SKMO

I live on Kings River near Shell Knob and have seen this for many years. Local story is that a pilot's Mom lived in SK and he buzzed her house but I was never sure that was the case. Mainly because they always flew the same exact pattern time after time, usually see them about twice a year, but I am not home during days. I think there are some A-10's based out of Whiteman but not sure on this. Anyway they are real cool aircraft, always sounded to me like a giant Hoover vacuum cleaner. Low and kind of slow and always making hard banks and flying sideways.

Well the cooking forum does not get much attention here but thought I would share something I recently discovered that is awesome. First of you need to have a good quality beefsteak (KC strip, porterhouse, t-bone etc) and know how to cook it. Hot and fast right? On a good quality cut I used to use just a splash of worcestershire sauce, maybe a dab of soy or teryiaki, and a lot of fresh ground black pepper. Take the same deal and then dust it heavily with espresso ground coffee. (Coffee ground almost like flour) Gotta be cooked on a real hot fire and it blackens and makes a great crust. If you have cheap meat and/or do not know how to cook a steak forget it. Anyway this is really good, and makes a good blackened crust. You can barely taste the coffee, if at all, but it does add a real rich flavor. You can find a lot more involved coffee/steak recipes online but a bit of salt from worsc or soy, some black pepper and coffee grounds works good for me. I have also done this on burgers with good results. Trick seems to be tossing the meat on a real hot fire and charring the grounds. Try it, really good.

The Spoon plug right? That dates me I guess. I have 5 spoon plugs on my wall. Most won't get it as we older farts might. Buck Perry = Spoonplug and structure fishing. Nothing new under the sun I guess. \

I can assure you putting anything in the lake is forbidden without a permit from US-CEC, Little Rock You might disagree with the whole philosophy but think about what the lake would become if every Bubba could dump his junk in the lake. Car bodies and bedsprings are great habitat.

For what it's worth we have been fishing the 35-50'++ water the last couple weeks AT DAYBREAK. Shallow jig and topwater fish have been scarce, i.e. non existent. I am relating experiences from Shell Knob to KC. Our only concern is getting run over in the dark as we are parked in the middle of the lake. Seems silly to hang junk in 45 feet of water a half mile from shore at 0500 but it works. Like Bill B said work the roll-offs. Every cove (as you face it from the main lake) will have a shallow side and a deep side, right or left as you face it. Find the deep break side and look for where the bottom breaks suddenly, like from 24 to 40 feet in a boat length (as an example). I.E. underwater ledges or mini-bluffs. Home in on these underwater breaks, the same abrupt structure can run for hundreds of feet or a mile, it is old geology. Seriously... look for abrupt vertical drops... fish hang out on these places Stick with it and you will find some sweet spots where the fish hang out.

Yep this is for sure true, just as Jay Bird said. The young kid was/is actually the son of the DNR Park Manager. He ended up flown to KC from Cassville. He was a sick little guy for a week but came through it OK. He got bit as he was climbing up the ladder at the chlorinated swimming pool right next to the DNR park office. Lots of snake stories around but this one is for sure true. I got it first hand from the kid's father.

Ah well... I showed her your definition and she rolled her eyes and did the little foot stomp thing and advised me that metaphysicist that I am, there was still the lawn needing mowing with subsequent weed trimming involved before I got to go fishing tonight. She still cannot figure out the nice riding mower I bought her a couple years ago, but yet reminds me often that I trained her on all the handguns and she has her own stash of ammo, so I am in a continual pickle here. Plus I seem to be short one Browning Hi-Power which makes me nervous. Anyway Mowing this evening it looks like, before hitting Baxter area.

All good info, keep it coming. I was the one that said reeling against the drag caused twist. Yep, limp line is good on a spinner. I have one rod rigged w/spectra type line and am getting used to it (10/6 I think). I usually use 8# Trilene XL(extra limp) as mainline with 6# floro below the swivel. I have some light / short rods I use 6# floro as mainline with 6# floro below. Would prefer a leader lighter than the mainline but 4# is too light in my experience. Does anyone know of a more limp mono type than XL? Another thing I am sold on is large diameter reel spools. Bigger is better due to less kink and roll. They might be high capacity but spool on some 12# or bigger junk first to take up volume and leave room for a couple hundred feet of the good stuff on top. Another tip that you may like is to pre-tie all your dropshot rigs, here is how I do it, pic hopefully attached, this saves me a lot of time and aggravation on the water, especially as my eyesight is not too keen these days. 1) When the wife and kids are not watching cut off a chunk of their swim noodle about 10" long. 2) Make a longwise stripe on the tube with a Sharpie. This is just a visual reference mark where you will sink the hooks. 3) Make several shallow cuts maybe 1/4" deep on the circumference of the piece of tube. In this pic I have 9 of them. Darken them by dragging the sharpie in the slit you just made, again just so you can see the slits. 4) Tie up your d-shot hooks in the middle of a 4' floro leader. I put swivels on the top of a couple of them but usually when you break off you will still have your swivel on the end of the line so just have a couple with swivels ready to go, one less knot to tie when you do lose the whole deal. 5) I tie a big figure 8 knot on the bottom of the line (18" below hook) and use simple pinch-on split shots for weight, #3, 2 and 1. Split shot is much cheaper than specialized weights and works fine for me. Plus you can add or subtract weight instantly as needed. Another really good thing is when you get a head-shaker drop shot-type mess you can pop the splitshot off the line and get untangled pretty quick, usually. 6) When you have your pre-tied hooks and leaders made up just stick the hook near the index line and wrap and embed the line in the slits around the piece of noodle, they will stay neat and tidy. I guess it is my age and poor eyesight showing but I have bounced around way too long at times trying to make up d-shot rigs in the middle of the lake for several minutes while missing fish. If I have pre-tied them at home in the comfort of my den I can get back to business a lot quicker. Also when they get a bit frazzled just cut off and tie a fresh one. Easier to do if it is a 45 second operation, otherwise I just tended to get lazy and let the line fail and lost fish and hooks and weight. Anyway this is my best dropshot tip, works well for me. Saves a ton of time and aggravation on the water.

I agree 100% with this reasoning. I have not killed a non-poisonous snake for 30+ years. I have killed 3 copperheads in our backyard over the last 13 years, mainly because we have 3 smallish dogs and wife and kids and I all walk around barefoot at night at times. I have seen and "passed" on dozens and dozens of copperheads in the woods, including one that crawled over my leg as I sat calling a turkey. Was already shaking due to the turkey and C-head did not have much to add adrenaline-wise, so snake lived and turkey died about 10 minutes later. I was bit by a c-head in 1984, never even went to a Dr. with the bite because by the time I got out of the woods and made it into town over 2 hours had passed and it seemed to me the worst was over and I did not have insurance. Ended up just like a really bad red wasp sting. (Also at the time had just had a lab bit right on the breastbone and paid around $150 for a vet to give him "treatment" which was nothing more than an antibiotic shot). I also very recently (2 weeks ago) dispatched a cottonmouth near the docks in our neighborhood in Shell Knob. This was in an area a lot of people swim, including a lot of kids and people I am responsible for. We have swam there for years and see water snakes almost every time down there, but this was the first C-mouth so that is how uncommon they are, in my opinion. I did not feel bad about sending it to meet it's maker. Actually my son ran up to my truck and got the 1911 and popped him in two pieces with a 200gr Cor-Bon. Sank like a rock and I did not feel bad about seeing both pieces of him spiral down. My boss and I both stepped numerous times within 15" of a large rattlesnake just yesterday. He got a pic and he is emailing it to me, hopefully it has a date/time stamp, in any case we left it where we found it, alive.

Hey pop to the top ! My original prediction a month ago proved true. Big Chicken Spill went away. It just went away. Hey DNR you got an opinion on this? Thought so. Just a layman's opinion but it would be nice to know someone gave a flip from MO DNR in charge of environmental health in this state. Maybe just a little inkling that someone, somewhere, gave a little bit of a dung about what was actually happening on the ground locally. Like I predicted this "major news event" just went away. Yawn.

Ah yes. A big black snake. Possibly a cottonmouth, possibly something different. It's got a cottonmouth tag on it on the Internet so must be true? To reiterate, there are a few positive moc ID's but you got to be up pretty close and personal for most all of them unless you are pretty strong on herp ID's. Not trying to stir up stuff or be cantankerous but there is a lot of mis-information about snakes in general. L

I am not sure where you live but if you think you have a bad Batt and before you get too torqued about the situation I would get in touch with Battery Outfitters in Golden, which is where they (Pro-Guide)came from originally. I have bought numerous vehicle and boat batteries from them over the last 15 years and to say they are generous with me is a huge understatement. Really good people to deal with, they have given me some complete replacements when I was a couple months out of warranty. Twice on 24V trolling batts. In other words twice I was right at or beyond my 24 month limit and they slapped 2 brand new ones in the boat no questions asked, nothing pro-rated, no tax, no nothing, just new batteries and man was I happy. They have a lot of vendors in the field in SW MO. I was up around Stockton about 4 years ago and my cranker went out. I found a boat place with a Pro-Guide sign and they made a quick call to Golden and again a new battery slapped in, no questions asked. Honestly, maybe a bit better batteries are out there but I doubt you will get better service from anyone, anywhere. I have no affiliation with them other than they have been A-Number One full time service for me, whenever I had a problem. I would recommend them without hesitation to anyone, so give them a call, betcha might be surprised. At least they will tell you if your amp drain is beyond limits. Good luck.

Back to the original question, as far as the mainline getting twisted..... Someone please explain how one line can twist more than another. You got mono and floro and superline and etc etc etc but the twist is going to always happen on the terminal end of the line, hopefully just above or beyond a swivel of some sort on a dropshot. Anyway I have heard forever that some lines twist more than others and I just can't see it. It's all in the reel and presentation. My baitcasters never twist, my spinners always do if I reel against the drag. Enlighten me, I can't see how the line itself has anything to do with twisting.

RPS - I had to look up metaphysical and as far as I can tell I resemble that allegation. It's a polite way to say I am wierd at times and generally quirky but I am fine with that. I've been referred to in lesser and more specific terms in the last couple hours by my own spouse in fact, and will remind her I am a "metaphysicist" during our next discussion. I am sure this will turn the tide in my favor. She may be calling you for clarification. Thanks for your support.

Number 1 & 3 for sure not poisonous. They both have round pupils. The one in the middle is hard to tell, bad picture, impossible to tell. Middle one does not seem to have the girth or head shape of a viper but without a better pic impossible to tell. Just another big black snake from the picture. Actually looks like the tip of the tail was chopped off and sitting a couple inches away. From the blunt end of the tail in general I might guess it as a moc, but head a little slender. I'll stand by my original statement a person needs to get a good look at the head/eyes which you cannot do from this pic.

Copperheads are pretty common statewide but they are an upland snake not particularly attracted to water. They are adapted to dry woodlands, and although I have only seen one is the water it would not be unusual to see one in or around water. Cottonmouths are very much water related. Like DBlade said upper James around Flat Creek is a pretty common place to see them, and I have seen several on Flat Creek itself up toward Jenkins. I have seen 3 for sure cotttonmouth in Baxter to Shell Knob area in the last 20 years. Probably more but 3 I could for sure guarantee were mocs. I think 99%+ of the snakes I see in the water are midland, diamondback, or northern water snakes. Depending on your reference most people say the midland water snake is most common in the TR area. There are a few positive identifying characteristics of poisonous snakes in MO. (Rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water mocs) All are "pit vipers" and all will have 1) An eliptical (vertical) eye pupil, like a cat. Not round. 2) A distinct "pit" or hole between their nostril and eye. 3) Behind the butthole a pit viper has single scales on the bottom, that transition into a pair of overlapping bottom scales. Not a positive ID because there are some non-poisonous snakes that have this as well. But if behind the hole they are immediately overlapped like shingles it is not a pit viper (poisonous). Actually if you are doing a rectal exam on your snake you have probably made a positive ID from their pupils and head pits anyway, so it's probably a moot point. 4) Fangs. Again probably a moot point as you and the snake have come to terms and you are doing a dental exam. A common layman's identifier of poisonous snakes is a triangular shaped head. This is a pretty good characteristic but not positive. Large snakes of other species can have some chunky heads. Triangular is kind of a vague term. That said all mocs, rattlers, and copperheads do seem to me to have a triangular head, but so do some other snakes, so not conclusive. Regarding water mocs, to me a real attention-getter is how they float on the water. A regular water snake will swim mostly submerged, and scoot underwater when he sees you, usually. A moc will float real high on the water like he is made of styrofoam and will more or less hold his ground, not really agressive but will want you to get out of his way, pretty fearless is how I would describe them. Color and pattern is a poor way to ID snakes. They moult a couple times per season and most snakes of all varieties turn almost black before shedding their skins. Also the diameter of a moc is pretty large. A 4' moc will probably be as big around as your lower forearm, and the tail end will taper quick from big and fat to nothing. They are really chunky, most water snakes are more streamlined. Just my observations, I don't think there are a huge number of them on TR but a few for sure. For the record I don't think snakes should be killed on sight, just because they are snakes. We (as humans) have an aversion to them but most are harmless and actually beneficial. My wife freaks but I have a no-kill policy around our house and we have co-habitated for years with the reptiles with nary a problem. Bottom line is if you can get close enough to see their pupils and they are vertical slits that is 100% foolproof they are poisonous. Thats the first thing I look for. If your fishing buddy tangles with a snake and goes into convulsions it might be worth a trip to the Emergency Room. If he seemed stable and couldn't describe the pupils of the snake that bit him I'd keep him fishing if it was a good bite going on. Fish bite, not snake bite. Aw heck if it was a good snakebite I'd get his wife to pick him up on the ramp, then go back to the fish, he would understand.

I throw Sammys almost exclusively and the color I go to is a milky translucent deal I do not know the name of. I have a couple with some chrome on the bottom and some other neutral shad colors, all of them work. Actually I think color has very little to do with getting bit on a topwater walking bait. 50% is finding the right fish, 45% working it correctly, remaining 5% might be color. Just my opinion, but most of the topwater deal is fishing in the right places and having the cadence / rhythm, presentation down that they want that day. Might be a topwalker, might be a redfin, might be a popper. Get dialed in and black, white, purple or pink plugs with polka-dots of various colors, becomes really insignificant. Point is find something you have confidence in. There is a Karma that begins at your head and extends ,through the rod and line, to the terminal junk, and when you hit the sweet spot and have confidence in yourself the fish will show up.

Jeremy - The Redears are a distinct possibility on the larger bluegill-type fish. Last year a guy I work with said his Dad & Uncle were consistently catching some toad redears in and around Sweetwater (Mid Kings River). He could tell I was skeptical and brought in a couple carcasses for me to look at and for sure they were really large redear, and I keep hearing of more being caught. So I guess I forgot about those as a possible 11" fish. Personally I have never caught one on TR but I think I'm gonna give it a try around Sweetwater next time we plunk some bait. Thanks for the reminder, I would still like to see a pic of a couple bona-fide 10" TR gills. You can add an inch or two to any bass with a good fish story but I think the 10-11" gills are few and far between but willing to eat crow with some evidence. Biggest I ever caught was not measured but might have been approaching 10", it was caught on a 1/2 oz rattletrap in the midst of a bunch of schooling whites and KYs in June around Sans Souci point. Regards - SKMO

Next time I am out I will post a pic of our "best" gills. Again, not really humongous in my opinion, but put it this way... get a good scaler on the spoon (son) and a good knife guy to knock the shoulders off (me) and it's pretty easy to come up with a fish fry. Bluegill are very good to eat. Flathead is tops on my list, next gills. Walleye and crappie are also very fine but it's hard to discount a fish that tastes like fish and for this reason we also really like white bass. Love to eat them them all and am not ashamed to say we have a couple 4 or 5 big fish fries every year. Again this bluegill fishing(in my opinion)is not shooting fish in a barrel, the big guys are out a little deeper than you would expect, and probably a harder target than you would imagine. Start at 30' and go deeper with a chunk of crawler would be my advice. You will catch some nice ones but it is not hand-over-fist action, you will have to do some begging. I am by no means a TR bluegill expert and hope some others will input their expertise and experiences, I for sure have a lot to learn.

Well my son and I have been on a bluegill venture at least part of the day every time we have been out the last couple weeks. This because we like to eat fish and those in my family think B'gills are about as good as it gets. Talk about an under-utilized resource on TR this has to be it, gills-a-plenty. Not the big knot-heads you can get in more "fertile" lowland water but for a clear water reservoir TR has some decent gills. We have caught some really nice ones, although honestly no 11"ers, ever. I have caught a lot of gills on TR but I am not sure I have ever broke the 10" mark. Lots of 9's and some a bit over but mostly 9's. We can usually bag a couple dozen in a couple hours. I would like to see a pic of an 11" gill from TR. Call me a skeptic and prove me wrong, but if they do exist I think they are rare. Actually show me a couple of 10"ers and I would be impressed. Nothing to be ashamed about on the 9's as they have some serious shoulders on them and are well worthy of the fry-pan. But seriously I have never seen many over 9 but admittedly there is a lot of the lake I do not ever get to. It is not shooting fish in a barrel easy like when they are on the beds, but they are down there and fun to go after. Actually it is pretty challenging, but when you get on your game the fish will keep you interested. I fish for them in exactly the same places I dropshot for KY's. Right now 32-45' of water on open gravel, on a breakline. They will often suspend about 20' deep, but most often the biggies are on the bottom, just like a KY. I have tried for them on bluffs and in poletimber coves and my experience has been in these locations, they are smallish. I have always thought the big boys rubbed shoulders with the KY's on the shad flats. We always wash the crawlers and use a half or third piece, about 3" long, on a regular dropshot rig, hook I like is a Gammi #1 dropshot hook. I am pretty sure crickets might outfish crawlers but cricks are a pain in the butt to use. They are hard to deal with and the first peck you get you might as well figure they are off the hook. Plus you are not likely to catch a white or KY or walleye on anything else on a crick. My thinking is a half chunk of crawler oozing guts is pretty darn attractive to most everything that swims in this lake. Anyway one of the great offshoots of this whole presentation is you will catch about everything down there. Even trying to target gills you will be "pestered" by a lot of KY's, white bass (yes white bass eat crawlers and they will be large), and last Sat I caught a 23" walleye, maybe I can get the pic attached from the phone cam. This guy was caught on 4# mainline on a 5.5 foot ultralight crappie rod, much fun. Though not often said in my boat it was "get the net". That said please keep in mind catch and release, and selective harvest. Once you get comfortable with it, it is pretty easy to scare up a fish fry worth of bluegill most any time. Do this on a 5.5 or 6 foot med/light rod and you can have some serious fun with whoever wants to come out to play. Remember it's all about the tug on the line!

I live around Shell Knob and I can tell you roadrunners are pretty common. I have had them on my back deck numerous times looking at their reflection in the sliding glass door. They will also stand in front of a parked vehicle and admire themselves in a chrome bumper for hours on end. They are odd critters, almost tame. I have seen them jump into low bushes numerous times, and had one follow me on the shoreline chattering for an hour a few years ago as I fished up around Holiday Island. A couple years ago we had one in the backyard that I ran out to see, and when I got out there he was gone, or so I thought. I looked up and he was about 3' above my head looking down at me from the limb of a dogwood tree. I can assure you there are a lot of them along the AR border in the Lampe - Carr Lane - Golden - Eagle Rock area. I am pretty sure they are common as far east as West Plains. Like Skeeter said they really like open glades, but adapt well to bare pasture that has been grazed into the dirt (overgrazed). I have seen 2 at a time three times around Golden MO in the last year. If you want to see one drive the hwy between Golden and Grandview AR. (MO H that turns into AR 143). They are now found fairly regularly as far north as Lake Ozarks and west central MO area. I can remember in the early 80's when armadillos were an unusual sighting. Cool birds.

Well, I personally have trouble thinking straight on the best of days. Those that know me would wonder how anyone could even determine when I was off in left field as compared to a "good day" as I tend to do some bonehead stuff on a regular basis. But for sure I was a bit past the point of making great decisions. However when my hands clawed up in cramps that got my attention, and dense as I am, that was the trigger. Hopefully not an event I will repeat... But I've said that before too!

I had my own dehydration / overheating event last Sun, Fathers day. I was on the water at 0500 and had dropped a giant glass of tea from home and a couple bottles of water while on the lake, but by 1030ish it was still flat calm and hotter than the gates of hell when they forgot to grease the hinges. Absolutely no breeze, flat mirror slick water. Sweat was running in a steady stream from my elbows. I knew I was getting too hot and dipped my shirt and kept fishing. Could not wear sunglasses as they would fog up instantly. Got weak, shakey, and light headed, and then I started to get cramps in my hands and feet which I have never experienced. My fingers were curling up like the feet of a dead chicken, seriously. Palsy claws I could not get to function. After prying my fingers open several times only to have them draw back up I knew it was way past time to head in and drove away from biting fish. It's always something.... right? Long story short I made a short run to the ramp, a 15 minute drive home and do not remember a lot until the next morning. I looked bad enough when I got home that my wife called a neighbor that was a nurse and she had me chew some vitamins and drink OJ, but I was pretty much out of it and had the most horrendous leg cramps all night. Dehydrated for sure but also major electrolyte imbalance. I have always thought Gatorade and sport drinks were disgusting tasting (still do) but my wife has bought a couple years supply and has the freezer and boat stocked with them. Also my normal fishing breakfast has always been as much caffeine as I could pound down between waking up and the first cast (a lot) fortified with major and continual infusions of Skoal. So we have this new "fishing breakfast rule" that has put a bunch of granola type stuff in my boat at the expense of critical lure storage areas. Whatever. I do think the oatmeal bars have potential as panfish chum. Seriously, the hottest I have ever been in my life, and definitely an experience I do not want to repeat. Don't forget the electrolytes, they are important.

Chicken farmers are required by MO DNR law to compost dead birds, it is not an option and has nothing to do with business profitability. Most would prefer to toss them in the back 40 for the coyotes as they have done forever, and many still do. Word on the street is that these birds were mortality from a "catching crew". Crews of guys go in and have a chicken rodeo roundup to get them in trucks for their "final destination". They are allowed a certain amount of mortality but are penalized if they kill too many birds in the process, i.e. herd them all in a big pile where several hundred suffocate. Which is what might have happened here. I do not expect much to come of this, but could be wrong. Chickens rule in Barry County. I imagine all agencies involved are hoping the incident just goes away. Actually there was zero environmental damage done in my opinion when I looked at the dump site. Not a cool thing to do however, and we'll see if DNR wants to make an issue of this.