# St. Joe River/Berrien Springs Ladder Fish Cam



## Jay Wesley

Coho moving through this morning. 


Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire


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## slowpaya

yes yes ,they r coming.it is time for all good coho to return,didnt think sh would be that heavy yet


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## slowpaya

4 in 5 minutes....one silver streak was fast


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## catchnrelease

Lake Temp at the Cook Buoy has dropped to 66d. What's the river temp ?


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## Julez81

Yesterday i saw 20 Skams 15 Salmon a brown and a crappie go through


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## slowpaya

ha ha the crappie:lol:


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## Multispeciestamer

Kelsey1 said:


> Multi
> 
> I think these guys are misidentifying coho as Steel. I keep this on in the background and have seen a ton of coho coming through in the last couple of days. Estimates for run this year from the Indiana dnr is 250,000 + coho. Going from memory but do believe this is going to be a huge coho run this year.
> 
> From Indiana DNR
> "The St. Joseph is probably the heaviest stocked steelhead river in the world! With a five hydro dam fish ladder system, it carries steelhead, coho salmon and browns for 48 miles to South Bend, Indiana.
> Close to 400,000 summer skamania steelhead, which run the river from June through September and 200,000 winter Michigan strain steelhead are stocked. Not to mention 400,000 coho silver salmon- it is a salmonid ...
> paradise!!!!
> Where else can you hook 18 pound summer steelhead in sandals, t-shirts and shorts in August, OR target lake -run browns up to 15 pounds in the fall- not to mention the trophy coho silver salmon up to 12 pounds in September- unbelievable!"


Every few years we get good returns of cohos, hence why I mainly speak on kings in above comments. But the coho either come in droves or not at all. And when they do show up its hard to say what they will do. Seems most years they just head right for the middle Joe. 
Also I have no clue as to where they pull those return numbers from. Here is a much more realistic data of fish passage on the Joe. 
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/Fish-Cam-fish-passage-summary-1992-2005_172832_7.pdf


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## BUGBOAT

Seen a few coho in the ladder this evening. Man, they are fast! On a mission. No wonder we don't catch many in the lower Joe. 


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


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## Multispeciestamer

BUGBOAT said:


> Seen a few coho in the ladder this evening. Man, they are fast! On a mission. No wonder we don't catch many in the lower Joe.
> 
> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


Mostly cohos and kings running today. I did not see one skam while I was watching the cam (unlike the last few days its was mostly skams). My buddy got lucky and got an impressive screen shot of a large brown earlier today.


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## METTLEFISH

Almost time to hit the Joe....


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## Black Ghost

Time to put away the sticks(golf) and hit the rivers with the long stick. Yes looks like these fish are moving fast. 
bg


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## Julez81

The way it has flowed lately has been more than the last 2 years this time. I predict a healthier season this year on the Joe.


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## slowpaya

the grand has had an above avg flow this year...that's good


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## Dirtybird25

Multispeciestamer said:


> Mostly cohos and kings running today. I did not see one skam while I was watching the cam (unlike the last few days its was mostly skams). *My buddy got lucky and got an impressive screen shot of a large brown earlier today*.


Would love to see that if he sent the pic to you.

This is a lot cooler than the old camera. I've also seen plenty of fish passing every time I check it. Fun stuff.


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## Multispeciestamer

Here you go. Also seen a few fish landed tonight at Berrien on the Joe. I went 1 for 2 today on kings but not on the Joe.


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## Dirtybird25

Yeah. That's a pig brown. Thanks for posting it. 

I turned it on while the watching the Bears game, the camera has been more interesting. Lots of fish passing.


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## troutguy26

Wow! Nice brown! 

Every time I've watched it there's been a mixed bag swimming through.


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## slowpaya

thanks mst,nice brn pic.a lot of those hen coho look like bustin loose


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## gbflex

Was watching and saw several Kings come through.


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## Trevor17

i have seen a lot of fish today on the cam a mix of bag of salmon


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## Multispeciestamer

wilsonm said:


> average-joe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Probably a stupid question but how can I see fish on here when it's dark, is the water lit up or is it gotta he that has been looped/replayed
> 
> 
> The viewing chamber room has a bank of lights that are always on illuminating the viewing window. The number of fish moving through the ladder usually slows way down during the night and picks back up in the morning.
> 
> 
> 
> Depends on species. I have seen more kings move at night then any other time of the year in past seasons.
Click to expand...


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## Multispeciestamer

Also report from tonight I seen one Steelhead landed between about 15+ guys tonight.


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## wilsonm

Multispeciestamer said:


> wilsonm said:
> 
> 
> 
> Depends on species. I have seen more kings move at night then any other time of the year in past seasons.
> 
> 
> 
> This was general info for people watching the Berrien fish cam. Majority of the movement of trout and salmon through the ladder is from dawn to dusk. Trout and salmon movement has been recorded at Berrien since the early 1990's so there is no shortage of data on this.
Click to expand...


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## Multispeciestamer

wilsonm said:


> Multispeciestamer said:
> 
> 
> 
> This was general info for people watching the Berrien fish cam. Majority of the movement of trout and salmon through the ladder is from dawn to dusk. Trout and salmon movement has been recorded at Berrien since the early 1990's so there is no shortage of data on this.
> 
> 
> 
> I have 90 images that I saved to a folder from the 2012 season throughout the fall. Now this is only a small part of data and not an accurate representative of overall movement, but it does prove one thing they can and do move at night just fine. Majority of the king photos I have saved are from 9pm-12am. Its well known that on sunny days salmoniods will hold up and not move as much as they do in low light periods/at night.
> 
> From fishing the same rivers day in and day out and see how and when certain small river holes replensh themselves. I think its a fair assumption majority of the movement for salmon is from dusk till dawn not dawn to dusk (excluding cloudy days, and murky water conditions when fish feel more concealed and move more throughout the day). Where as trout esp. steelhead move from dawn to dusk more regularly.
Click to expand...


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## mdj

I thought most salmon moved from dusk to dawn myself...but I cannot argue with hard data if thats what it says, and I've witnessed a fair amount of coho moving the last couple of "days"


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## REG

Just for reference, about how big are those cohos we are seeing??


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## Multispeciestamer

REG said:


> Just for reference, about how big are those cohos we are seeing??


There are two different year classes running. 2 year old males around 14-16" and then the larger adults 3 years old and 5+ pounds


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## REG

Multispeciestamer said:


> There are two different year classes running. 2 year old males around 14-16" and then the larger adults 3 years old and 5+ pounds


Then I would speculate most of the fish coming up the ladder are more toward the skipper size. IN does get a whole bunch of those.


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## Boozer

REG said:


> Then I would speculate most of the fish coming up the ladder are more toward the skipper size. IN does get a whole bunch of those.


I have seen some very nice Coho swimming around too while out on the river, haven't watched the camera at all for the most part, but sure there is a lot of little guys too.


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## wsshaker

See a lot of nice kings moving at night. 

















Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire


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## BUGBOAT

Think that second pic may be a steelhead. 


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## Julez81

OMG dude, bunches of kings going thru!


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## Julez81

Camera snapshot is ridiculously laggy when the fish appear


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## Gearhead

Saw quite a few moving through tonight. How strong is the current ?? Seems like some of them really struggle getting upstream ?


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## Julez81

seen a few much bigger that couldnt get pics of


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## tda513

Saw this big guy the other day


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## Jay Wesley

Julez81 said:


> Camera snapshot is ridiculously laggy when the fish appear



This is due to the low reception with the cellular connection. We will be working on an antenna set up to increase the signal today, so you may experience some issues while we are working on it. 


Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire


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## Multispeciestamer

tda513 said:


> saw this big guy the other day


tanker

Also as I said kings more often move at night....:evilsmile


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## Julez81

Snapshot is working better for sure. I was trying to take a pic of one King when 2 jumped on top over it moving really fast, blink and miss. I was lucky enough to get this pic:


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## salmonsteel97

Saw a smallie a few days ago.


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## Swampbuckster

About a week back, I was showing my wife the camera and a male Chinook with a lamprey stuck to its back went up. Wish I was quick enough for a pic.


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## METTLEFISH

julez81 said:


> snapshot is working better for sure. I was trying to take a pic of one king when 2 jumped on top over it moving really fast, blink and miss. I was lucky enough to get this pic:


 

can't be.. Theres no kings in that river!...


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## Multispeciestamer

METTLEFISH said:


> can't be.. Theres no kings in that river!...


Around 1,000-2,000 per fall. Which on a river that size...... We've already went over that.


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## RJEgolf




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## Multispeciestamer

RJEgolf said:


>


Fat chrome hen coho it is!


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## cedarlkDJ

Snapshot is working pretty good.










Another way. If on a computer, open full screen mode, hit the Prt Scr key and paste from clipboard in any photo editor. Its not as clear though. 










Lots of silver coho still moving through. I saw a nice brown, smallmouth and a few steelhead.


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## METTLEFISH

Multispeciestamer said:


> Around 1,000-2,000 per fall. Which on a river that size...... We've already went over that.


 
Gooness!... I cant seem to keep those darn thing off my line in there in late Oct. & Nov. Saw about that many shoot up that Creek just above Jasper one day a few years back....


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## badhabit99

Just wondering if anyone has been out since the rain yesterday , looking to fish around the dam in the morning but don't want to make a 2.5 hour drive if it's not fishable , I tried to fish the grand yesterday and u couldn't get it , water was up and fast


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## Multispeciestamer

badhabit99 said:


> Just wondering if anyone has been out since the rain yesterday , looking to fish around the dam in the morning but don't want to make a 2.5 hour drive if it's not fishable , I tried to fish the grand yesterday and u couldn't get it , water was up and fast


I caught a nice king on a crank yesterday. For sure bring waders. But was plenty fish-able last night. (I was wet wading Burr!!!!). I have only seen the dam not fish-able once in my whole life. Water level was up in the parking lot at Fisherman's Haven a many many springs ago.


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## pdp3

Looking for tips were to go in this area any help would be appreciated pm please be kind. Headed up to Manistee in few days wonder if worth the stop south 1st.


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## jerrob

pdp3 said:


> Looking for tips were to go in this area any help would be appreciated pm please be kind. Headed up to Manistee in few days wonder if worth the stop south 1st.


I haven't been up in a couple weeks, so no help here.
I will pass on a piece of advise that a member gave me. Buy one of these and you'll know every access area, boat ramp, Fed land, State land, private land and the roads that'll get ya there. I couple this up with Google Earth or Google Maps and find it absolutely critical when looking for a place to fish.
Good luck and let us know how ya did.


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## danimalt14

average-joe said:


> Probably a stupid question but how can I see fish on here when it's dark, is the water lit up or is it gotta he that has been looped/replayed
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire


Try using a flashlight...


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## fishfly

pdp3 said:


> Looking for tips were to go in this area any help would be appreciated pm please be kind. Headed up to Manistee in few days wonder if worth the stop south 1st.



The dam in berrien springs has a pretty large area that can be accessed from shore. Other than that the river is big and much better accessed with a boat. I've never fished up from there but the next stop would be niles and again it's big water between the 2. 


Www.facebook.com/fishonwithjohn


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## Multispeciestamer

fishfly said:


> The dam in berrien springs has a pretty large area that can be accessed from shore. Other than that the river is big and much better accessed with a boat. I've never fished up from there but the next stop would be niles and again it's big water between the 2.
> 
> 
> Www.facebook.com/fishonwithjohn


Buchanan first then Niles.


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## cliftp

Looked at the Cam for a few minutes this morning. Still moving up!









Paul C.


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## tcfishes

heres a few


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## slowpaya

was watching the steel today when I looked up and saw a man inside the ladder wiping the window clean,ty dnr


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## slowpaya

extremely heavy leaf load noted today


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## wilsonm

The web cam has been shut down for the year at Berrien Springs ladder. We wil start it back up in late winter/early spring.


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## Multispeciestamer

wilsonm said:


> The web cam has been shut down for the year at Berrien Springs ladder. We wil start it back up in late winter/early spring.


Probably some fish moving with this warm up past few days.


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## jpmarko

This morning was slow up by Berrien. Several anglers, nothing caught. Maybe evening or tomorrow morning will be better.


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## Boozer

Perhaps you can partner with someone and get the water temp gauge back online on the USGS site...

Was a really nice feature, now I have to wait until I am on the water to know how much it cooled down or whatnot since the last time I was on it...


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## Boozer

Multispeciestamer said:


> Probably some fish moving with this warm up past few days.


Water never left the 30's....

Doesn't help your cause when the lake is warmer than the river...

I have not seen a "true" chromer in over a week, colored up fish only, even when fishing just a few miles from lake...

Hopefully this flush changes that, I know some rivers to the North got fresh pushes, just been a trickle all Fall here... If you get on a pod of fish, better stay with them...


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## Multispeciestamer

Boozer said:


> Water never left the 30's....
> 
> Doesn't help your cause when the lake is warmer than the river...
> 
> I have not seen a "true" chromer in over a week, colored up fish only, even when fishing just a few miles from lake...
> 
> Hopefully this flush changes that, I know some rivers to the North got fresh pushes, just been a trickle all Fall here... If you get on a pod of fish, better stay with them...


You mean chorme like this 11-12 pound buck? Caught three days ago (the last time I was out)


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## Boozer

Nice... got a lot of those this Fall, just not in the last week...

Be careful posting photos, apparently there are apps that can tell people exactly where any photo was taken if the camera or phone had location settings turned on... 

Wouldn't want your secret locales getting out! LOL


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## Kelsey1

I put a tracking device on Multi's jeep.....not been skunked since!


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## Multispeciestamer

Kelsey1 said:


> I put a tracking device on Multi's jeep.....not been skunked since!


:lol: haha


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## danthebuilder

Boozer said:


> Nice... got a lot of those this Fall, just not in the last week...
> 
> Be careful posting photos, apparently there are apps that can tell people exactly where any photo was taken if the camera or phone had location settings turned on...
> 
> Wouldn't want your secret locales getting out! LOL


Facebook automatically strips the exif data. If you don't have a facebook account you can use Imgur also to host your images. They also strip the exif data so your location won't be shared.


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## Boozer

danthebuilder said:


> Facebook automatically strips the exif data. If you don't have a facebook account you can use Imgur also to host your images. They also strip the exif data so your location won't be shared.


That was more of a joke than anything... :lol:


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## Julez81

Thanks to whoever cleaned and adjusted the fish cam today.

I saw quite a few fish go thru Saturday thru Wednesday, but I heard in Mishawaka today only 346 fish or so have passed South Bend so far and there won't be any more for a while. The Indiana guys have had troubles getting all their broodstock from Trail Creek and have resorted to this week trapping them at South Bend until they get their early season batch of broodstock..


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## Multispeciestamer

Julez81 said:


> Thanks to whoever cleaned and adjusted the fish cam today.
> 
> I saw quite a few fish go thru Saturday thru Wednesday, but I heard in Mishawaka today only 346 fish or so have passed South Bend so far and there won't be any more for a while. The Indiana guys have had troubles getting all their broodstock from Trail Creek and have resorted to this week trapping them at South Bend until they get their early season batch of broodstock..
> View attachment 188368
> View attachment 188369


That would be due to the fact that I personally contacted them and told them they were coming through down low, and to come get them if they needed them. I had heard that the Trial creek brood stock collection was going poorly, hence why I contacted them.


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## DARRYL F. COLLINS

Kelsey1 said:


> Multi
> 
> I think these guys are misidentifying coho as Steel. I keep this on in the background and have seen a ton of coho coming through in the last couple of days. Estimates for run this year from the Indiana dnr is 250,000 + coho. Going from memory but do believe this is going to be a huge coho run this year.
> 
> From Indiana DNR
> "The St. Joseph is probably the heaviest stocked steelhead river in the world! With a five hydro dam fish ladder system, it carries steelhead, coho salmon and browns for 48 miles to South Bend, Indiana.
> Close to 400,000 summer skamania steelhead, which run the river from June through September and 200,000 winter Michigan strain steelhead are stocked. Not to mention 400,000 coho silver salmon- it is a salmonid ...
> paradise!!!!
> Where else can you hook 18 pound summer steelhead in sandals, t-shirts and shorts in August, OR target lake -run browns up to 15 pounds in the fall- not to mention the trophy coho silver salmon up to 12 pounds in September- unbelievable!"


Coho are not "silver salmon". Silver sal.on are Chinook. The Chinook salmon can be identified by black gums and are a larger species than. Coho.


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## Shoeman

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/salmon/coho.html


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## rtoe

Actually cohos are silvers. Cohos=silvers, chinook=kings, sockeye=reds, pinks=humpies. This is what the salmon are referred to out west and in Alaska.


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## Jay Wesley

Some coho up St Joe now.


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## Multispeciestamer

Jay Wesley said:


> Some coho up St Joe now.


Yup have been since the last lake flip. Just waiting on river temps to drop more to get rid of the lock jaw syndrome. More Skams in the system also, they are much more willing. See you tonight Jay.


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## hapec

-Are these reports up to date- as in 9-15-2016?


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## Fishndude

The thread is old, but the last report is current, from today. It is that time of year....


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## southshore

Is the fish cam still running and open to the public? My link no longer works and I can't find one that does. If it's up, I'd appreciate it if someone could post or PM me the link. Thanks!

Never mind read the thread further down the page from a couple weeks ago....mods can delete this post.


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## S.D.M.F FOREVER!

I CANNOT GET THE CAM TO LOAD UP


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