bfishn

My bad, I was referring to the park closures in general, not the ramps in particular (which aren't even mentioned in the closure announcements I was talking about).

Correct. None of the closure announcements even mention enforcement, violation, or prosecution. While it's unwritten, the closures are obviously a measure of protection from liability. If left open but unattended, any "Lucky" could slip on peepee and sue.

With respect to the thread topic, the official news releases from the USFWS; http://www.doi.gov/shutdown/fy2014/upload/FWS-Fact-Sheet.pdf and the USACE; http://www.usace.army.mil/Media/NewsArchive/tabid/204/Article/18719/us-army-corps-of-engineers-prepare-for-october-1-closures-of-usace-operated-cam.aspx and the National Park Service; http://www.doi.gov/shutdown/fy2014/upload/NPS-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Excellent post! Thank you!

Since it has weight and mass, our atmosphere is always "pushing down" on the water (and everything else). Standard atmosphere measures 29.92 inches of mercury column, or 14.696 psi. The actual pressure at any point depends on the altitude and local weather conditions, which on the earth surface has ranged from measured extremes of 25.7 to 32 inHg. The typical frontal variations we experience are more in the range of 1-2 inHg, or 0.5 to 1 psi. Underwater, pressure increases at 0.43 psi per foot of depth, which, due to atmospheric pressure, is already about 14.7 psi at the surface. A fish at 10 feet deep is subject to about 19 psi, and one at 34 feet deep undergoes 2 atmospheres, or about 29 psi. When you look back at our typical 0.5 to 1 psi frontal pressure changes, it becomes obvious that the pressure change a fish feels from a storm front is actually less than they feel with a mere change of 3 feet in depth, something most fish do all day with no apparrent ill effects or changes in behavior. The change from a front also spans an hour or more, leading one to believe that the changes we all see in fish behaviour with the passing of a front is due to something other than the barometer.

Scratchin' balls is #1.

Nice puppy point! What has her attention, a parakeet in your pocket?

Didn't your mom ever warn you it could freeze like that? :-)

A rude troller or two does not a demographic make.

They should be the easist fish to fool of all, considering they're "suckers".

I always bring a box of nightcrawlers, just in case you can't net any shad, you can rod-n-reel up some bluegill or carp. Most of the time you can easily catch plenty of bait near the ramp in the slack water behind the lockwall. Don't use a thrownet from a boat in current, if it hangs up and you've got the rope around your wrist, the boat drifts away and... you get the picture.

Here's a professional's shot of how I like to see it. (courtesy David J Photography).

For the 100 yard throw at the dam, it takes a 10-14' medium heavy surf rod that will load up well on the back cast with a 4-16oz bait/sinker load. I used to use Penn 210GTI reels, but have swapped to extra large spinning reels to get the extra yardage. Another way to get your bait to the dam without casting it is with a balloon. When the eddy is working backward up the lock wall, tightly tie a balloon to a loop of line above the swivel. Anchor next to the lockwall where the current is heading to the dam and let the balloon drift until it's where you want it. A quick jerk pulls the loop from the balloon knot and your bait sinks to the bottom. It can take 10 minutes to place a bait this way, but it works well. For drifting or anything besides the above, heavy bass or striper gear works fine, and you're either fishing straight down or a short cast away. Much of the time, even that is overkill, but if you want to see that occasional monster, best to be prepared. :-)

I've puzzled over that one a long time Justin, and reached a similar conclusion. At least the eaters have a legitimate reason to do what they do.

Mostly hog suckers, same reg as here, no game fish.

Here's what it looks like at Ozark most of the time when the gates are closed. When they're just generating, the surface remains slick, but the current and eddy I described above is very obvious once you're on the water. You can drift in big endless circles inside the eddy with just the occasional trolling motor bump to keep you out of restricted water. Anchoring in the unrestricted water along the lock wall has been very good to me too. Danger level is mild, just don't anchor in any current unless you're prepared to cut the line in an instant. If you slip out into the main current and for any reason can't get the big motor started, you'll be a mile downstream in a blink, staring down the maw of an oncoming 4 barge tow. Stripers will be in the fast water, cats adjacent and in the eddy. The next view is a catfishing dream, but these conditions are fairly rare. The gates are just cracked open, and the discharge rolls and scours the downstream holes below them. Note the "boils" just downstream. Anchor as close to the 100 yard line as you can get (between the red signs on the far shore and the lockwall) and use surf gear to throw bait into the boils. Also the best time to fish the current breaks at the end of the lockwall and dikes. When it looks like this, you either settle for some bank fishing or turn tail and go elsewhere. A note on anchoring. Don't waste a store bought anchor here, you'll likely lose it. Grab a soccer ball size rock from the shore and tie it with trotline cord. As mentioned above, have a good knife open and at hand, ready to cut the line at a hint of trouble. I can't overemphasize how easy it is to get in trouble here with an anchor. The immediate area below the dam runs from 20 to 40 feet deep, with the deepest hole at the generator outlet, and a ~4 acre 20 ft hump right in the middle. It's snag city too. Even with 2-6oz of lead, if you're fishing current the only time your bait will stay in place is when the sinker catches something. Use a 3 way rig with a 10lb dropper for the sinker so you can break it off. Bring lots of sinkers (available at Lakeside in town). 40lb or better main line and hook dropper. I use 5/0 to 8/0 hooks depending on the bait. Don't be afraid to use huge bait. "Regular" catfish sets like a 5/0 hook jammed with cut shad won't sit long between the fiddlers, the eaters, and the gar, but there are plenty of fish there that can inhale a 10-12" live shad with ease.

Pretty big thing in OK, the Cherokee have been holding one on Eucha every April for about 40 years.

I'll find you some. There's something jinky with the text formatting in post 3, and I can't seem to fix it. Feel free.

Looks like they had a flush from the Colorado flooding, but it's mostly through the system now. Level stable with strong but slowing flow. Good time to go.

Here's some dope on Ozark; No recent reports, but it can be really good, next couple months the flatheads should put on the feedbag.

Y'all gonna love this. Coming soon to a stream near you; Did I see a jet ski in that mess? Added High voltage, water, and hard liquor. Methinks the sport will regulate itself. Future iterations may involve burka-wearing Ninjas on jetskis or semisubmersibles, using the guise as giggers to infiltrate the river system to headwaters near Whiteman AFB, where they'll hijack some B2s...

I think like anything else, they follow the money, and the deer and turkey violations pay the bills better. There are lawyers in missouri that advertise for those charges, I didn't see any looking for the gigger trade.

I have no dogs in this hunt, but was interested enough to research a little. There's some wild stuff out there, some that makes the tone here (improvement noted and appreciated!) look tame. Some of them trout guys are crazy. I was curious about the penalties, and found the list of current fines; http://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=1988 The one of interest; 3903002 TAKE GAME FISH BY SPEAR FISHING fine: $149.50 costs: $85.50 total: $235.00 for the first one, $15 each for any more> On a scale that tops at $385 (for giving a sturgeon a wanton glance), it's about midway. Even if you stacked on a few charges, it's a cakewalk compared to having your truck tags expire while you were in the bar. Trust me (and don't ask).

On a related note, the Land and Water Conservation Fund is now at $40M annually, down from $900M. The LWCF is divvied up by the states. You can see what they've done (or haven't done) in your neck of the woods over the years at; http://waso-lwcf.ncrc.nps.gov/public/index.cfm

...We interrupt this whine-fest with an important announcement from the Department of the Interior... From Arkansas Online; U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford said Tuesday that the Interior Department has assured him that two federal fish hatcheries in Arkansas will not close next year because of funding. and http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/article/111122/alexander-says-federal-decision-on-erwins-fish-hatchery-postponed We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. Tune in next year, same time, same channel.