Wayne SW/MO

I'm surprised you didn't find any Rogues. Did you catch any Bows?

Defiantly a Hellbender, they're native to the watershed, but its always a puzzle to me that they are in the lake. There's another unusual critter in BS that's probably seldom seen, the Chestnut Lamprey.

The jets eliminated. Not all rivers in our area are the same, and some should be preserved for experiences not available on all rivers. I would like to see the rental canoes controlled by applying a maximum limit allowed on any one day. One of my fondest memories is a trip on the river in the early 80's. We took 2 1/2 days and saw one canoe the second day and 3 toward the end of the final day. We camped on gravel bars and heard nothing but natural.

Dano I always thought the slot limit was any trout cleaned in the back of an SUV in the parking lot. I've seen some that sure looked under 20"s.

I would question the use of a pontoon on Ozark flows. I've had them from 8' to 16' and they have their place, but I don't think the Ozarks is the place for them, not if you explore. I might add that the 10' Buffalo is probably a poor choice for upstream travel. My 13' has no keel and some rocker and it walks a lot when paddling upstream. The other side is its quicker than a cat in a rock garden.

Be sure and ask them about a second. Buffalo is close enough to pick up and save any shipping.

I think there were always some deer, but I can't remember when the first season was. I know it was any deer south of the river, and bucks only north. No turkey's and virtually no public hunting grounds. Trout in the parks was the extent of any exotics, no stripers, wipers or musky's.

The Missouri DNR dropped the ball 25 years ago when they didn't push for laws to regulate the number of rental canoes on the river. The end result of this would have solved virtually all of the problems we see today. Had they been able to issue X number of permits, require some responsibility from the permit holders, and taxed the permits to provide law enforcement and clean up, they oversight of responsible canoers would have been invaluable. The explosion in rentals started about '85 and its been non stop since.

This would be my recommendation also. The best way to find a leak is to check between fittings, you valve or plug one end and air up the other. You can use an RV air fitting on a tee with a gauge on the other opening. Pump enough pressure in to make serious soap bubbles. This was the method I used when I had to worry about it. If you re pipe, don't overlook the possibility of fishing the tubing through spots that are unreachable. As for your heat pump, if that is what your unit is, could be anything from a thermostat to a contactor. The fact that the inside unit is operating usually eliminates the thermostat. A delay device on the contactor is a common problem. Its almost impossible for you to troubleshoot it, you would have to be able to eliminate the motor, the delay, the contactor and the signal from the thermostat. It could also be a valve in the pump system not responding, so an HVAC person is probably your only option.

The Vagabond would be a good choice. I have a 13' Mohawk Solo that I would also recommend. The Pack has its followers and I'm told can be improved by lowering the seats. Kayaks are cheaper and easy to fish out of, but they can be a bear to get out of or to protect long rods and not my choice for fly fishing. You might also look at the Arkansas built Buffalo, they had a solo at one time, a net search would help you.

The Pine tree kind of gives the pictures away. The possibility of a big cat ending up in Missouri is real enough however. Cougars have a large hunting area and the toms will not allow any intrusion from a young tom, so off they go. The young Toms will travel until they find an area to call their own, so with virtually no hunting success in the areas they are plentiful, they'll end up some where. I don't think they'll ever become permanent because of the lack of breeding colonies

I would be against an events center. I believe it would simply be another perk for Branson at the expense the taxpayers who would see little benefit. If they think the county needs a better center for activities, then build a better fair ground with a multi use arena, and farther east where more infrastructure would be of greater benefit.

The problem is that those that party hard dominate the rivers, trash them and generally keep others from enjoying them. Floating and fishing don't clash, its bad behavior and that's fueled by alcohol and people looking for an obscure place to misbehave at the expense of others. Unfortunately. like Al Agnew and others, I can remember the before and after. The Niangua is a great river without the blanket of canoers who could care less about the rivers or others who attempt to use it for legitimat porposes.

Link=Uncle Jay on 2008

You can probably get a good appraisal if you take pictures and document any blemishes, including the condition of the bluing. If you're not in a hurry, I would take good care of them and wait to sell them, the present market isn't that good on long guns.

I would slow down oneshot, carp and buffs slow down just like other warm water fish. While carp can tolerate colder water, they still don't need as much fuel. Buffs are very picky and hard to hook on doughbait, but its still the best bait. Do a search on "Hair Rigs", using them will help with the hook ups. I would try something like a Repala X-rap and work it slow in the current. They should catch anything that might be swimming below Truman.

When I think of explosives I think of the stuff we used in the service. It would be hard to blow up stuff with it and not damage something you didn't want to.

Dano if you want something to sit in the corner until needed, consider buying a good used pump and having the barrel shortened.

Well the truth is they were temporary jobs that did nothing to create permanent jobs. The proposal to rebuild the infrastructure will be much the same, except that the unions will gain a lot of temporary benefit and come out much stronger, and large contractors will be enriched. I never owned an assault rifle, but I did own an M1 carbine for a period of time and it was fun for awhile. For me the bottom line is simple, guns don't create a risk in and of themselves, but by there use. In the same line, punish misuse, ban when there is no reasonable safe use. Explosives have no realistic recreational use, guns do. After early 2009 there will be little opposition that can be mounted against anything the government wants, so look out, big changes coming.

I didn't bother to post an opinion, but maybe I should throw my two cents in also. I agree with Ham and Forsythian and its not without some history. Telling someone in person exactly where and how you caught doesn't effect your fishery all that much, but on the internet its a different story. There have been 341 views of your report, and you have no idea how many have access to you few spots. I use the term few because I'm sure that Bill doesn't give up all in his reports, he can't afford too. He does the time on the lake and has enough spots to share, and I'm sure everyone is thankful for it. The point they were making was that when you're that specific you throw the fish under the bus, because you don't know how many may converge on those spots or what they will do with the fish caught. I know that contrary to his opinion, Powerdive and his buddies don't give specifics that detailed on Walleye areas, at least they didn't in the past. There is simply a limit to the information, IMO, where you give enough information to help others catch fish, but not your hard earned fish, not deliberately at least.

The strangest one to me was the big plastic tank, it appeared to be a 500 gal, or close to it. You have to wonder where it came from, and what was in it? Some of that trash was deposited in earlier high water marks. The reported water level doesn't seem to fit, at least in my memory.

Well they're pushing the mud off the roads, but not the ramp, maybe later. I'm trying figure out why they're pushing it off the roads? The park is trashed, there's no reason to think anything will change before late spring at the earliest, and by then the dirt will probably have washed back onto the roads. I guess the COE has the money to play with?

The Asian carp is to well embedded now to do much more than try to prevent it from spreading. I understand they are fairly decent on the table, so perhaps some help building a commercial market would help keep them in check.

I would imagine its because of the difficulty involved, with no water to help it would be quite a task, and that's not the only ramp that was under. My guess is they will allow mother nature to do it.

Why Stripers, as opposed to Hybrids? If they don't flood the upper end, and they do stock, it would be great for the average fisherman in SW Missouri.