rps

In the same vein, remember that as long as you add, "bless her heart," you can say the most dreadful things. "She just can't seem to to get the child and marriage thing in the right order, bless her heart." "He's never passed an open saloon in his life, bless his heart."

You are coming at a great time. Look forward to the trip. As of now, anyone that says they know for sure what the water level and color will be in the first week of June should be forced to take a breathalyzer. My guess (provided I don't have to wager on it) is lake level 921 - 925 and dingy green to clear. I base that on the fact May is our traditional wet month. Even though water will be released through gates and generation, the net will keep the water up. For bass, add Spooks, Chug Bugs, and wake baits to your list. If your father in law is not comfortable walking the dog, put him with the chug bug and tell him "pop, pop, pop, pause, twitch, pop, pop, pause, repeat." Fish these from false dawn until sun on the water. This time block is also known as can't see until skidoo. When the water is up in early June, I look for flooded brush on the sides of long finger points. That is Spook and Chug Bug water. Pole timber where a bluff changes to fist size rock is the ticket for wake baits. You didn't mention whether you would be lower, mid, or up lake. For down lake tips others can help more than I. If you will be up lake, PM me, and I will suggest a few locations. These patterns work, especially when the water is up. Have confidence in them. In addition, they are higher odds for big fish for sometimes Rock fishermen.

Let's consider fishing boats. We can reserve the discussion of runabouts, ski rigs, and personal water craft for some later time. Here in the Ozarks we are familiar with purpose built boats. The classic White River jon boat and similar float boats are examples of craft built for a particular purpose. Today, the jon boat concept has altered to include a motor mount, swivel chairs, and a beam that allows a falling angler at least a chance of landing in the boat. Other purpose built boats thrive in the Ozarks. Many people float the Buffalo, War Eagle, and Kings, to name a few examples, in canoes and kayaks. Inevitably, purpose built boats from other locations come to the Ozarks. Like thousands of others, they often stayed. You see drift boats from the West coast every day on the White River. Other boats we see often now days are mutations of older ideas. Look below at the 1950 and 1985 Skeeters. The V hull has also evolved. A couple of years ago I was at Bull Shoals during the PWT and was blown away by the V hull rigs those competitors used. So, to start the discussion, let us exclude fishing guides: not from the discussion, but from the considerations below. Why? Because boat decisions by fishing guides are based upon different considerations than personal buying choices. They may have three jumbo size novices to fish in a heavy chop. That requires a vastly different boat than even the 1985 Skeeter shown above. Besides, customers paying $300 or more per day expect the guide to have the "best" equipment. For similar reasons, let us exclude the top tier professionals. Many of them don't buy their boats. The boat at no or low cost is one form of sponsorship. The boat and motor manufacturers supply the biggest and baddest rigs to showcase their wares. Others buy the hot rigs as one way to acquire a more lucrative "skin" i.e. a sponsor whose name is blazoned on everything. Regardless, boat choices are driven by considerations other than purpose, size, and speed alone. Once those groups are excluded, there remains a very large and interesting group of us out here buying boats. Some of us fish tournaments. Some of us don't. Answer the following questions, to yourself, and then reflect on the answers. 1. How many hours per year are you actually in your boat and on the water? 2. How often do you fish alone? 3. How many hours per year do others spend in your boat and on the water? 4. How much did the boat, motor, trailer, and accessories cost you? 5. Multiply the hours number by ten and divide that number into the total cost for BMT and accessories. Is the result less than $10? 6. Recalculate the cost of the boat by adding slip rental, tag, taxes, insurance, gasoline, lubricant, and maintenance. Divide by ten years worth of hours again. Is the result less than $20? 7. How fast will your boat travel at WOT? 8. When the lake is calm, do you ever travel at less than WOT? 9. How long is the lake you fish most frequently? 10. When was the last time you traveled more than 20 miles on the water in one day of fishing for any reason other than you wanted to try something different? 11. If the answer to number 10 was yes, why? 12. If the answer to number 11 was a tournament, why? 13. Other than the fact your boat handles like a pig with only 150 HP, why did you buy the 225HP (or larger)? 14. Is your boat longer than 18 feet? 15. If the answer to number 14 is yes, why? 16. If your answer to number 15 is survival on the Lake of the Ozarks, we understand. If not, please explain your answer to number 13 to us as if we were six year olds. 17. If your boat weighed half as much as yours, what would a reasonable power package be? 18. Is there a boat with near the length of yours and half the weight? P.S. Some of my answers to the above questions are justifiable only by using manly retorts like, "Because I can!" and "Because I want to!" I just thought that in light of $4.00 gas this summer, we might want to rethink what we drive. BTW, the Supreme in the picture was mine. I sold it for a much larger boat.

The ugly guy in the picture is me. This is my first attempt at putting together any kind of web page or blog. The kids I teach are veterans of My Space, but I am not. I intend to add pictures, comments, and stories you might find interesting. Be forewarned I have a quirky sense of humor. I fish out of Holiday Island and the entries will focus on what I see up here. Those of you who stay in the dam area may find it interesting to learn what it is like to fish a lake less than 60 feet deep. By the way, the large walleye I am holding with another was the second largest one I caught in 2007. The one I am hiding behind is a 2011 fish that weighed 13.75 pounds and measured 32 inches.

Falcon makes excellent rods within your price range. I have fished them for more than ten years. Look at the LowRider and Cara lines.

Checked again just now. Now the graph shows 931 and a bit. I'm glad I took a picture of the odd graph. Otherwise everyone would be wondering what I had been doing at 6 something in the morning.

I was checking the lake levels in the White River chain. When I checked the Table Rock level, the corps graph shows: I went across the street and looked down. The lake was still there and high. Do you suppose someone at the corps is too?

If Bull has 4 and a little feet left to top of power pool, and Powersite is below water, then Bull's top of power pool means many Branson businesses and homes get wet, correct? What a mess. When this happens to the streams and rivers we fish, we talk about how the flush is good for the river. When it happens to people's homes and their livelihood, it isn't same, is it? What has boggled my mind is the number of people, the number of acres, and the number of miles the high water will affect. Lumber in Arkansas and Missouri will go through the roof once rebuilding starts.

You joined in time to read all the flood news, unfortunately. I am sure you would rather read about fishing success. I am sure the forum members would rather be writing that news. Welcome.

Lots of water is headed to our lake. With the ground already soaked the run off is greater this week than last. Highway 187 is closed at two places. The Beaver bridge is partially submerged and closed. In addition Leatherwood is out of banks and on the highway at Elk Ranch. North Main Street in Eureka has 4" of water flowing through the street on the way to the creeks that feed Leatherwood. Going to be fun getting home tonight.

Now that the picture is out, there will be three on LOZ by the end of the month.

For something to put the sauce on, try this: Mix 1 cup of whole milk ricotta with enough soft goat cheese (like chevre) to equal a half stick of butter. Add about a cup of grated parmesan cheese. Add two egg yolks and mix. Chop well drained spinach and add about 1/2 to 2/3 cup. Salt and pepper to taste. Use the mixture to fill large shells cooked but left very al dente. Spray grease a cassarole and put the filled shells in one layer. Cover completely with the sauce. Bake uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes to one hour. The liquid from the sauce finishes the pasta cooking while the egg and cheese mixture firms up.

Pretty slim pickings for authentic Italian anywhere. College years were spent in Providence, RI. Totally ruined me for most Italian restaurants. It was especially embarrassing since my father represented the owner of the "best" Italian restaurant in Tulsa for many years. fly2fish: Drive south to Campesi's on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, TX. Dano: Try this for a simple sauce that doesn't taste like a jar. Saute in extra virgin olive oil on low heat 1/2 cup diced shallots. When translucent, add 2 tablespoons tomato paste and four or five cloves of minced garlic. Stir and saute until paste thickens the onions and oil. Add 2 teaspoons dry oregano, 2 teaspoons dry basil, one drained can of diced tomatoes, and one can of diced tomatoes with liquid. Add a good splash of Frank's hot sauce, pepper to taste, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Do not salt until the end. The liquid in the can tomatoes is very high in salt. Bring the sauce to simmer for 15 to 30 minutes. Use a blender or food processor to turn the mixture to sauce. Add 4 or 5 chopped leaves of fresh basil if you can. All others: Where is this Hill you are talking about?

I always thought Elly Mae was cute. Never did get to meet her though. I can completely understand anyone moving to Mountain Home. While I was qualifying to teach, I spent several weeks plus 10 to 12 weekends there over a two year period. I was impressed.

My wife and I feel we fell in a pot of chocolate. We are not in, but are near Eureka Springs. If I walk across the street to the expensive bluff on the water side, I can look down and see the marina where I keep my boat on Table Rock Lake. Our house sits on rocks in the trees. No lawn mower. The yearly assessment by the district is about $750 per lot. Our real estate taxes are less. For the assessment we have paved roads, snow plows when needed, the clubhouse and pool, golf courses, and patrols. She and I both teach now and are looking forward to another 6 to 8 years at that. If something happens, the expenses here are not so great that what we already have built will take care of things. Taney is about an hour away, Beaver is twenty minutes, the tailwaters less. I can have my canoe in the Kings River in a half hour. We moved over here in 2002. Since then I have landed a 8.5 pound largemouth, a 6 pound brown, and a 9 pound walleye within boat driving distance of here. Yeah. We're real happy here.

When the wife and I decided to retire from the first careers, we made a list of factors for relocation. 1. Favorable house cost compared to where we came from. That reduced mortgage amounts to what we knew we could payoff before income risks grew higher. 2. More than adequate medical care, especially in areas more likely as we aged - heart, cancer, etc. 3. Low or at least reasonable taxes (property, income, sales) 4. Less than an hour from a regional hub airport. We had many frequent flyer miles we have used to fly in the daughters for visits. 5. Diverse available activities. I knew I could fish nearly every day, but diversity is insurance against injury or sickness shutting out the one thing you like. 6. Water - lakes and rivers! 7. Decent climate, meaning not much cold weather. 8. Someplace that didn't require a lawn. I hate mowing grass and lawn service can be expensive. 9. No real traffic jams or pressure. After we did research, we wound up looking at Hot Springs and the Fayetteville-Bentonville-Alpena triangle. Greers Ferry area also worked. If we had not added the airport requirement, Mountain Home would definitely have been on our list. Hope this helps you with your decision process.

Let's see. Family. Check. Good trip. Double check. Pictures. Check. Does it get better? All of us are glad for you.

Grand lies east of the I44 streach between Tulsa and Joplin. That lake is currently two feet above conservation (power) pool. Rain is forecast for this week. The lake is developed, but not as bad as LOZ. Good fishing lake. Major tournaments schedule stops there because of the quality of fish. Found this blurb about the lake on the net: Grand Lake O' The Cherokees Preview: Short Take: 59,200 acres, lower lake is open water with rocks, ledges, and deeper depths; upper lake includes more flats and river-type conditions. Each year the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation ranks the state’s lakes for productivity using a number of criteria tabulated from 12 months of bass tournament results, and each year Grand Lake (properly known as Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees) consistently ranks at or near the top of the list. When the average weights of winning tournament catches, the average weight per individual fish, and the number of fishing hours needed to catch a bass weighing 5 pounds or heavier are compiled, it is no wonder this scenic impoundment in the Ozark Mountains near the Arkansas and Missouri borders has become such a popular fishing destination for all of mid-America. Created in 1940 by a mile-long dam across the Neosho River, the 59,200-acre lake has a 1,300-mile-long shoreline and an average depth of 35 feet. Other major tributaries include the Elk and Spring Rivers, as well as numerous smaller creeks. Primary Species: Largemouth and spotted bass, limited smallmouth population in tributary rivers. Another idea, if you want smallmouth, would be to contact the member who has an Elk River outfitting/guide service. I think his screen name is wacky worm. Ask him about the Elk River conditions. Good luck. Even if your trip isn't the greatest, it will be better that my Spring so far. I can't reach my boat unless I use a boat.

I know you'll think this is off topic. It has to do with boat building. What's a cubit?

See there, better and more recent information. I should have expected the development. Reflecting on it, it has been at least four, maybe five, years since I even drifted past Rim. In the old days we put in at Cotter and fished down to Ranchette or Buffalo. We spent most of the time at Red Bud and Rim. The last few years I have gone back to fishing the upper end and have begun fishing Norfolk. Actually, I'm glad they made public access to that area easier. It is one of the premier areas on the river.

Public launches are above Rim Shoals at Cotter, and below it at Ranchette. Cotter is closer. Rim is two? maybe three shoals down. With two units boats can go both directions easily. If you want to walk in you will have to deal with property owners. There is at least one dock/resort at the shoals. Take 62 east out of Cotter. Turn right on CR-4. Go south on CR-4. You will bear left when it joins Buford Cutoff. Turn right on Rim Shoals Road, also known as CR-58. Follow it West and South to the end. It doubles back some but keep going. I haven't been down the road in seven or eight years but those are the directions I had to the resorty/dock at the shoals. BTW the pool just above Rim and below Redbud Shoals holds huge Browns throughout the summer. Don't hesitate to fish it as well as the CR area. Good luck.

I stand corrected.

On a day with no rain and not too much run off and Beaver not dumping floodgates, the corps could drop the lake 6" without flooding Branson. We are at or near 929 right now. Beaver is less than a foot from spillway and has gates open. Rain is in the forecast for Wed. I'm thinking the lake will still be above 920 (and maybe even above 925) on the 27th. At 920, the lake is 5' above power pool. Brush is flooded and shore is behind the brush a few feet. Early in the day, fish the flooded brush edge with top waters - spooks, chug bugs, and such. Some fish will still be on beds, but many will be done. After the top water bite ceases, for numbers you might try a split shot fish doctor. For large fish, I would flip the brush and logs. At 925, the shore is yards behind the flooded brush. Bring a chain saw and during practice day cut boat trails into promising areas. ;-)

I live at Holiday Island on Tablerock, outside of Eureka Springs. By choice. However, like Terry's post on Mountain Home, employment is more difficult here than some places. Try this thought. Fayetteville, AR has often been named to best places to live lists - AARP, Money, etc. It's a college town (U of A), growing, has excellent schools, and is less than one hour from Beaver Lake, Table Rock, the Buffalo River, the Kings River, and numerous year round rivers, creeks and streams. (Lee's Creek, War Eagle, Osage, Upper White) Frankly, anywhere within the triangle of Fayetteville, Springfield and Mountain Home will be better than good.

I am sure I speak for everyone when I say I am very glad you had such a good trip. Great pictures. rps