Browning Guy

$Long and $$$Blunt, Rather than saying "my constituents" please say it like it really is...... what you mean is "my donors". Anytime a law maker says "common sense" I shutter. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Roy Blunt or his son Matt Blunt caught up in the failed development just east of Branson West? The development down in the gully below the large arrowhead sign, Indian Ridge??

I for one would like to see the younger folks take a stand on this issue. There are a lot of High School Fishing Teams in the area and it would be a good opportunity for them to take notice and get involved as further development/tuna rigs will affect them also. Tournament organizations, kayakers, etc. To say nothing says it all.

No excuses. Send them letters, call them and send them a message via e-mail. Get involved. Billy Long Contact Information https://long.house.gov/contact-billy/ Washington DC Office 1541 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515 (p) 202.225.6536 Springfield, MO Office 3232 E. Ridgeview St. Springfield, MO 65804 (p) 417.889.1800 Joplin, MO Office 2727 E. 32nd St. Ste. 2 Joplin, MO 64804 (p) 417.781.1041 Senator Roy Blunt Contact Information. https://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-roy Office Locations: Springfield 2740 B East Sunshine Springfield, MO 65804 Phone: (417) 877-7814 Kansas City 1000 Walnut Street, Suite # 1560 Kansas City, MO 64106 Phone: (816) 471-7141 Columbia 1001 Cherry Street, Suite 104 Columbia, MO 65201 Phone: (573) 442-8151 St. Louis/Clayton 7700 Bonhomme, #315 Clayton, MO 63105 Phone: (314) 725-4484 Cape Girardeau Office 2502 Tanner Drive Suite 208 Cape Girardeau, Missouri 63703 Phone: (573) 334-7044 Washington, D.C. 260 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-5721

43 years on Tablerock now and it is LOZ south and will quickly become LOZ on steroids if we don't get involved. I am pushing for the Missouri Waterpatrol to NOT remove all of the buoys on TR and at the same time I am asking $Long and $$$Blunt to keep our lake under some semblance of control. Wonder how much money is involved in supporting each this November? Everyone, please get involved and stop this legislation. If you don't write or call $Long and $$$Blunt in D.C. then don't complain when the wave hits. Remind both they are up for re-election. Thank you Phil for bringing it more to light.

Brennan, congratulations with your 8 year old. You will be shocked at how quickly he will excel from here. My 11-year-old and I fished for two days this past weekend and we had two very good days catching, but more importantly, spending quality time learning and talking about life in general. Keep them close and good things will happen. Congrats again. Lowrance flasher! then to X15b???? paper graph felt like we had went to the moon and back with the new "technology" back then. The paper graph was in a large "box" and if memory serves, you had to be careful replacing the paper as not to mess up the arm.

Bo, I was out for two days (Friday, Sat) and found the front of the pockets/creeks loaded with shad and yes the fish we caught were on or near the bottom. We did well when we found the schools of shad broken up (a.k.a feeding fish). If the shad were in tight balls, we moved on to find the broken schools. The whites were mixed in at times. Water temp was still 71-72, but the fall migration may finally be starting, albeit slow. You better take "little jasper" fishing as he is going through withdraws with his boat out of commission.

The bait painted above is based on a craw I caught in mid to late spring. I'm still learning to paint and time is way too short. I am NOT an expert in crawdads, but observation shows different species and that their color changes based on time of year (both of which we already knew). I'm not sure which species it is, but I've caught some that look like miniature lobsters 7"-8" long.

Peach Orchard. I like it. This is one of the Predator baits. This color (at times) is fantastic on Stockton and Bull. I also do another with more blue.

+1 on the baking soda and top opening cabinet. Albeit dusty/messy at times, but excellent. I bought my set up at Grizzly several years ago. Nothing fancy, but gets the job done. I used to use the denatured and sand paper, but discovered my time was better spent elsewhere and bought the cabinet.

Buoy vs. No buoy. Tested the waterpatrol's idea to remove buoys from Tablerock. I had a sign made using the template suggested by the waterpatrol and put it on our dock. I pulled the buoy. The sign we had made was 25% larger than the sign suggested by the waterpatrol and placed in the center outer section of the dock...... the trail camera on our dock tells the tale. Game cams are not known to take great photos and ours is not the most expensive. Clearly not having a buoy is an issue. Boaters have over 750 yards of open water to run in front of our dock, yet under 100' seems the norm for boaters. In fairness to fellow fisherman and unfortunately, I deleted the photos of the wake board, tuna rig and ocean going vessels from earlier in the year (while waiting to get a new buoy/without a buoy) before I discovered the waterpatrol was wanting to take the buoys. Wish I had them back to post. I can assure you, far less fisherman run under the 100' state law than the wake boats, tuna rigs and ocean going vessels. No buoy meant open season on running well under the 100' current law. Signs will make little or no difference as proven in the instance below.

PAA - Professional Anglers Association fat fingered to get to PPA. I think that PAA eventually morphed into Major League Fishing. The PAA drew a lot of big names, but never really got off the water, so to speak. Watching how efficient those guys were was amazing. They didn't mess around and they made EVERY cast count. McClelland made the same cast over and over and over and over in one spot for close to 5-6 hours and caught very few fish, but the fish he ended up with on the final day was good for a 20 lb sack. He thought he had it won, but King brought in 21 and change. I think McClelland only culled two times if memory serves. We only moved twice and right back to his original spot. He told me he needed a break from the same cast. Interesting to watch. Side note..... Mark Menedez put his Skeeter on top of an island/point in front of Chateau as he was coming from State Park early in the morning coming in getting ready for take off. He wasn't hurt and enough boaters got together and pulled his boat off. He still made it to take off. McClelland fished Central Pro-Am for a short time early on when Ernie had it. I fished co-angler for 5-6 years back then. We talked a lot about that and found we grew up around the same friends and on TR at the same time in our lives. Sorry Donna, didn't mean to hijack your thread, just took me back to the "old days". Thanks for sharing the photos.

Steven Scott. He used to do the PPA when it was still alive. I was a marshal for three days when they came to TR. Lake was at 928 ish that week and I was fortunate to draw two top five anglers and one was Mike McClelland. It was a neat experience.

How do you clean and cook em? A pinch of salt or A LOT? Cornmeal or flour? I'm not going to try them until someone else on here goes first.

An excellent example. More laws without enforcing current law. Put a "no wake sign on your dock" new law in place, but not enforce the law after it has been implemented. How many fisherman this summer had boats run too close, according to current law, but the boater was never pulled over. In the case of Bobby b....... with the wakeboard boat running at night between him and the bank while fishing. Current law states the boater was wrong, but the waterpatrol cannot be every where. Same as having a buoy. When the waterpatrol isn't available, then the buoy assists law enforcement. Unfortunately, the waterpatrol and now the corp doesn't see it that way. They are listening to the wakeboard boat captains, tuna rig captains and the ocean going vessel captains complain about buoys.

Well in the defense of the last waterpatrol officer I encountered..... He pulled me over while I was in a 14' Grumman with a 20 hp tiller because my boat numbers were too close together. I GUARANTEE YOU THIS IS A TRUE STORY! Last summer when I was working on a friends boat lift from the water. The good news is that I replaced the boat numbers and they are now legal distance apart. It would be interesting to see how many hours were spent patrolling before and after the change with combining. It would also be interesting to see what the data is on ticketing for getting too close to another boat while on plane or running too close to a dock. If they are not going to enforce either, then what is the purpose of current state law?

Bobby b... Sorry this happened to you and glad you or the DA boater weren't hurt. As TR moves closer and closer to the ways of LOZ, expect more incidents like this. The past 4-5 summers have become increasingly worse with DA boaters. When you say "wake-boat".... was he pulling a boarder at 9:00 p.m. using his lights to show the way? Law is on the books already for pulling 30 mins after sunrise and before sunset (I think). All the more reason to be skeptical when Matt Waltz of the Missouri Waterpatrol believes a "No Wake within 100' of the dock" sign on a dock will keep DA boaters off the docks rather than a buoy. Maybe we should all get signs and put them on our boats to keep people away from our boats. Never mind, I'm guessing that will be the next proposal from the water patrol. Out of curiosity, what is the law on being on plane near another boat, anchored or not?

Didn't take "lil jasper" with you and you caught more. It makes sense.

Funny. Funny. I hope not.... we have way too much fun catching fish under the dock with the kids. Nothing better than watching a five year old little girl catching bluegill and teaching the eleven year old to use a baitcaster and pitch a jig. We spend a lot of time on the dock, fishing, swimming and just hanging out as a family. Guess that's why keeping the ocean going vessels and ridiculous wake boats 100' away is so important to many dock owners. Bass boats are not immune, but for the most part, much more respectful. When my five year old was knocked off her feet from a wave this summer and hurt her wrist, I just saw red. We just recently (two weeks ago) were able to get a new buoy back in after the last was pulled down stream from flooding. Having it back has made a huge difference in keeping boats off the dock, yet the waterpatrol seems heckbent on taking them.

I totally agree and that is why this topic is being brought up. Thanks to OA, we (fisherman who are dock owners) have a forum to bring this up. Hoping the same fisherman who own docks and/or buoy at their dock will continue to send me a private message so we can organize a group. We are hoping an attorney (who is a dock and buoy owner) down in the Aunts Creek area will be willing to assist us in this matter. The argument of "well if that's what law enforcement says we we'll do... then that's what we we'll do" doesn't work for me (this coming from a law enforcement officer). This law hasn't been changed, YET. Your suggestion is right in line as we do pay taxes and as dock owners pay for access across COE (public) property to have electricity to our docks and to pay (tax) for a permit for a dock and with that, pay for electrical inspections. We love our dock and thoroughly enjoy having it, so we pay the fees (taxes) to have said dock. We just hate to see them destroyed by folks who could care less about what happens to them and if a buoy assists in protecting a few docks........ Please, continue sending your Private Messages for suggestions and to get involved. Thanks.

The water patrol is responsible for the buoy permits and without question they are looking to remove all buoys. After speaking with Mr. Oller from the Corp my buddy said they (the Corp) is in support of removing the buoys also. Mr. Oller referenced the other lakes in the white river chain do not have buoys on them like TR so TR shouldn't have them either. My buddies response was that Beaver, Bull Shoals and Norfork are not nearly as populated, have much fewer docks and do not get the boat traffic Tablerock does so the need for buoys isn't there. As a fisherman and a dock owner, I believe TR is getting to be similar to LOZ in boat traffic. Removing buoys from private dock owners and have them put small signs on their docks is ridiculous. They (corp and waterpatrol) are not wanting to reduce the number of buoys, they are wanting to remove them all except around marinas (again per Mr. Oller at the Corp). I want everyone to enjoy TR, but show respect for the fisherman and dock owners. Right now, neither is happening.

I have took video from Baxter to Holiday island and Hideaway up to Bridgeport several years (15-16) ago when the lake was down to 900'. I spent three days on the water going back to many places to see why I caught fish there and to video tape. I put it on 2 DVD's a couple years ago. It is amazing to see the structure that held fish in certain areas and to see structure to go back and fish. You won't regret spending time doing it. Just be careful if the lake gets down to 900'.

I would say somewhere between 895' and 935' depending on who passes gas at the Corp of Engineers in Little Rock. Years ago when the lake was actually used for flood control, I would say 910' to 912' depending on rain. That was years ago though. For now, please see the first sentence.

Worth the read here. A friend who has a buoy and has been in touch with the Corp at Tablerock and the Water Patrol. So far, this is what he has been told and what his thoughts are. He put a game trail cam on his dock when he did not have a buoy and showed me photos of how close the wake boarders, tuna rig owners and skiers got to his dock. I can guarantee they are well under the 100' "redundant state law" Mr. Waltz of the highway patrol references. . www.swl.usace.army.mil/Portals/50/docs/tablerocklake/Shoreline/Table Rock Lake SMP Focus Group Meeting 2 Memo.pdf?ver=2015-11-09-122538-303 Then scroll to page 16 ish. For those who have a buoy...... you better get engaged or you will be losing them. You can send me a PM and I will help direct you in getting with other buoy owners. Corp & Waterpatrol Argument: (so far) 1 ) Buoys are redundant to Missouri state law and therefore buoys are not needed. 2) Buoy owners are not maintaining the required 100' distance from the dock. Sometimes under, sometimes over depending on the water level. 3) A sign stating "no wake within 100' " should suffice and replace buoys. (wake board boats and tuna rigs give a hoot and will read a sign on a dock as they go by). 4) The Corp and Water Patrol have received complaints from boaters about buoys. (evidently no dock owners call complaining about boaters). 5) The Corp and Water Patrol do not receive complaints from dock owners about boats breaking the 100' law now. According to Mr. Oller......Corp & Waterpatrol plans to assist dock owners in preventing boats from being on-plane under the 100' law by: 1) Better education for boaters. (YES, educate all the out of state folks who are not focused on Missouri state law when they come to TR. THAT WILL HELP RIGHT? ) 2) Placing signs on docks. (SERIOUSLY. This is your remedy? AGAIN !) 3) Better waterpatrol enforcement will eliminate the issue. (I'm sure the three water patrol officers on the four major arms of TR will put complaints about driving too close to docks at the top of their list). A portion of my (his) questions are: 1) How can they possibly believe a sign on a dock will stop fools from getting within 100' of docks? and 100' is subjective and will be hard to prove. 2) How many waterpatrol agents will be made available on an hourly basis on the four major arms of Tablerock to respond to dock owners complaints about boaters? and how do you prove it? 3) What priority will dock owners receive when they make phone calls complaining about boaters? 4) Will the Corp and Waterpatrol reimburse dock owners in paying for the buoy, cable, weight and cost associated with placement of the buoy that the Corp and Waterpatrol originally approved for use? My buddy just (two months ago) replaced his buoy and cost over $600 for the buoy and cable. I told him to start calling the water patrol every 20 minutes and complain about the boats coming within 100' of his dock.

Bo couldn't agree more. Witnessed the wakeboard damage to the banks on TR this weekend. If they remove the buoys there will be a lot more damage to docks and a greater safety issue to those on the docks. Wakeboarders, skiers and tuna rig owners could care less about how far off a dock they are. Look at Lake of the Ozarks. State law doesn't mean jack to those people, but if they see a buoy they will generally stay off the dock. A buoy sends a reminder and boaters are generally respectful to the buoy. So, four months out of the year buoys are an issue to who? YES, the same people with wake board boats and tuna rigs. The other 9 months probably no issue at all. By all means Corp and Waterpatrol, please bow (no pun intended) down to the wakeboard boats and tuna rig ocean going vessels on TR once again. Unbelievable how much wake boats throw compared to some of the larger boats. IF the Corp really cares about the environment......the amount of erosion caused by the lake being held high in the winter, flooding and subsequently wake board boats and ocean going vessels cause INCREDIBLE damage to the banks...... IF the waterpatrol and corp remove the no wake buoys it will cause thousands of dollars of damage to peoples docks. Of course they think having a no wake buoy is "redundant to current state law and having a sign on a dock" will fix the issue. I guess my alternative when they take our buoy is calling the water patrol every time some fool runs 50' off our dock. I think the corp and waterpatrol have lost control of TR during the summers. TR has become LOZ south. SAD.

Sitting here in an office in Springfield, but can related to and remember the smells, sights and feel of TR and Stockton in the eves. The boat ride back to the trailer always seems so relaxed as I tend to throttle back and "cruise" a bit. So blessed. Nature's valium for life's hectic ways. Not a bad addiction. Thanks for sharing the photos.