Feathers and Fins

Thats really all i had in mind, Ive got some striper and a few birds to cook. If birds show up great if not we shoot laughs.

Actually No they do not have grass to speak of, they are similar to the Ozark Lakes, as far as rocky shorelines. The big advantage they do have is shallow flats. Water fluctuation due to Metro Water District ( they are drinking water lakes in a desert ) can be destructive on spawning bass and often was. They are also much smaller lakes than Ozark Lakes which biologic should not produce monster bass when stripers are in them as well, butthey do none the less. The striper problem lakes are more Silverwood and Skinner both which are fed by the aqueduct system delivering stripersconstantly. Unchecked they destroy the food sources in the lakes. This is not a problem here as we do not have anything dumping 100's of thousands of stripers in a lake yearly. I should point out when I say much smaller, you can fit all four of the Monster Bass lakes 5times over in Bull Shoals. Lake Castaic has a surface area of 2,230 acres Pyramid lake has a surface area 1,297 acres Lake Perris consists of 2,250 surface acres Casitas Lake 2500 surface acres Total combined of 8,277 surface acres Then you have Bull Shoals of 45,000 acres I have seen AGFC and CDFG management practices and to be honest they are both about the same, in reality they are both governed by the need for drinking water and power generation demands and not under direct control of the Game and Fish agency but under the control of supply and demand for the populations near them. It's a simple fact of life that those lakes were built for power and drinking water not for us fishermen. That being said the recreational opportunities of them are a blessing to all of us. Bass anglers want their bass, Crappie anglers want their crappie and so on. Truth is those lakes are there for the entire public not the fishermen. Management thus becomes a very thin line the Agencies walk trying to make each group happy and also still trying to have a quality fishery for each species in the lake. I wouldn't want that job! Stripers are a known Bang for Buck fish, easy to breed,grow big and draw crowds; I would not be surprised in time to see them in all lakes to some degree where they can be managed and if not them then certainly hybrids.

Hodge just an FYI. The Rock HAS stripers in it.. Not stocked and not in large numbers, but they are there and they are HUGE! They are mostly around the Tailwaters of Beaver and Eaglerock, No reason to speculate why the answer is simple TROUT! You even admit Bull struggles to keep a healthy bass population because of other factors not related to stripers. I would be more concerned about how to force AGFC to manage its lakes better including potentially heavy stockings of LMB then I would be worried about stripers affecting LMB populations. Like I said I have fished the world class Monster Bass lakes all with Striper in them and not seen an affect on LMB in fact the arguement could be made Stripers with a well managed lake increase the size of Bass. Its ironic the Monster Bass lakes have them.

Duane thats some nice birds, Dang RPS all ya gotta do is ask Im at the Rodent every weekend Not to hard to miss " gotta be birds to miss first " lol.

I was thinking while driving around today it would be fun to get those of us here who hunt fowl togeather for a spring snow hunt. Ive got a couple decoys lol. More of just a get togeather to meet up and shoot the breeze and have a field breakfast togeather someplace in SWMO around Feb. Anyone interested? I normally hunt them around Shawnee some days are good some are spent looking at air.

Honestly Stripers have almost 0 Impact on bass, Having caught thousands of them I have never cut one open that had a Bass in it. I have however cut open many of them with Perch and Crappie in them. Want to take a stab at what the biggest predators of Bass nest are? I have fished the MONSTER BASS lakes of Casitas, Castaic, Pyramid, Perris of California and all have a Striper population, yet the Bass are plentiful and grow to huge size as any bass angler knows. The Delta of California also grows Giant Bass and has a very large healthy striper population. You are dealing with a very diffrent Bass here and a very diffrent type of habitat. The stipers if anything help keep the populations of Perch and Crappie in check to a degree. I do not have a problem with them being stocked, In fact it might be a good thing.

Timbers Taxidermy in Decatur Ar does mine and im very happy with him, if he is backed up BIRDMAN STUDIOS http://www.birdmanstudios.com/ does awesome work.

I'll give you a ring little later this morning... I gotta head up to Joplin to look at a job and I'll give you a ring when im done...

Had a nice hunt Sunday afternoon. Typical Goldeney were present as was a few Mallards and Gaddies, As I was sitting there though { decoys picked up ) just waiting to watch sunset I heard a old familiar sound SANDHILL CRANES. I kid you not had 15 of them come land on the island i was hunting. Now AR doesnt have a season on them so i couldnt have shot them anyway. BUT Still absoulutly a cool bird to watch even better on the table but oh well... Talk about a mixed up messed up season lol. Sandhills in AR

OPINION DIFFERANCE... Oh wait you asked how to spell it not what it is... ar·gu·ing

Chief, I was just Typing outload lol. I dont think so Tim. JD, Invasives get places all kinds of ways doesnt always have to be by human release... I did alot of work with them in FL, One of my favorite stories {true} was an Eastern Diamond Back Rattler found in Alaska... How did it get there? Crawled into a crate and flew... Another was of another EDB found in Cali, How did it get there? Road the train! How did the many invasives get loose in FL, Some by Hurricane Andrew taking out several Importers and also by humans releasing them.. But some simply floated on over on logs. Who knows whats out there we brought here without even knowing it? I think the kitties are just striking out looking for some female kitty loven and getting away from the big bad kitty that beats them up for being in his area.

All this talk makes me think of te Arguements I hear about another creature BIGFOOT! Now im not saying BIGFOOT is real or not but just find the arguements regarding the cats seem to be the same ones about BIGFOOT... Kinda interesting how people dont want to beleive it and the goverments want to take a slow approach to them unless a proven population is present...

Well heck Marty, there only seems to be a few of us who do alot of waterfowling. Maybe next year we all need to get togeather someplace and just share a hunt. I dont care if we kill a bird one but would be nice to sit down to a shore breakfast and shoot the breeze... Just a bunch of guys who enjoy life and the outdoors the game if its there would be the bonus.

Chief, Wouldnt the competition possibly create more outdoor areas or better managed and maintained areas? We know the South Zone for instance has really NO managed waterfowl area. Couldnt this spur a movement to get us a few, also couldnt this also spur some type of movement to re-establish a good quail population. I'm a little confused, then again MDC has a tendancy to confuse me in alot of their actions.

Shooting dogs is illegal The Conservation Department and local sheriff offices often receive questions from dog owners, landowners and hunters about laws pertaining to free-running dogs in rural areas. While landowners do have some recourse if dogs are injuring or killing livestock under Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 273.030, dogs that merely enter private property may not be killed. In fact, Section 578.012 provides penalties for intentionally killing a dog or other animal. Anyone killing a dog under circumstances other than the narrow ones described above can expose themselves to significant legal difficulty. Those who kill dogs may be forced to pay restitution and/or face criminal charges. Because dogs are considered personal property, dog killings are investigated by local law enforcement authorities, not by conservation agents. It is illegal for persons to trespass on private property without permission. Ethical hunters who use dogs do their best to keep them off property where dogs are not wanted, and should contact the property owner for permission to retrieve them when their dogs follow game onto such private property. The Conservation Department works with the Sporting Dog Association of Missouri and other groups to encourage legal and ethical hunting activities and to establish good relationships with private landowners Dogs may be killed, when. 273.030. If any person shall discover any dog or dogs in the act of killing, wounding or chasing sheep in any portion of this state, or shall discover any dog or dogs under such circumstances as to satisfactorily show that such dog or dogs has or have been recently engaged in killing or chasing sheep or other domestic animal or animals, such person is authorized to immediately pursue and kill such dog or dogs; provided, however, that such dog or dogs shall not be killed in any enclosure belonging to or being in lawful possession of the owner of such dog or dogs. (RSMo 1939 § 14536)

Dont worry JD, first Elk MDC looses to one of the kitty kittys and it will be a kill on site order issued.

No clue what it cost for non-res... And 12 dozen will only take about 20 minutes to put out tops and about that same to pull back in... I CHEAT everything is on a longline rig and in 12 slot bags, goes out fast picks up fast and even if i dont kill stuff it still looked pretty and gets real interesting looks from people.

I grew up Hunting and Fishing in California, I have had more than 1 encounter with them and honestly never was to concerned about them. Hollyweird has made them out to be much more than they really are IMO. I use to hunt an area I knew full well had a female cat in it and often would see her and even seen her with cubs. I made it a point to be very aware of my surroundings that included stopping more often then normal and listening. When I did feel the hairs on my next stand I made sure to get to an area I had clear fields of view or the high ground. When I did run into them I made it a point to let them be fully aware I knew they were there. It is actually IMO a privledge to see one of these cats in the wild. They are a very dilibrate animal yet very playful. They are looking for easy prey and an adult is not easy prey. Young children should never be allowed in the wild alone or unattended at any time and attacks on Joggers can be avoided if people would not wear the dam ear phones. Missouri has very abundant prrey for them unlike southern california, also part of the problem there is population of people vs the lions. They have lost their fear of us there IMO. I would be more concerned about venomous snakes or running into a hornets than a lion. But if you do just stand your ground and make them aware you know they are there, suprise is the key to their attack. Oh and if bit by a venomous snake dont suck out the venom! You wont like what happens if you have a cavity or open cut in your mouth.

Next weekend, Beaver, 12 dozen mixed decoys so whatever thinks they look pretty work for you lol...

Duane, That is priceless. We need to hook up one day and beat up on some birds or fish doesnt matter. Beaver's GE population has swelled and finally seeing more mature colored birds...Still no hoodies though but saw a nice bull canvasback taken today.

Nice limited of Mallardous needtous B barbaquous.. Maybe beaver will treat me well tomorrow.

Sounds like a plan... Always wanted to try them i keep hearing how good they are to eat.

This has been a humbling season for many people so dont feel bad. By the end of last season I had put down 348 ducks this year with but a couple weeks left im only at 91 and over the last 38 years excluding the season my gramps past away on which caused me to loose the heart this has been the worse for harvest numbers. But its been great in the aspect I have been able to spend the time with friends and the dogs. So I still call it a great season. When its over im looking to try and get my first paddlefish ever this year plus beat up on some walleye in the upper white river. But first is the Conservation Order and loading up on some snows for Jerky and Summer Sausage... Who knows maybe this bust of a season will produce a season of a lifetime next year. I guess thats what is so cool about duck hunting when its over you are already dreaming of the next season.

I thought you guys would have smoked them with the reports on the net of 100's of thousands of birds at four rivers.. But looks like Home is where the heart and birds are..

Justin I have to know were you there in 2004 when the Sailfish and Wahoo were being caught from the South Jetty and Beach in October? Massive Sardine ball stacked up from the spur on the Jetty to the big white condo. Hoo's to 50lbs and Sails to 60lbs right from the surf. I stayed out there 37 hours till I fell alseep on the beach from being so tired.. Never seen anything like it.