Discussion on Factory Day/River Run to Knoxville

[Allyfishing]

I replied to the post titled "2018 Watts Bar Allison RAlly" where there was a discussion on a river run to Calhoun's for lunch. This "River Run" as we have named it over the years takes place starting from near the Allison Factory launching our boats in Fort Loudon and running up the TN river to the stadium in Knoxville where Calhouns is right on the water. We can eat lunch there but as you may have guessed this needs to be done with enough notice to get a table reserved for enough people.

What traditionally happened was this..... Mr. and Mrs. Allison and workers are ready for the owners by 9:30AM. Mingle, visit, meet the Allisons and staff, see boats in all phases of build and by around noon we launch our boats at the park (up the street form the factory)and run up the river. It's a very nice scenic run that we take at a leisurely pace.

That evening will be the banquet at Terrace View. If this is to happen and everyone or near everyone wants to do it then this river run could be on Friday and the Rally Tourny can be on Thursday.

Discuss this here and decide. I will have an official "Itinerary" posted on the forum once I get a feel what everybody or at the very least the majority wants to do.

Does this make sense??

 

[peteylen]

Sounds good

 

[biller31]

In

 

[DOUBLE J]

In

 

[Freebird]

In

 

[Jr in Jax]

Include us also.

 

[xb03]

How many miles is the river ride round trip?

 

[Freebird]

How many miles is the river ride round trip?

About 50

 

[THutch]

We will join in the river run. Only question I have is every time I have run that stretch of river it has been full of debris. Is that normal or bad luck of timing?

 

[Freebird]

It's pretty much normal for that stretch of the river.

 

[Jr in Jax]

Bad things sometimes happen. I hit a 6-7 foot alligator in the middle of Dunns creek last weekend that left two good sized gashes in a very new chopperII. The logs there hopefully just float instead of "swim". I did not see any gel coat damage but it was quite a bump.

 

[harrells]

Jr. I was at cresent lake a couple weeks ago for the first time. Does it lead into dunns creek? We have a house on Flagler beach and wanted to check out the lake but did not have a lot of time to explore it. Do you boat around there.

 

[msethsmile]

In

 

[Jr in Jax]

Jr. I was at cresent lake a couple weeks ago for the first time. Does it lead into dunns creek? We have a house on Flagler beach and wanted to check out the lake but did not have a lot of time to explore it. Do you boat around there.

Dunns Creek runs from the St Johns River, several miles south of Palatka into Crescent Lake. Dunns is beautiful and has lots of wildlife but requires care in some of the sharp turns, especially since Irma last year. The water there and in the Northeast side of Crescent Lake literally boils with fish, especially Perch and mullet. We boat between there, Black Creek, Lake George/Silver Glenn Springs, Saint Mary's River and the Suwannee. Mark also lives close to you in Palm Coast. Let me know before you come down and we will meet up.

 

[harrells]

Sounds good. My wife and I will be at the rally on Friday and will be going to the plant Saturday to drop the boat off for some touch up and detailing. Looking forward to meeting you.

 

[Freebird]

Okay, it looks like Skewby has nominated me to handle this particular part of the rally, so I wanted to try to firm things up a bit. The Allison's are expecting us at 9AM on Thursday. From there, we'll launch at a nearby ramp and head to Calhoun's on the water in Knoxville for lunch around noon. Given this day coincides with the bass tournament, I'm guessing there won't be a whole bunch of us, but if it looks like we need it, I'll check into making a group reservation.

We'll have lunch, then head back to the ramp, then back to Watts Bar.

 

[biller31]

We might should take a vote on how many even want to fish?

 

[Freebird]

Yep, time is growing close, and it seems like there's still a lot up in the air. I'm assuming two people per boat for those who have said they're in. If you've said you're in and have more (or less) than two in your party, speak up.

 

[THutch]

Good plan. I’m in with 2 in the boat. Thumbs up for lunch at Calhoun’s

 

[Freebird]

I guess we need to decide if we want to caravan to Allison, or if everybody just wants to show up around 9. I know we have different folks coming from different spots, so I'm good with either way. We could pick a designated meeting point in Kingston, or everybody can just do their own thing.