Dear Fred and Jo-Anne,

We arrived back in Missouri tired but happy to have experienced one of our best trips in 16 years. You were right about the bass being just right, as evidenced by all the M.A. smallmouth we "hung" on your big fish chart. Believe me, it was almost embarrassing to post SEVEN smallmouth over 18 inches myself, five in one day.

Our guides - Peterson and Juan - were excellent, as I told you. Peterson is young and eager and learning about fishing; his boat-handling skills are superb. Juan is a true expert smallmouth fisherman, showing an old dog (me!) some new tricks. We "pioneered" Crow Duck Creek and Falls again this year, with the help of rising water that enabled us to get over the beaver dams and reach the hotspot. What an area!

We should have some good photos and I'll send them slong soon. Thanks for your good hospitality and excellent food. My only suggested improvement would be in the mattress area. A couple of the ones we had deserve cremation and a proper scattering of the ashes in some sacred place deserving of being the repository of thousands of hours of dreams about lunker smallmouth! Have a good summer and we'll see you on June 6, 2008

Sincerely,