Feathers and Fins

Lakes in Missouri, United States Lakes in Missouri(alphabetical) Lake Name Full Pool * (MSL) ** Acres River Map Blue Springs 720 Bull Shoals 654.0 45,440 White River Council Bluff 440 Harry S. Truman 55,600 Mark Twain 18,600 Norfork 552.0 22,000 North Fork River Ozarks 55,000 PommeDeTerre 7,820 Smithville 7,190 Stockton 24,900 Table Rock 915.0 43,100 Taneycomo 2,080 Truman 55,600 Wappapello 45,000 Saint Francis River * Full Pool - Highest normal summer pool level before flood stage ** MSL - Mean (average) feet above sea level State Information Safety and Environment Official Site of Missouri State Population: 5,595,211 Missouri Counties Natural Resource Office CLICK FISHING THEN WHEN IT COMES UP YOU WILL SEE A SEARCH BAR TYPE IN "lake level" and some of the lakes will pull up a real-time graph of the lake

If you have mallard dont get teal no reason for that expense they come fine to mallard decoys. For the river area 2 to 4 dozen decoys will do you fine as most your ducks will be working the river. Gadwall, Mallard and Blackduck decoys. Ive been lucky enough to have been on some flight surveys and the two most visable ducks are Goldeneye and Black Ducks. We dont have to many blacks here in fact almost none but those decoys stand out at a long distance. I use GHG because they look good will last a few years and if they do need ot be replaced are not to hard on the budget. As to geese. A half dozen full bodies will get you started and well worth the investment. If you want to get a big spread fast and cheap Get some GHG Ringnecks and a couple dozen blue bills run you about 160 bucks but add 2.5 dozen to your spread quick. We have alot of both on beaver. Bufflehead and goldeneye are also some you will want to add in time if possible. When im in the river area hunting i use buffleheads alot strung along shore with bluebills lining out to the river and toss puddlers around shore for a realistic look. Big water is all about big spread and lots of visability with long lines and 12 slot bags is probably the must have for setting out decoys fast.

War Eagle is teal heaven for the early season normally JUST FIND A MUD FLAT. As to the regular season if the lake doesnt go up look from Blue Springs to Hickory creek. You will want to set up on the flats in layout blinds with goose decoys surrounding the blinds duck decoys both field and floaters in the water close to shore in groups of 4 to 10 to simulate feeding and resting.

Na I know who it was though im betting Derek, they managed 12 for 3 people. How did you do? I marked a lot of fish in the area yesterday but was occupied.

Scout the lake, what is good one day maynot produce the next and other areas are very productive on certain weather conditions. It took me years to learn the lake well enough to be productive constantly. I suggest Google earth as the tool for checking distance and areas to scout. Then put in the time on the lake to learn each area the best you can. Wind being the #1 thing to think about for puddle ducks. Divers on beaver for some reason will land all kinds of direction. This year is going to be very interesting there is TONS of green on the shores for food which may well hold birds better than previous years. It also means it might scatter birds more as well. My game plan on beaver I can count on every time is this. 1. Have 5 spots to hunt in any given day. 2. Never move from the first spot untill 11am 3. If boat traffic is heavy on the lake hunt points for sure 4. North wind be ready to go striper fishing by 9am ( north wind on beaver really sucks ) 5. If we have freezing temps for 72 straight hours HUNT THE FOURTH AT ALL COST! Other than that being flexable to move is a must and putting the time in scouting. Ill try to answer any other questions you ask with the exception of GPS numbers and my favorite spots of course. An example I took Ducky fishing earlier this year and showed him probably 30 of my blind sites to give you an idea of what i mean by flexable.

Larry i doubt most could. To be honest if a snake is going the way you are its because thats the way he was going. Cottons are curious as are most pitvipers or more to say they see the heat signature and want to investigate it. But they can also tell when a prey item is to big and will turn off. Truthfully I have collected thousands of snakes in the wild and even with that type of action few tried to bite me. You really have to apply pressure to them to instigate a bite and thats out of fear of being eaten. Best thing is leave them alone they are doing us a great service by keeping rodents in check.

Resident geese im just killing, I know where the flocks are and just go get them. Most will let you just pull up on shore and let you shoot them. If they are in a legal gun area I shoot them with a gun if not shoot them with a bow. They are not the brightest bulbs in the package right now but come regular season and we get migration birds its decoy time and concealment. A couple flocks are a few birds less right now not just from me but a couple other groups so they are smartening up and need some time away from being pressured but should be stupid again within a few days. As for the boat. IT MUST NOT have any motion from the motor, I usually set- up to drift into them with my motor out of water if i have to. Otherwise its a park the boat and shoot or walk up on them. Also you cannot Heard them.

http://www.agfc.com/hunting/Documents/LateMigratoryBirdSeasons.pdf

less money spent on the pretty more savings to the customer would be a solution and generate them more money IMO. Guess its why you always hear about Rogers Sporting Goods being the go to for hunting gear.

Well I went today and my honest impression is "they wont last long here" if they do not get thier prices in order. Heavy Shot #4's box of 10 was over 40 dollars vs Rogers Sporting goods 21 dollars. I saw some Kimbers that were 100 dollars more than at other local stores and honestly the Fishing department was not near as good as HLS who will be keeping my business hands down. The worse of the day was the mounts even my wife was commenting how bad they were AND kept asking why the fish tails in the tanks were messed up so bad. Guess Rogers and Basspro keep my Hunting Business and HLS keeps my fishing business untill Cabelas gets the pricing right.

Al, if i had a dime for everytime I have seen people freak out at the site of a snake I would be rich. The only snake known for attacking people luckily doesnt live here ( balck mamba ). People seem to fear things they do not understand and others fear just life, if having a safety blanket on them makes them feel better so be it.

LOL its been fun. lots of young dumb birds and LOTS of jerky to be made. Look at the fourth from the left no cheek patch yet

LOL, Nope this was even easier, the lake had a great hatch we found out yesterday shoot the biggest bird ( apparently a parent or flock leader ) First and the rest will come right back there trying to figure out what to do! Gives you an easy reload and shoot again. I had to laugh when we were in Prairie creek finishing off the limit we had people cheering and yelling shoot again at them. People really hate the resident geese. Dont think I have ever had a cheering sesction for hunting.

Yup and I WISH HE WOULD HAVE RAN! I like his simple straight forward no holds bar way of telling it the way it is and think though I may not always agree with him at least I can believe what he says and stands for because he says it and doesnt play the politically correct word game.

That was a pair of shotguns you heard.... Rocky Branch, Montne and Prairie Creek Flocks all got shot today. 20 geese in two days is a great opening weekend Please note the Bass Fisherman Camo Pattern. It works great.

I know there is studies on Northern fish growth rates but dont know of any for the southern region, I sure would like to see one. But just like up north they are very popular ( ya eat one and see why) so if its the case and the DNR's are stocking fish that replenish each year through stocking and they have a goal of a semi self sustaining population then to me it would be logical to put a slot limit on them to protect fish in say the 20 to 26 inch range ( example only ) I dont know but I see the same thing you do plus age class fish ( possibly from stocking ) Heck I wish they PIT tagged them and checked to see age class, stocker vs natural reproduction and size per ange range. Dont get me going they are a neat fish and one i cant find much info on for the southern part of the range on their biology.

Kwall, If they worked togeather the White River Chain could become the go to place for eyes in the south without a doubt, from all my reading they seem to be easy to raise and for the most part seem to do very well in the lakes. The 18'' size limit helps a lot as well. I think a Slot would be even better for management to encourage natural reproduction. I just have to keep going back to what I preach about these lakes and that is the super healthy and abundant supply of forage fish as a reason we have these fisheries that are so healthy.

10 less! Two limits And this is how they look for dinner

I love early goose season, Get up at 6ish have coffee and a shower and relax. We got to the ramp at 8:15 and had to sit in the lot till 9am due to a squall line. But by 9:!5 we were on the birds and by 10:30 we were done and didnt even touch half the flocks we know about. Great kick off to 2012/13 season

Al, the first thing my Instructor years back said was ( if you are going into a bad area at your will then you are putting yourself in a bad situation, concela carry is not about being Dirty Harry its about protecting yourself when you have no choice, Dont make the choice to put yourself in that situation if you do not have to! ) He went on to give examples and take questions on situations. I gave him mine and he said ( You have to make a living and told me how to carry in a way that made it clear I had the weapon as a deterent ) A lady in the class brought up her car in a parking garage his answet to her was ( never walk to it yoursel go in a group and park in a group so all of you can be togeather and if its not possible the last 2 get in one car and the driver takes the other to their car defuse the situation by numbers ). I like everyone else probably knows a few people who carry just for sake of carrying and its fine its their right and if it makes them feel better great I guess they still need a woobee to keep them happy. I honestly am not to worried about fishing situations or floating etc but its still a great noise maker in an emergency and a snake charmer for those afraid of Mr Noshoulder.

Paronoia and Preventitive measure are two things. I started carrying because I use to carry large amounts of cash or cashiers checks on me and had to go into bad areas sometimes to collect them and get them out. A concealed yet obvious weapon I can assure you stopped several issues from happening. It would be nice if the world was a happy happy joy joy kumbaia singing place but truth is it is NOT. So people need to take precautions. A CC is just one of many kinda like motorcycle helmets. You may not ever need it but when you do you need it right then and there.

I advocate the US CONSTITUTION, directly the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. If a person can legally buy and own a gun then he/she should legally be allowed to carry it concealed or open. All permits are is a another tax simple as that. If you are legal to own one then the constitution gives you the legal right to have it on you, its politicians and lawyers who have put restriction to wording that is so simple to read and understand and none should have been placed on it. It is the most restricted of the Bill of rights. Why is it restricted when the others are not? Could you imagine what would happen if someone placed such restrictions on say the 1st ammendment.

I would be betting more boats go up the river arms than the boat docks that time of year.

Depends on what area of the country you are! In a major city I would say odds of violent crime win especially LA, NY CHI etc... In smaller communities I would bet Friday or Saturday evenings odds are drunk driving. Ill shoot and example just for our area... If i was to go into Little Rock I would guess the odds more favor a crime in certain areas are far higher than a Drunk Driving. But durring summer highway 12 on a Saturday night you wont see a violent crime but i see a ton of drunk driving.

At least it is not an ICE storm... I love getting called out to peoples house for leaks to only find someone thought a pick and shovel was a way to get ice off a roof.