hank franklin

Thank you all for the suggestions. I looked into them all but none quite fit. The sound was very musical and absent the screech or rasp of a bobcat or fox. The closest tone and timbre is the great horned owl.

We were on a Jacks Fork gravel bar the past weekend and was awakened maybe 3 or 4 a.m. by a very eerie bird call of some kind. It sounded like a human female voice, in a kind of mournful tone. It repeated itself several times. It woke me with a start and at first I thought it must be a girl or young woman singing. But upon hearing it repeat itself several times I figured it was a bird call of some sort and went back to sleep (thankfully). Back home I googled it and the best I can come up with is some kind of great horned owl call. However none of the calls I listened to really seemed to mimic it. I am not a believer in ghosts honestly but if you trust gut instinct then my gut instinct here was I heard some kind of ghost. I know that might be out there but just sayin. Of course nature on its own terms has a way of playing tricks on you. Or tricks you've never seen before. So I guess it's more likely I heard an owl that sounded like a ghost. Whatevs. Anyone who has heard anything similar I'd love to hear about it. HANK

The Current is a jewel and I can't wait till the next time I see it.

Somebody above asked "what do you do, go vote?" Simple answer: Be the change you want to see. Treat people decently. Take responsibility for yourself. Don't put up with BS. Etc. A while ago I started a discussion about the Bull Float. Drunk lewd obnoxious behavior taking over a state park swimming beach. Most of the people here said "who cares?" We've ceded our good sense to so-called "freedom" and the "who cares?" mentality. We are free to be drunken fools in public! in plain view and earshot of children. Who cares? I guess I'm part of the problem, I posted something on an anonymous message board and forgot about it. Instead I should have written a letter to the park ranger.

Two things: 1. Regarding what Old Plug says, read the Declaration of Independence and substitute "Big Money Power Elite" for the "the King" and marvel at how closely the two correlate. 2. Contrary to so much gloom among the peoples, the American fundamentals are actually very very strong. We are the world's largest producer of oil AND natural gas. We are in an energy boom. Second, we are filthy rich in agriculture. Argue the fine points but in the big picture we are an agriculture powerhouse. So, energy plus food. We lead in both. On those points alone we should be the most prosperous nation on earth. Oh, wait a minute, we ARE the most prosperous nation on earth. But our government, which is supposed to be "by the people," instead is "by the money" or "by the corporations." Etc...

Patriotism means love of country, not love of war. I think some people confuse the two. Dividing the country is good for business, from a politician's point of view. The other side bad, me good. Only takes 50 percent plus 1 to agree with you to stay in business. Can anyone deny we will have had 16 consecutive years of ineffective (at best) leadership by the time Obama leaves office? And 15 consecutive years of war? Wow. Lots of people getting rich off this scheme too. Me not one of them, nor I suspect you. We the people need to take our country back.

Ah for the good ol days, where the Number 1 source of information for an Ozark river trip was Oz Hawksley. My old 1980's or so edition was dog-eared and worn. Never went on a trip without consulting Oz. Now, sadly, you don't even need him. In fact I'm not even sure where my updated version is. Information age by far the biggest change IMO.

Hays, I don't know if you have children, but if you do, take them! Those are my words of wisdom.

I guess I am getting long in the tooth, Hog Wally. I came of age in the 1970's on the Bourbeuse and if we'd seen a Riverpro back then we would have thought it was a spaceship or somethin. Makes you wonder what will be on the river when my own kids get older. Nice day on the river. I don't mind the jets down there, it's jet country. We floated without incident except for the one incident. That one incident though rose the temperature a few degrees. One thing to buzz me the old dude. Another thing to buzz the children. Yes, do tell please about Shady Beach. Courtesy goes both way of course.

There must have been a Riverpro convention on the Meramec above St. Clair yesterday. Beautiful boats. How much water depth can these things run in? I saw one take on a riffle that couldn't have been much more than three inches or so of flow. Let me make real clear that I would LOVE to have one of these. Having said that, they are completely incompatible with canoes. (Duh.) Riverpro: $35,000+. My canoe: Two hundred bucks Riverpro top speed: 50 mph. My canoe top speed: 3 mph (maybe) Riverpro minimum draft: 3 inches. My canoe minimum draft: Maybe 3 inches. Wait, maybe they are compatible. I am not trying to initiate a "I hate jets" thread. We ran the river later in the day on a jet and big fun. I want one of my own some day. I understand all about their need to run on plane, etc. Just sayin the Riverpros aren't your grandpa's jet boat. My first Ozark stream boat was a 5 hp prop jon on the Bourbeuse. When I first got into a 40 hp jet on the Meramec it was high cotton. Now you can fly the river at 35 mph+ in dang near drought conditions. And from a Riverpro perspective hardly make a sound. Wow. Meanwhile our canoe party with kids floating on lifejackets at 1 mph hope to God the big boats don't run us over. And yesterday with one exception they all ran with general courtesy toward us. And we of course got the heck outta their way at every opportunity. However that one exception was a ridiculous incident in which we were buzzed within 15 feet on a section of river where this was completely unnecessary. So while I don't hate jets in general I certainly hated THAT jet. Life on the river goes on.... ....but it's certainly not your grandpa's river!

Agree 100 percent. Ludicrous that this is allowed at a state park.

Onondaga is a state park with an excellent beach but for this Saturday a for-profit enterprise completely takes it over without (to my knowledge) paying a dime for the privilege. You have to pay a fee to rent a pavilion in the park but Ozark Outdoors pays nothing to blight the river and the state park for the weekend? I have a feeling Mardi Gras Inc pays the City of St. Louis a pretty penny to run their lewdness through the City streets. We in Missouri just give up our sweet beautiful rivers for free. I'm sick of it, and I'm sick of anyone who supports this stupidity in any fashion. Grow up and take some responsibility for yourself, for your families and for our natural resources.

He was convicted by a jury of his peers, in a courthouse not far at all from the scene of the crime. Justice was served. The jury essentially was asked "what happened that day down by the river?" And they quite quickly answered: "Murder." That's really all I need to know. I trust the jury.

They're still popping up here near the Missouri River. I'm thinking the next few days could be a bonanza.

Got into a fair patch tonight. Moist creek bottom. Sycamore.

I heard Common Core is shorthand for Communist Corps and is basically a plot to take over America. Just sayin.

Depends on water levels. At summer low you can wade for sections, but with any surge in water at all the wading is going to be pretty limited. It's really not a great area for wading.

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Sorry for your loss. Very nice tribute to him. He did something else that you didn't mention, he turned out a pretty good son!

The older I get the more I am into comfort on the gravel bar. We used to stay on the river till the last drop of sunlight and set up in the gloaming or even dark. No more. We find camp at least an hour before sunset and sometimes even more. Take it easy. Yes you give up time on the river during an excellent fishing hour (twilight) but if you've chosen a good spot you can wade fish it to your heart's content. The only time I ever eat bass is on a gravel bar. 90 percent of the fish we've eaten over the years are spotted bass or goggle eye, but on occasion we've taken a smallmouth to fill out a fish fry. Never a big smallmouth, and never one we put on a stringer. Meaning, it came from the hole we were fishing at. A fish fry on the river is the best eating you can find. Fried potatoes, hush puppies or biscuits and maybe roasted corn on the cob in the husk. Hot sauce and white bread with the fish. Al I believe said he started this post because he was dreaming.....Yeah, I'm dreaming too.....

The only music I can handle on the gravel bar is country. Or more precisely, hillbilly. Or hillbilly gospel. Or country gospel. Or maybe some hillbilly bluegrass gospel. Rock and roll is specifically prohibited. No music until after dark. Cardinals game, yes. But only if it comes in strong. I love the Cardinals but would rather listen to George Jones and Bill Monroe than Mike Shannon. And there comes a time when even George and Hank can 't do better than the night sounds. That's when we turn the radio off and just listen. River never stops its music, that's for sure.

I don't have a lot of experience there, but some. Fishing from the bank is decent for small fish but a kayak would be much better. I haven't fished it from a boat in years, but I think it would be worth your time. Very pretty and infrequently used lake. The "infrequently used" might give you a hint as to the fishing. The reports I've heard generally are so-so at best. In fact I think its reputation among the locals is generally that it's "fished out." I have my doubts and in fact think it could be pretty good if you have a boat and patience to find the right pattern. I have heard that the catfishing can be decent, but never tried. I was there the day the lake opened to anglers, in 1996 believe. Boats were literally lined up for a mile or two down the road waiting to get in. The bass were football-sized then, and everybody and his brother was catching them. In the years since as I say its reputation is that it's reliable for small fish, a decent take the kids fishing lake, but if you're looking for hogs go elsewhere. You in your kayak and a good pattern may well prove that wrong.

I don't like fire rings. Don't need them. Just build your fire on bare gravel and let the next flood wash the fire marks away. We leave every gravel bar cleaner than we left it, for sure. All you will find is the remains of the fire and some coffee grounds. I suppose if I was a perfect camper I'd pack out my coffee grounds. No one is perfect however.

Continued... I agree the fine gravel is ideal. However we use a blow-up mattress so we don't have to be as picky about the bedding spot. I agree I hate the road noise. This usually isn't a problem but try to avoid it. If you are in weather it's nice to have an overhanging tree to tie a tarp to. A couple of our best camps came in a light rain where we were able to tie off a tarp and maintain a fire right at the edge of the tarp line. I really don't like the huge wide open gravel bars. They're okay but I prefer the more "cozy" ones. Shade can be nice for an afternoon lunch stop. One of the greatest Ozark gravel bars for shade is a mile or so above Onondaga, river right. Enormous sycamore right in the middle of the bar shading almost the whole bar. Deep water against a small bluff opposite, great swimming hole. This would be a nice camp spot but for the walk-in access via Huzzah CA parking area and trail. Have never camped there. One of our great "innovations" over the years is to dig a "basement" for the fire. This amounts to a hole dug out of the gravel adjacent to your main fire. As your main fire burns down pull some coals down into the "basement" and use that as your cooking fire. Keep it fed with small kindling. Throw your grill over it and you have excellent cooking. Dealing with morning dew can be a pain. Here again a spot exposed to the east sun is helpful. Often we have packed up the tent or rain fly wet, and then hung it out to dry mid-day in high sun. Doesn't take long on a hot day. My three top "must haves" are privacy, wood and running water. Add in a nice fishing spot and you got Ozark heaven.