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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Tip when looking for basically anything Muskie related, add in "Muskiefirst" to the search.
Ie. instead of just searching a lake name, add in "muskiefirst".
Example: crow rock lake muskies:
https://www.google.com/search?q=crow+lake+for+muskie&rlz=1C1GCCA_en&...
Now with crow rock lake muskies muskiefirst: https://www.google.com/search?q=crow+lake+for+muskie+muskiefirst&sca...
For people like me who like to spend the winter researching, try this, will add a lot of personal impressions and filter out ads for lodges and the such. |
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Posts: 1288
| Hmm. Not sure I understand. I get no ads with either link. I get almost no ads in most of my time on the web, anyway. Also, I'm not sure what impressions are, either. A lot of stuff just whizzes right over my head these days, though. |
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Location: Bloomington, MN | What do you mean by "Before we're gone"? |
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Location: Chisholm, MN | Yes, Slamr, what do you mean before we're gone? Is the site shutting down?
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | NOTHING (other than muskie fisherman fighting with each other) is forever... |
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Posts: 622
Location: Bloomington, MN | Are we at least going to have a party before the plug is pulled? |
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Location: Duluth | Great now we have to realize that guy we have been yelling at online is actually your long time buddy that you see on the water.
Whenever the plug is pulled it will be a sad day, I have learned a lot and met some great people on this site |
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Location: Brighton CO. | When ??? |
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | chuckski - 12/12/2024 6:54 PM
When ???
Good question! |
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Location: Brighton CO. | I've been busy getting the house ready for Christmas and the yard ready for winter. I've been sitting on many possible topics for Winternet season and I've watched the number of logged in or join in discussions drop as of late. There has always been thousands of users but only a small amount of folks giving there own 2 cents. How many times we look for a place to get Muskie/fishing info and find a place then you look there are two posts and the last one was in 2017? Where do we go from here? |
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Posts: 644
Location: Duluth | Traffic has changed. The young guns in the game don't have anything to learn unless it's on a video, Was listening to Backlash and they had an OH guy on there who's been musky fishing since the 90s talking about how it used to be a tighter knit group. I tend to agree, spending time with other anglers when I got into the sport is part of what kept me hooked. It was fun to build relationships and even party at little bit.
Luckily our MI group has few guys in their 20s that still seem to enjoy that aspect but recruiting is harder and harder. I suspect that's also because there are no secrets anymore.
Not good or bad, just different. Doesn't mean we also can't miss the way it was because I do feel like something in the culture has been lost. |
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Posts: 398
Location: SW Ohio | It's not just websites, Musky associated things across the board have been dropping. Shows are geting smaller or have stopped all together. Southern Musky Fest in Morehead shutdown a couple years ago. The OH Musky show, while still going, has been smaller recent years. I guess the Chicago, Milwaukee and PA shows are still going strong. The MH magazine folded but that was a given seeing the decline in printed magazines.
Musky fishing isn't for those that need instant gratification. There is much more effort required to be successful. With the pace of life ever accelerating, people don't have the time to devote. And, there is the infighting over the last couple of years due to FFS that has divided musky fisherman. Not something that draws people to a sport or website.
Things ebb and flow. Maybe traffic will pick up now that most of our waters are closed or are closing. |
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Location: Downers Grove, IL | So, no truth to the rumor that this site is being rebranded as ChuckskiFIRST? |
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| OH Musky - 12/14/2024 8:12 AM
It's not just websites, Musky associated things across the board have been dropping. Shows are geting smaller or have stopped all together. Southern Musky Fest in Morehead shutdown a couple years ago. The OH Musky show, while still going, has been smaller recent years. I guess the Chicago, Milwaukee and PA shows are still going strong. The MH magazine folded but that was a given seeing the decline in printed magazines.
Musky fishing isn't for those that need instant gratification. There is much more effort required to be successful. With the pace of life ever accelerating, people don't have the time to devote. And, there is the infighting over the last couple of years due to FFS that has divided musky fisherman. Not something that draws people to a sport or website.
Things ebb and flow. Maybe traffic will pick up now that most of our waters are closed or are closing.
There's also a bit of disconnection that I largely attribute to social media. Veterans are having similar issues with the VFW, Legion, etc. Self selected organizations are dying in droves and discussions have increasingly moved online into social media and youtube.
Speaking solely for myself: I'm a Sioux Falls, SD guy. Our closest chapter is by Iowa's great lakes, roughly 1.5 hours away. They typically meet on Wednesday's, so I haven't been able to attend because that requires 3 hours of driving when I have work the next AM. Problematically, very few people in South Dakota give a #*^@ about musky. This is a walleye state and I am still frequently asked why I don't kill every esox I catch. Sometimes, the stars align for you and your interests. Sometimes they don't. I am trying to increase interest here, but just get my ass kicked (figuratively). It sucks, and I'd gladly take advice. But nobody really has answers for me. |
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Location: deephaven mn | FishHateMe - 12/14/2024 10:30 AM
So, no truth to the rumor that this site is being rebranded as ChuckskiFIRST?
4 out 5 chuckski's surveyed put too many logs on the fire |
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | I think the world and technology marched forward to social media. Great for TONS of info thrown at you at a million bits of content per second from threads, to videos, to groups to chat.
The Forum "experience" was different: less overall info, but better (I like to think) with moderated content that kept conversations towards information sharing and comraderie. ALSO, the nature of the forum layout meant that topics could be more deeply "discussed" (whatever form that took on) for 2-3 days before going "poof" as topics do with the flow of info on social.
Or maybe (probably) I'm just old and wistful for when we were "cool". |
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Shoot - ClarkA, didn't mean to delete your jacket comment! |
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Location: Bloomington, MN | Just saying my 20+ year old Muskiefirst jacket still fits and looks cool! |
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Location: Brighton CO. | FishHateMe - 12/14/2024 10:30 AM
So, no truth to the rumor that this site is being rebranded as ChuckskiFIRST?
Thats post of the year material and funny as hell.
time on the water is short and finding ways to keep the good feeling of Muskies, good food and Beer and where to find good food and Beer and where to stay are important.
A good fish story is part of the game or cracking a beauty out in the boat but for the most part you'll hear the sound of my lure hitting the water the different speeds of my reel as I bring in my lure. And on a good day "I got one"
I have every single issue of Musky Hunter and Esox Angler and all kinds of books DVD's and yes Old VHS tapes to boot.
I wish more people would post and come up with topics.
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| If it goes away it will be missed but I won't look to replace it on Facebook. I guess I don't understand how that place works as I don't find discussions, only a quick post and poof it's gone.
Oh well, my opinion doesn't matter much anyway. I just found being able to go back and research stuff in the forums as having some value. I also don't understand why the Minnesota DNR takes such a short view on Muskie fishing. Giant Muskies in Mille Lacs created 100 times more buzz than Walleye will. Oh well, I'll assume the tribe opposes Muskie and told the DNR not to maintain the population.
If this is the end............stay safe and happy hunting everyone. |
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Location: NW WI | Chuck, Tombstone Pizzas ain't good food ;). When you come up next fall try a ""Pep's Drafthaus Rising crust frozen pizza", unless your a thin crust guy,they got that too. In addition, my rookie just taught me something I wish I had known since knowing how to open an oven door. So, you put your frozen pizza straight onto the middle rack with no pan or cardboard underneath, than on the bottom rack you put a.shalow pan of water. This will keep your bottom crust from turning to a chip while your waiting for the toppings to cook and cheese to melt. More water you put in the pan = the more doughyier and chewyier the crust turns out, adjust to your liking.
Andrew and Steve. What are the numbers of recent users? We can all see the 14435 Registered users figure. But what time span is that based on?
How many users say have logged in 2024? And is it just MuskieOF? Or are all the other branches of OF also declining at a similar rate? |
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| In-Depth Outdoors (IDO) Walleye Central are the same. You have a core of 6-12 who are consistent posters. Another 1/2 dozen who post occasionally and a bunch who only read. I would say that who moderates and how thick their skin is dicates alot of how many threads get started. If the goal is to have a fishing & hunting site only you are doomed. What I liked best about this place is they had the basement where those 5 guys could argue their politics for the last 10 years. By the way......not one mind has been changed down there.
Edited by Brian Hoffies 12/17/2024 8:22 AM
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| Interesting thread here. I will have to admit...that I'm guilty in that I've been on this site...daily...multiple times a day, ever since I joined/signed up and created a Username and Password on this site: but I don't actually Log In each day. I couldn't even tell you the last time I actually Logged In, prior to just now, for the sake of me Logging In to post in this thread?
I'm sure there has to be a lot of people, like me, that have been members on this site, for many years, but have only "lurked" on the site, without actually Logging In. Which. I'm sure that has hurt the stats for this site. Which has now led to a topic of conversation, such as this.
I have no clue what social media is or where it is. I've heard of it. But have zero interest, need, nor desire for any of it. Quite frankly...I just simply do not have the time for it.
If/when a forum board/site such as this, goes bye-bye...yes...it will be a shame. But yet, I'll understand that it too will have become victim to what social media has done to a society.
Like what Brian Hoffies, mentions, if this site should go away, I won't replace it with space book nor any other form of social medias.
I do have my many years of vast collections of the old Musky Hunter mags that I could still turn to, should I want to freshen back up on tactics.
It is pretty cool...to have seen all of the many years of users, usernames and threads on this site over the years. I've actually met and fished with quite a few people, from my local state and my local musky waters, years ago. But those acquaintances seem to have drifted on. Everyone got busy in life, with marriages, kids, families, kids sports, work, careers, etc, etc, etc. It happens. Life happens. And as we all know...there is always...constant and perpetual change in life.
I know my life has gone through several, large, impactful changes, that have forced me away from the water, forced me away from the fishing. Being out on the water and fishing, is something that I miss: dearly. Fishing has been a huge hobby of mine since being a young kid. I would describe my current life status, having to put my time on the water and fishing: "on hold."
I haven't been out on the water, fishing for the past 5 or 6 years, and may not be able to get back out on the water and get back to actively fishing for...potentially...another few years. I still have my boat. I still have all of my fishing gear. It's all there, ready for me, when I'm able to get back to it. And I absolutely will...get back to it. At some point.
Until then...I would always still check in on this site, each and every day, multiple times a day. It's what kept my interest in muskie fishing in check. It helped me to stay...somewhat...current with what has been going on out there.
I've even seen many of the car club forum boards, go through this very same change and transition. What was once a flurry of activity and frenzy of users and more threads than a person could keep up with...to it gradually slowing down to the point of hearing crickets. Again. The exact same thing happened on the car club forum boards, as to what has happened here: a lot of it was that life caught up with the original posters/users...with the jobs/career, marriages, wives, kids, kids sports, etc, etc, etc...and then as we all aged...some adopted those social media outlets...some of us didn't. And the younger generation...social media is all that they know. They don't know any differently. Because they don't know...what they don't know. They have nothing to compare it to. They've had social media in their hands since they finished their last jar of Gerber Baby Food. They don't know what a "forum board" is...or was.
I know change in life...is inevitable.
But...how MUCH of that change that we chose to accept, to move on with...is up to us.
I've gone this many years without social media. And I can honestly say, I've not yet once found a single time, place or reason as to how that has been detrimental to my daily life. Which has naturally and organically proven to me: that I simply do not need it, to sustain daily life.
To each their own.
Some embrace and use it.
Some of us...have no need nor use for it.
All is well.
Sure hate to see this site and forum go. But...I guess, like I've already said: change is inevitable.
And I guess I'll just have to accept it...and move on.
And when I am able to get back out on the water and get back to fishing, I'll get back to the basics of ye 'ole Musky Hunter mags and the simplest of simple forms of electronics in my boat. I still rock ye ole good, tried and true Lowrance LCX-26. Don't need anything more than that. It tells me the water depth...it tells me the water temps...it will show me a thermocline, it has GPS to show me the break lines and I have my trusty lil SD cards for the maps of the lakes that I'll fish.
Basics. Simple. And it works.
I'm still a person who values and enjoys their time out on the water...MORE than, the pressure and NEED to HAVE to catch a fish. If I catch one: that's just an added bonus.
Edited by MACK 12/17/2024 8:46 AM
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Location: Brighton CO. | Jay it's been fun as hell joking about rowing my boat across the lake to get a Tombstone pizza back in 1976, let's say the Tombstone of 1976 and the Tombstones of today are only the same product in name. (they been bought and sold a few times to say the least) I think Kraft owns them now. You take Kraft frozen, a Tombstone and a Jacks they are the same product with a different label. (the Jacks are the thin version of the Tombstone) When I moved to Colorado in 1991 I found Tombstones at the store and thought oh cool they have Tombstones here. In reality that was the beginning of the end of a small mom and pop shop product. When fishing in Minnesota some of the Pizza places sell a frozen take and bake Pizza and well make them at lunch time. If I'm eating a Tombstone in Wisconsin it's late fall and everything is closed or I'm hit my budget and trying to save a buck. |
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| I've been around here almost as long as I've been muskie fishing. I miss the guys who were regulars back then. More than a few have gone on to the great muskie lake in the sky. Many others are too old to fish. The "young guns" back then now have grand kids. All good things... is it possible or reasonable to archive the forums somehow so we can still have access to the forum discussions? Some of the stuff from many moons ago was priceless! |
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| ^ Happy 20th anniversary post.  |
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Location: deephaven mn | this site has lost alot of active members. I have noticed Muskies first dosent wprk as hard as they did in the past.
Tournament coverage is down, show coverage is down, Video production and interviews are also down.
less content could equal less followers.
thanks |
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Location: S.W. WI | IAJustin - 12/18/2024 6:26 AM
^ Happy 20th anniversary post. :)
Hey. ME TOO!
20 dang years still visit site almost daily.
Date registered 12/9/2004 8:41 PM
Edited by Rudedog 12/18/2024 1:10 PM
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | kap - 12/18/2024 7:37 AM
this site has lost alot of active members. I have noticed Muskies first dosent wprk as hard as they did in the past.
Tournament coverage is down, show coverage is down, Video production and interviews are also down.
less content could equal less followers.
thanks
True true.
BUT, forced content just feels....forced.
The interest in muskie tournaments is lower than ever, creating content takes a lot of time (which means $$$), and maybe after 20 years, me and Steve just aren't the people to do it.
SO, who wants to BUY MuskieFIRST and make it would it was? |
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| Rudedog - 12/18/2024 1:07 PM
IAJustin - 12/18/2024 6:26 AM
^ Happy 20th anniversary post. :)
Hey. ME TOO!
20 dang years still visit site almost daily.
Date registered 12/9/2004 8:41 PM
Wow...now that you guys mentioned it...I had to go look to see when it was that I had joined this place. 20 years for me as well. Wow. Time has flown by.
Joined Date: 10/23/2004 7:53 PM
Been fishing for Muskies (and Northern Pike...as well as other species...of course) since 1982.
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Location: Stevens Point, Wi. | 7/3/2001  |
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| IAJustin - 12/18/2024 6:26 AM
^ Happy 20th anniversary post. :)
Huh. What do you know? 20 years to the day. I had no idea! Well, happy anniversary to me, I guess!
That means I've been fishing for... Egad. 51 years?!?
You'd think I'd be better at it by now  |
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | ghoti - 12/18/2024 2:48 PM
7/3/2001 :-O
Pretty sure that's the day the site went live.
Now I'm getting kinda weepy.
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Posts: 1288
| Glad to know I'm not alone. As others have said, I have no interest in any other sort of social media. I appreciate the way this site is moderated, with different spaces for different conversations. I've been fortunate enough to meet some of the others on this site, and fish with a few. Got to enjoy a few of the fall outings, as well. It'll be 15 years on here for me, if it makes it to April. Will definitely miss it if and when it goes down, but at my age, I'm getting used to things I like, going away. |
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Posts: 458
| Well this is certainly sad to see.
Like many of you I've been around for a while, learning lots along the way. This place, Bass Boat Central, and Archery Talk were pretty much my rotation as far as forums go for many many moons.
I think the sport has changed a lot over the years, we've seen the rise and fall of some super impressive fisheries like Mill Lacs and Vermillion. I think the early 2000's was a pretty special time to be a muskie fisherman and I'm glad I got involved in the sport then to see it. I'm not sure there are any lakes with the amount of big dumb fish like there were back then, (if you know any PM me.)
I appreciate the work that Steve and Andrew have done, this has been a fun hang out over the years and I've learned plenty.
Well if this is it, then keep your powder dry, your lines tight, and have a great Christmas.
Chasintails out. |
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| I started following the forum after getting back into musky fishing after buying property on a lake with musky. I have found it very helpful, with folks willing to share their knowledge and experience. Something I have learned as I have gotten older, I don't mourn the loss of something or someone as much as remember all the good times.
Hope this is not the end but if it is, I will be grateful for what I have gained. |
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Location: Brighton CO. | Get up in the morning sit up to the computer during that first cup of coffee find out what's new in the Muskie world, where to eat, bring back past adventures and history. Tell a story and more importantly hear a story. Nothing like time on the water or in the woods but it's fleeting, we cheek in till that next trip. What and where to buy this winter, when the ice goes off and on and on. To my follow posters who are like friends the last 5 years and a few left over from my from my Musky Hunter board days.
Like getting up and drinking coffee at very large table of friends or in a knotty pine room in the evening drinking beer. |
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Location: SW Ohio | This is one of the few sites I frequent. OGF is another. BBC is a distant third. Used to frequent ArcheryTalk but that died away after starting my current job and not shooting for the last 7 years (2 am wakeups doesn’t go well with late practices). A few gun sites but was getting too wound up with our political upheavals and doom/gloom predictions (it’s still there but not much you can do until something happens). Musky Hunter crapped the bed in both magazine and website offerings. Now, not much left in the terms of musky related sites. Hope this one sticks around. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | We will be covering the three major shows this season, and are at this point going to continue through the next year. |
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Location: oswego, il | Social Media is more about the individual poster while forums are more about the sum of its parts. It's still far more searchable with far more discussion. It's too bad they are going away one by one. Maybe install likes t a post to stroke the ego...
I show registering 7/2/2001 but Muskiefirst has been around longer I think it started in 1998 I believe we had to re-register in 2001. I can remember a pretty full chat room when the clock struck midnight for the year 2000.
Edited by ToddM 12/20/2024 8:13 PM
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Location: E. Tenn | Didn't find the forum until '13. There's a load of good info here if one's willing to search for it..
As for 1/1/2000, I was on he way home from a weeklong gig in New Bern NC, and going around Mt. Airy NC (aka Mayberry) at the stroke of midnight.. I might have seen a dozen vehicles gong the other way on I-77 & I-81, and didn't pass anyone, or get passed for 150 miles..
It was a bit wieird
Edited by miket55 12/20/2024 11:29 PM
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| ToddM - 12/20/2024 8:10 PM
Social Media is more about the individual poster while forums are more about the sum of its parts. It's still far more searchable with far more discussion. It's too bad they are going away one by one. Maybe install likes t a post to stroke the ego...
I show registering 7/2/2001 but Muskiefirst has been around longer I think it started in 1998 I believe we had to re-register in 2001. I can remember a pretty full chat room when the clock struck midnight for the year 2000.
One thing about the year 2000, a lot of folks made fun of the hype. What they didn't see was that a lot of folks had been working for years to make sure it was a non-event. The bank I worked for had a committee and work schedules that started 3 years before. I read that airlines started work even earlier. Some of those old COBOL cowboys made a lot of money during that time. They were the only ones that really knew the coding. |
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Posts: 172
| I look at this site at least a few times during the week, rarely log on. Just looked back to see when I joined, '05. Been fishing all my life, born 1960, did not start muskie fishing until about '99. Caught a 50" and 52" before I joined in '05........haven't caught one over 50 since..... I must not be able to fully comprehend all the good info on here? I fully realize I may be the Howard Sprague of musky fishing......
Seriously, still love musky fishing, go to LOTW a couple weeks/year, got my son and son-in-law started in this crazy stuff and we use this site a lot.
Edited by oly67 12/21/2024 10:33 AM
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| North of 8 - 12/21/2024 9:40 AM
ToddM - 12/20/2024 8:10 PM
Social Media is more about the individual poster while forums are more about the sum of its parts. It's still far more searchable with far more discussion. It's too bad they are going away one by one. Maybe install likes t a post to stroke the ego...
I show registering 7/2/2001 but Muskiefirst has been around longer I think it started in 1998 I believe we had to re-register in 2001. I can remember a pretty full chat room when the clock struck midnight for the year 2000.
One thing about the year 2000, a lot of folks made fun of the hype. What they didn't see was that a lot of folks had been working for years to make sure it was a non-event. The bank I worked for had a committee and work schedules that started 3 years before. I read that airlines started work even earlier. Some of those old COBOL cowboys made a lot of money during that time. They were the only ones that really knew the coding.
COBOL bros can still make truckloads of cash given how few people know it and how much of the financial system depends on it. But then, you'd have to do COBOL all day.... |
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