, they have fuel, bait, some slips ...

Our group will gather at the Honey Creek State Park Campgrounds.  Do not confuse the Honey Creek Resort with the Honey Creek State Park.  To spell it out, the State Park property is split in two by Honey Creek (hence the name, Honey Creek State Park).  The Resort was recently constructed on the north side of the state park, and the state park campgrounds remain on the south side.  You are welcome to stay where you are comfortable.  This is a great location for being family friendly - the Resort has a small indoor water park, a golf course, a restaurant (a comfortable place, not the greatest food - send me a PM for more details if you'd like to know more), and a bar.  The resort has regular hotel style rooms in the main lodge, they have cottages available in small cul-de-sac situations, and they have fully paved RV stations with full hook-ups.  There is two-lane boat ramp available on Resort property.  The camp grounds last year proved to be comfortable and spacious (Jeff, bring your spikes this time ... I don't want to drag your tent out of the trees again.  ;-) ).  The state park splits their campgrounds into the north campgrounds and south campgrounds - both of these are on the south side of the state park, so don't think your north campground will put you on the resort side of the creek.  The south campgrounds are linear - and individual spaces are marked on both sides of the street.  These campgrounds do have room for RV parking, the northern end of the south grounds were more level if you plan to bring a trailer or RV.  The north side has pull-thru RV lanes on gravel.  All campgrounds offer electricity at each site, the north grounds also offer water hookup.

We will get maps posted so that you can see where these spaces fall in relation to the water & ramps.  There are slips available at the resort, no slips at the campgrounds.  The positive is that the campgrounds have a huge 6-lane boat ramp with courtesy dock.  Ramp fees are included with your state park reservation - the Corps of Engineers charges $3.00 per day for ramp use at their facilities.  All boat ramps are concrete and in great shape.

Reservations:

This event is not organized in the same way as our Red Wing event.  Each member is responsible for his/her own reservation & payments. 

If you'd like to stay at the resort, visit www.honeycreekresort.com ... I had discussed with their groups manager a reduced event rate, but have not received any specifics from him, yet.  Last year they had blocked 10 rooms for us at $109/night with their advertised rate being $169.  You do get 4 water park passes with a room at the lodge.  You do not have to being staying at the resort to purchase admission to their little water park.  The resort property is currently taking reservations as far out as our event, so if this is your choice, please reserve at your convenience.

If you choose to camp at the state park, your reservations cannot be made until March, as they do not accept campground reservations longer than 3 months out.  The website is www.reserveamerica.com ... from the main page, select Iowa in the state drop down menu, and type in Honey Creek under the park name box, enter your arrival date and length of stay.  From there, you'll have access to campground maps, etc.  You can select your own space.  As it turned out last year - we had a lot of reservations made, then some switching around so that we could choose our neighbors.  There were some who could not make it, due to various reasons and we had paid for grounds that were unoccupied.  The big boat ramp is almost exactly 1 mile away from the south grounds.  There is a beach on the back side of the camgrounds, visible from the tents, but the Corps of Engineers does not suggest beaching overnight - should someone decide to let water out of the dam, you could wake up with your boat completely out of water.

T-shirts, etc.

I will complete some graphics again, as I did last year, and make a store available through cafe press for t-shirts.  We will have pre-designed t-shirts that you can purchase (this time, I might tack a buck or two "profit" onto the t-shirts to pay for the trophies).  I will also create a post under these events with the graphic files so that if you wish to have your own shirts made or personalized, you can. 

Shall we use Run On Rathbun II, or Return to Rathbun?  I asked Doran the same, privately, and for now I'll keep my opinion to myself ... this is a group event ... let your opinions out ...

OK - that's enough for the first post.
If you didn't get wet, you didn't have fun ~ WetRaider

Dan O'Connor
1979 GT 150 / 1976 Mercury 1150

Offline 75starflight

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2013, 09:18:06 PM »
I vote CGOA's Return to Rathbun
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Offline dorelse

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2013, 10:32:25 PM »
Me and the dolphin (Marissa) will be there!  There's even talk of full family attendance!

Since I like to keep these boat meets as cheap as possible (less chance of the General revoking the weekend pass), I'll be camping like we did last year.

1990 Sierra 1700

Offline 75starflight

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2013, 10:36:22 PM »
I thought you reserved a Cabin already Doran? Oh well, it will be great having you camping with the rest of us!
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Offline dorelse

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2013, 10:44:11 PM »
No, I didn't...someone else got it before I did.  Its cool, I really liked beaching the boat and walking up to the tent.

I *may* rent an RV for the weekend, but we'll see.  Either way, I'd be down by you guys.

1990 Sierra 1700

Offline OleRed

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2013, 09:42:22 PM »
me and the Fox are planning on making it this year, as some of you know she has changed jobs, kinda, she is now working for the hospital full time where she was working part time, she has already put in for the time off but she has not got a confirmation yet, it's a much bigger hospital with a Lot more employee's, but she is pretty confident she can get the time off since she has been working there actually for about 17 years.   I'd like to get the same site I reserved last year #106, but as I understand it, we can not reserve the site until May,  is that right ?


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Offline WetRaider

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2013, 09:54:45 PM »
March, Red ...
March 7 should open them up ...

Excited to see you!
If you didn't get wet, you didn't have fun ~ WetRaider

Dan O'Connor
1979 GT 150 / 1976 Mercury 1150

Offline dorelse

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2013, 10:15:02 PM »
I'm expecting to be in the same area as last year. 

The farther 'down' the camp area you are, the closer to the beach you are, the farther 'up' you are, the closer to the bathrooms/showers you are...so its a trade off...the walk isn't bad either way.

1990 Sierra 1700

Online thedeuceman

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2013, 10:28:42 AM »
I just took a few minutes to look on Google maps satellite view...
WOW, that is a nice looking place.
it looks like spots 115 to 127 are the best, are we going to try to congregate in 1 area ?
i'm still trying to sell Laurie on the camping (she has some issues that make it difficult not staying in a bed) but the resort price is... well im just a "cheep skate", she may sleep in the explorer or ?
either way it will be a blast.
Joe
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Offline dorelse

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2013, 11:54:45 AM »
Joe - I'll keep track of registrations via the map like we did last year.  Yeah, we generally congregated down the same row.  

My wife isn't a camper either, but yep, Honey Creek Resort is beautiful, and a bit pricey!

Last year's registration map, things changed quite a bit as a few couldn't make it, but we'll try to map it out again:

1990 Sierra 1700

Offline WetRaider

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #10 on: January 17, 2013, 12:46:17 PM »
Joe -

The hotel is expensive.  It is the one thing I would change.  The resort is nice, relatively new ... but the rooms are just a regular ole hotel room.  The trap is, the nearest hotel is about 20 minutes away in Centerville ... an old Villa Motel 60, and a Super 8.  Both of those hotels get quite a few of the crappie fishermen. 

When planning this event for the first time last year, I felt confident the location was good because of the range of accommodations offered.  I view the group as family friendly - we welcome wives (or husbands), girlfriends (or boyfriends), children, pets ... the lake is a good size for some fun running around on the water & it's not heavily trafficked.  The Corps of Engineers has a couple parks with playground equipment & picnic shelters, The resort offers golfing, a nature trail, bicycle rentals, the water park, a protected swimming beach ... the state park has decent facilities for those in RV's, or those with tents.  The showers are good, and there is plenty of room to beach the boats behind the campsites during the day.  You can use slips at the resort if you want to eat there, or visit the bar ... In short, I just hoped that the range of accommodations would tempt a larger group to show up than what otherwise might if it were straight up only tent camping.

Most of us will be in tents - even if we're not cheapskates, we just want to be near the group.  Since you saw the satellite view, you can see there is no bridge connecting the two sides of the state park  -  which means you have to drive around.  If I remember correctly, it's somewhere between 9 and 10 miles of road travel, even though they're several hundred yards apart. 
If you didn't get wet, you didn't have fun ~ WetRaider

Dan O'Connor
1979 GT 150 / 1976 Mercury 1150

Offline 75starflight

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2013, 12:50:55 PM »
Thanks for putting up the map from last year Doran!

I was trying to remember what spot amber and I had last year. Hopefully we get it again.
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Offline dorelse

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #12 on: January 17, 2013, 01:44:30 PM »
Yeah, we'd like to camp in the same area to Brandon.  I miss my raccoon buddy.

Joe - You can kind of get a feel for the beach/camping area in this video:

http://youtu.be/KX8cMtayR6I
1990 Sierra 1700

Online thedeuceman

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #13 on: January 17, 2013, 01:49:33 PM »
So do you spose there server is gonna have a "melt down" when we all try to get the same few spaces march first at 12:01 am  ;)
Joe
75 GT150 "SeaDeuced"... Its Back !!
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Offline dorelse

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #14 on: January 17, 2013, 01:50:23 PM »
So do you spose there server is gonna have a "melt down" when we all try to get the same few spaces march first at 12:01 am  ;)

Not if you wait until 12:05!   ;)
1990 Sierra 1700

Offline iowa cv-23

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #15 on: January 17, 2013, 08:43:47 PM »
Joe -

The hotel is expensive.  It is the one thing I would change.  The resort is nice, relatively new ... but the rooms are just a regular ole hotel room.  The trap is, the nearest hotel is about 20 minutes away in Centerville ... an old Villa Motel 60, and a Super 8.  Both of those hotels get quite a few of the crappie fishermen. 

When planning this event for the first time last year, I felt confident the location was good because of the range of accommodations offered.  I view the group as family friendly - we welcome wives (or husbands), girlfriends (or boyfriends), children, pets ... the lake is a good size for some fun running around on the water & it's not heavily trafficked.  The Corps of Engineers has a couple parks with playground equipment & picnic shelters, The resort offers golfing, a nature trail, bicycle rentals, the water park, a protected swimming beach ... the state park has decent facilities for those in RV's, or those with tents.  The showers are good, and there is plenty of room to beach the boats behind the campsites during the day.  You can use slips at the resort if you want to eat there, or visit the bar ... In short, I just hoped that the range of accommodations would tempt a larger group to show up than what otherwise might if it were straight up only tent camping.

Most of us will be in tents - even if we're not cheapskates, we just want to be near the group.  Since you saw the satellite view, you can see there is no bridge connecting the two sides of the state park  -  which means you have to drive around.  If I remember correctly, it's somewhere between 9 and 10 miles of road travel, even though they're several hundred yards apart. 


Speaking from experience - we stayed in the resort last year - & while a very very nice facility, you are not very near the group, + if you want to hang out in the evening once the boats are put away you're a heck of a drive away.  So, if your a newbie I'd gently steer you towards the campground...just my $.02

Offline dorelse

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #16 on: January 17, 2013, 08:53:31 PM »
You going to have your's ready for the meet Erik?
1990 Sierra 1700

Offline WetRaider

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #17 on: January 18, 2013, 12:35:29 PM »
Front of Shirt graphic ... Yea or Nay ?
If you didn't get wet, you didn't have fun ~ WetRaider

Dan O'Connor
1979 GT 150 / 1976 Mercury 1150

Offline iowa cv-23

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #18 on: January 18, 2013, 12:59:46 PM »
You going to have your's ready for the meet Erik?


yep - "Sparkly's extreme makeover" won't start until after boating season - knowing  my skill-set  :-/  if I break ground now I'll have a 1/2 finished boat for the entire summer.   So, the game plan is to just putz around this summer, gather intel from this team of experts on what to do w/ the motor & how to go about replacing the floor, then break ground right after the Red Wing rally.

Thanks for checking in,
Erik

Offline iowa cv-23

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Re: Run On Rathbun II - Winter Update
« Reply #19 on: January 18, 2013, 01:00:46 PM »
Front of Shirt graphic ... Yea or Nay ?


looks good for the shirt...and my new back tattoo!!!
« Last Edit: January 18, 2013, 03:56:09 PM by iowa cv-23 »