Chief Grey Bear

Hey Cricket, you may want to do like Buzz and I have done and go to Wally World and back in the camping section is a blue colored water proof box. I don't know how big your camera is but it will probably hold it. We took it a step further and cut to fit some thin foam and glued to all of the sides and top and bottom to reduce shock to the camera. We just clip these to our belts and have no worrys about the water. Never a drop has got in these. And we have submerged them on many occasions.

I used to think you was a pretty sharp feller there Thom. I ain't so sure now. Illinois is the next state east of the great state of Missouri. Sorry Thom, that was just to easy to let slip by.

On the DREAMS I'LL NEVER SEE: MOLLY HATCHETT, I prefer the Allman Bro's version. Which do you like best? I am a huge Allman Bothers music fan. I am not as hip on there studio cuts but, you can't beat those live albums. Those boys are musicians in every since of the word. The more you listen to them, the more you hear. I am also on board with all the others listed here also. Love that Marshall Tucker band. Extremly under rated!!

Now that's funny. I didn't even notice that you put "turtle creek" in there. I just recognized where a couple of the pic were. I commend you for calling it that! Let's hook up later this summer and do a wade trip with the boys. As you know, this creek as an awesome brownie population.

Great pics fishin!! I love that creek. I was there two weeks ago and the water was high but clear. It was just about to start raining again so I didn't do much. Hung around for about 20-30 minutes and just fished the bridge area. Sure enough it started raining so I called it a day. Got my fix I guess.

I guess it just bothers me a little that someone would, as it appears to me, put false or misleading information as fact to lure in potential clientele.

Call Us Today! Fish the River that Bassmaster Magazine rated as the #1 Smallmouth Bass River in the country! The New River is the second oldest river in the world and one of only two that flow north. The New is our most popular destination for its shear beauty, history and tremendous fishing! I found the above statement on a smallmouth fishing guide site from an east coast state. Now correct me if I am wrong but, don't both the Niangua and the Gasconade flow north out of the Ozarks? I say let them keep there #1 rating though. No since in telling everyone that is really here in the Ozarks.

Well thats odd. I posted about 3 weeks ago about a fisherman in Butler county that had just set the state record for this species and it was stated that Mo is on the very southern range. Now Butler county is certainly not BS, but one agent says they are not native to MO and another says they are. I have never caught one but, boy do they look good for eating!!

These by chance don't have a fiber washer where the spool is does it?

Yeah I guess. I am glad you posted that. It is good info to know. I didn't know that. As broad as the rule is, it would seem to cover fishing guides also????? If so than I have a few more questions. Any thoughts to that?????

Well, with the high water this weekend, I had some time to do some looking around. I did find that all seasons for hunting and bag limits are published and enforced by the Missouri Department of Conservation. And this from the MDC site: Hunting regulations Feral hogs (see legal definition below) may be taken in any number throughout the year. During most of the year, no permit is required and any method, including baiting and the use of dogs, is allowed. However, special restrictions apply during the fall firearms deer and turkey hunting seasons. Please refer to the current Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations Information brochure. Make sure feral hogs are truly feral and not someone’s livestock. Hunters who kill marked domestic raised hogs can be held liable for damages. All Missouri Department of Natural Resources state park property is deemed a wildlife refuge and is off limits to all hunting and vehicle traffic. It is illegal to hunt on private property without the landowner’s permission. First-degree trespass offenses carry a $500 fine. If you wish to hunt on private land, always ask permission first. Landowners often post or define the land boundaries of their property by marking trees, fence posts and other perimeter objects with purple paint. In a court of law, such marked properties are deemed posted against all activities. Other legal considerations Missouri Revised Statute 270.260. Any person who knowingly releases any swine to live in a wild or feral state upon any public land or private land not completely enclosed by a fence capable of containing such animals is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. Each swine so released shall be a separate offense. Missouri Revised Statute 270.400. Killing of feral hogs is permitted when: For purposes of this section, the term "feral hog" means any hog, including Russian and European wild boar, that is not conspicuously identified by ear tags or other forms of identification and is roaming freely upon public or private lands without permission. A person may kill a feral hog roaming freely upon such person's land and shall not be liable to the owner of the hog for the loss of the hog. Any person may take or kill a feral hog on public land or private land with the consent of the landowner; except that, during the firearms deer and turkey hunting season the regulations of the Missouri wildlife code shall apply. Such person shall not be liable to the owner of the hog for the loss of such hog. No person except a landowner or such landowner's agent on such landowner's property shall take or kill a feral hog with the use of an artificial light. (Feral hog hunters may legally harvest any number, size and/or sex of feral hog.)

I would bet this fella doesn't doubt it: FEBRUARY 3, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FORMER SHELL KNOB MAN SENTENCED FOR ILLEGALLY TAKING PADDLEFISH EGGS, SELLING CAVIAR SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a former Shell Knob, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to harvest the eggs from paddlefish caught in illegal nets at Table Rock Lake, which were processed into caviar and sold to a Tennessee company. Thomas Jerry Nix, Jr., 39, of Memphis, Tenn., formerly of Shell Knob, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith on Monday, Feb. 2, 2009, to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Nix to pay $30,002 in restitution to the Missouri Department of Conservation. Nix will forfeit to the government a 20-foot Bumblebee 200 Pro boat and trailer, with 225 HP Mariner motor, a GPS unit, and miscellaneous equipment such as three gill nets with anchors and a digital scale, all of which were used to commit the offense. On Sept. 4, 2008, Nix pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to engage in illegal commercial fishing for American paddlefish on Table Rock Lake and to illegally take the roe (eggs) of paddlefish, process that roe into caviar, and transport and sell that caviar in interstate commerce from December 2007 to Feb. 17, 2008. Beginning in December 2007, Nix set three gill nets on Table Rock Lake and used a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to mark the location of the nets. Every one to three days thereafter, Nix and his co-conspirator returned to check the gill nets for paddlefish. When paddlefish were retrieved from the gill nets, Nix slit open each paddlefish suspected to contain roe, and extracted the roe from the paddlefish by hand. They sealed the roe in plastic bags and transported the roe to the his residence in Shell Knob, where the he processed the roe into caviar. Between December 2007 and February 2008, Nix and his co-conspirator relocated the gill nets on Table Rock Lake as the paddlefish moved upstream to spawn. In order to conceal their illegal activities, after removing the roe from the paddlefish, they sank the carcasses of the paddlefish they killed by weighting them with rocks. After processing the roe into caviar, Nix packaged the roe in plastic containers, weighed and labeled the containers with labels supplied by a Tennessee company, refrigerated the caviar and stored it in his residence. Periodically, Nix and his co-conspirator transported the paddlefish caviar from his residence in Shell Knob to three separate locations in Tennessee, where they sold it to a company engaged in the business of buying, processing and selling caviar. Between Jan. 11 and Feb. 11, 2008, Nix sold approximately 387 pounds of paddlefish caviar to the Tennessee firm for a total of $35,820. On the night of Feb. 17, 2008 agents of the Missouri Department of Conservation and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service apprehended Nix as he returned from his illegal commercial fishing on Table Rock Lake. Nix, who was in possession of 78.3 pounds of unprocessed paddlefish roe, admitted to taking paddlefish illegally, and stated that he had caught approximately eight paddlefish that night, from which he had taken the roe. Nix gave the agents consent to search his residence in Shell Knob, where they found an additional 91.32 pounds of paddlefish roe that had been processed into caviar, packaged in containers labeled for sale to a Tennessee company in the business of buying and selling caviar in interstate commerce. The following day, Feb. 18, 2008, Nix led agents to three gill nets that he had set in Table Rock Lake. The agents retrieved the nets, and released 17 live paddlefish which had been caught in them. Nix and his co-conspirator violated numerous Missouri laws and regulations, including the prohibition on the use of gill nets for sport fishing, taking paddlefish out of season, engaging in commercial fishing without a commercial license and using gill nets where not permitted and leaving them unattended. Nix also violated federal regulations that prohibit commercial activities on Table Rock Lake without the permission of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which the defendant did not have. Finally, paddlefish roe were subject to United States Food and Drug Administration regulations concerning Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans. Improperly processed paddlefish roe were subject to contamination by botulinum brucella and listeria monocyteogenes. Because Nix did not have a HACCP plan or permit to process paddlefish roe, all of the paddlefish caviar which the defendant introduced into interstate commerce was “adulterated” under the Food and Drug Administration Act. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich. It was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation.

I think we may be confusing Federal lands and MDC lands. MTNF is governed by the feds I believe. But either way I say shot all the ferral hogs you can. As far as the regs for guides, choose your wording carefully and state exactly what you are paying for. If you know what I mean. This could be interesting. I will have to do some more research on it.

Well OK then, we will just go fishing.

Gavin~ This is much larger than a Heron's nest. It is also the only one in the area and Heron's nest in groups called a rookery. They have a wide nest but it is somewhat shallow as compared to this nest or a hawks nest. There is a rookery on Shoal creek near Mt. Malang and another one on the golf course at Bella Vista. Thanks for the info Laker. I'll take you to it, if you want to climb up there and measure it. I'll throw the fishing trip in for nothing.

Hey redbud~ thank you so much for the offer. I am on boad with Ducky if you want some clean up. I know others will join too. I am not opposed to "having a little talk" with those that seem to want to trash your area. Are you up or down stream from Cyclone?

I agree. I have seen some large hawk nest but, never this large. I think we will keep an eye on it and see what, if anything, we can see.

All I know is I just read all 144 post and my eyes are crossed. I should refrain from posting but I just wanted to say that I am glad for all the C&R guys. Bless you for what you do. Every year there is a group of us, six total usually, that will go down to the Rock in spring, I think this year it is coming up in a couple of weeks, and we will fish for brownies exclusively. It is the geatest thing for all of us to catch our limit. That evening as we watch the sun go down we will slip those babies in a cast iron skillet of hot grease. To hear those babies sizzling and the fried taters crackling...oh the smeall and the taste! Right on the banks of the Rock. Ok now put your eyeballs back in your head! I haven't fish the Rock in years. I haven't kept a bass let alone any fish in years. But I will say I do love to eat fish. Just haven't done it in years. I guess I just don't feel like messing with them. And really don't want to anymore. If you are gonna keep bass, I would rather you do it from a lake than a river or creek. That is just a totally different type of fishery. And personally I would rather you keep a limit of 12 inchers as 15+ inchers. That is just my opinion and you are entitled to not agree with me. (Most people don't)

Here is a shot of what we think must be an eagles nest. This is about 50' or so up. Here are a couple of bonus shots I took while on this trip. Sorry for the torture KC. Consider it motivation to get your butt down here! Wader, We will try and leave a few for you. I'll send you PM with some addtional info from the last one.

Buzz and I took a little float trip today. Although it was a beautiful day, as all days are in the Ozarks, I could have done without the wind. It was a constant battle all day long. Today we ventured deep into Mac County, just above the Elk. We hit the water about 9:00 and Buzz caught two before I had everything unpacked to start the trip. You gotta watch that with him. But he needs every advantage he can get. The water temp was warmer than we thought it would be. It seemed to be somewhere in the high 50's. Saw a few nests already too. We caught the fish on a variety of baits. I used a Yum crawdad on Spot Remover Pro Model jig, tadpolly, spinnerbait, and a stickbait. All of them produced. We caught the majority of our fish from 11:00 to about 1:00. After that time I think we only picked up a half dozen. We got off the water at 4:30. Buzz ended up with 23 and I managed to boat 16. Not a huge day, but the quality of some of those fish was pretty good. We each had quite a few that didn't make it to the boat. If we had got them all, we would have had well over 50 fish today. Oh and of all these fish, I caught one Kentucky and Buzz had one Largemouth. All of the others were brownies. We never even caught a goggle eye! Even this little fella wanted in on the action today.

Oh yeah yeah. The LITTLE Blue. I moved to KC after I left the MNA to work for the IMRL. I always wondered what it be like to float form say Swope Park to the confluence of the Mighty MO. I wondered about the Kaw from Argentine to the MO too. BTW I worked out of Knoche. I had the luck of going to all yards except the NS and the old SLSF Rosedale.

Really nice fish there wader! Now if you two want to do something crazy...Lets take a float down the Blue River and see what we come up with. Ahh...well...lets use a different term... maybe...see what kinda action we can find...fishing wise that is.

Well I don't think you will find any town specific areas anywhere on the forum but I sure think it would fit in either the Other Ozark Lakes or Other Ozark waters. I doubt anyone would scold you for it.

Why not post your report in the appropriate area?

Sorry Daze your out! No self respecting Carthage Tiger would ever be caught socializing with anyone that has a Webb City connection. I ran into fishin this week and we talked about rescheduling this trip. We can do that now or wait until June for KC. I kinda think June maybe better weather wise anyway. Let me know what you guy's think. wader- like Buzz said Shoal has a great population of brownies. And yes there are days that is about all we get and there are days we won't hardly get one. They seem to be as moody as a fine woman. There are areas of Shoal that do hold higher numbers of brownies than largemouth. A float on the Indian from Lanagan to Mt. Shira will give you what you are looking for. You should stay very busy with a brownie on the bussiness end of your line.