skeeter

Slipknot you just got about $5000 worth of advice from the best there are around these parts. I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in about spoons. If you can still find a Kastmaster ( actual brand name ) spoon anywhere these days in shiny chrome finish with a white feather trailer on the treble hook, buy one for each person in your party. You can throw these things about over the horizon on a good spinning rig with big enough line guides to allow the line to come off the spool quickly. Use a high quality ball bearing snap swivel to attach to your line as they will twist the line and you're not going to be retrieving them slowly. Cast beyond where the whites are coming up ( if possible ) and chasing and retrieve through them, preferrably in front of them if you can figure out the direction they are headed as they chase the shad. Most days you don't have to do anything fancy, just turn the handle on the reel and they will bust it. When the fish go down and look like they have stopped, many times you can fan cast the area and allow the spoon to flutter down 10-20 feet and catch another fish or two or even the Kentuckies or Largemouth that sometimes follow underneath the whites picking up the scraps. Locations given in previous posts are the best and sometimes, if conditions are right those big four pounders will corner a school of baitfish against a pea-gravel bank right alongside a long sloping point. Best of luck to you and hope you find 'em.

ROTFLMAO !!! Got to remember the rooster tail trick but I think Water Patrol might have a problem with that. Thinking of the Water Patrol, I know you guides know most of the officers. What do they say about operating a boat too close to a boat that's obviously not under-way and is fishing ? Will they respond if you phone in registration numbers and boat description ? I know they are busy but let's face it, someone is going to get swamped or hurt as most of those people are drinking all day long. Time to stop this before it get's like Lake of the Ozarks.

Rolan, Should be some Yamaha Marine dealers in the greater K.C. area selling Yamalube. If not a marine/outboard dealer, possibly a powersports dealer selling Yamaha bikes, ATV's and those Yamaha Jet Skis ?

Have to agree. At the waters edge in front of our place I couldn't tell from a distance why all the roots were washed in to the shore at the high water mark. Getting closer I discovered the topsoil was gone and these were live roots exposed on top of the shelf rock. The "mulch" ( I don't know what else to call it ) that washed in will probably provide a great bed for any seeds to germinate in and we have beaucoup amounts of that "stuff " all along our shoreline. Stuff looks to be about three feet deep in spots and will harbor insects galore so have actually been considering how to get rid of it. Burning ? probably won't burn, just smolder forever or until the next monsoon. Guess the termites and ants will be real happy. Bad year for ants anyway.

Capt. Don, Guess I haven't kept up on baits. Please, who makes the Mikey Jr. and who sells them in the area ? Like you, I am tired of Red Fin and playing around with them. Topwater's what it's all about for me. Thanks much.

Unfortunately, the ones that will live are the ones I would like to see gone or reduced and those are the Sycamores.

Hey I'm a little bit Swiss ( hate to admit ) and this positively sucks ! Aren't these the same people who kept all the gold and valuables the Nazi's stole during WWII and were just forced into returning ? What does that say about these people and their government ?

I heard some bad things about those pythons the people are releasing down there after they grow too large. Another bad news species. Hope folks are using their vehicle tires to " slice and dice " the things lying on the roadway. That's enough to keep a guy from wade fishing and you sure better look up at any overhanging limbs. What's next ?

Owners had 80 or so loads of gravel brought in Friday and graded into a higher road so you can access the tiny little bit of the parking lot that is still above water. Looks like they added about 150-200 feet of ramp so you can walk out to the dock now but it's so long they need a rest area complete with porta-potty about halfway Big effort by the Pollards and appreciated by all the frustrated boat owners. Adjacent campround is now open too but ramps are still under water. They think they will open the services on the dock about midweek with gas then becoming available. The Lake actually came up a bit between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning jeapordizing the new road !

Was reading in the St. Louis paper lately where MO Legislature discovered they shot themselves in their foot when they passed this moronic "mandate" about ETHANOL content of gasoline. It seems that some of our "Esteemed" lawmakers that voted for the "mandate" are cattlemen and they have discovered their feed prices doubling and tripling due to higher corn prices. Talk about poetic justice The newspaper further reported there was a move to repeal the "mandate" but since the session ends Friday 5-16 and there are many more important issues that have not been acted on I don't know if the "repeal" will take place. We can only cross our fingers.

Maybe the darn things will eat the Asian carp since they are both of Chinese origin ! Seriously, this presence in Arkansas waters is very bad news especially with all the high water. I can't recall where I saw it but there is an experimental program to process Asian carp into some sort of animal feed. Let's all hope it works. Anyone else hear about this ?

Champ 188, You may recall when MDC instituted the 15" limit back in the late 70's the howls of protest that went up could be heard in China they were so loud but, as you say, it worked out for the best in a big way. Here we are about 30 years later and this old geezer has observed the fishing pressure to have about tripled with hardly a week going by without some sort of large tournament(s) drawing many more boats to the lake. IMHO it's time for MDC to be doing some additional management to this fishery and something to encourage or even mandate "Boat-Side" release when angling in a tournament would be very beneficial. Of course the tournament organizer$ wouldn't be happy with that because you then couldn't have the hoopla at the "weigh-in" holding fish in plastic bags and hoisting them into the air for pictures and media coverage would be eliminated.

Techo, Certainly agree with you about not having to pass another law. However, it's obvious that since an association the size of FLW doesn't provide a boat that there is no choice. Folks don't, and most won't "do the right thing" especially when the ALMIGHTY DOLLAR is involved as it has to come out of someone's pocket or someone's budget reducing their profit and THAT is what it is all about !!! You may have read mine and another member's postings and outrage about "bed-jerkers" and what that is doing to the future of our sport.. You think these big tournament organizations care about that I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.

Phil, Quite sure there are many of us who would greatly appreciate it if you would keep posting those Corp reports especially during this high water period. Understand your frustration but any information those of us who aren't on the scene can get is very interesting and we are grateful for the time you spend on updating us all. Sounds like the COE makes predictions like the weather forecasters and are only right part of the time which is because they too are dealing with Mother Nature and are now in reaction mode and can't really plan ahead. Thanks much.

No one can really answer this or even make a semi-accurate guess including the COE. We're in the wet season and everything depends on how much precip we continue to receive. All these lakes were sold to Congress as "flood control" projects in the 1950's not just for the White River but the lower Mississippi too and that is precisely what they are now being used for. Power generation was # 2 and a distant third place was recreation. This time of year with the typical clash of warm humid air from the Gulf meeting cold air from the North it all depends on whether fronts are fast movers like yesterday's or if they get hung up on the MO-AR border and then low pressure centers move along them. Fast movers typically yield far less precip than the fronts that stall out and hang around for days acting like a railroad for low pressure centers. The concern most experienced folks have now is the tri-lakes are full to capacity and have no flood storage capacity left. You couple that with the intense political pressure coming out of the Agri-business interests in Arkansas and the flooding potential along the lower Mississippi in Louisiana and I personally don't see the water levels getting anywhere near "normal" until after Labor Day but again that all depends on what is to come. This is the Midwest where any type of weather can and will happen. The region just came out of a protracted period of drought and now the pendulum has swung the other way. The bright side is it's gonna' be a helluva' spawn

And a BIG AMEN to that, Brother.

Perhaps if the Corp wouldn't shut down three generators at night ( see latest outflow report ) they could hold the lake level without resorting to the floodgates again. And while I'm thinking of it, I sure hope all the electricity generation caused by the high waters is being used in the grid and not just run into the ground. It sure would save a lot of CO2 emissions from the coal fired gen plants. As for beer prices and rice growing on the Arkansas Grand Prarie region.....the last three years the rice growers have been screaming about lack of water in their "tanks" for paddy flooding due to the ongoing drought and the decline of the aquifer they pump out of . So they were building a pumping station on the White to remedy that situation. Then some guy swore he saw an Ivory Billed woodpecker right in the region where the pumping station was going in. Guess what happened....all construction was stopped by the Feds due to the noise from the electric powered water pumps might disturbed the "phantom" woodpecker.....that has never been seen again. Beer and food costs in general are rising and will become a major concern due to increased costs of oil/diesel and the Ethanol scam. Less land planted in barley in the grain belt up North due to high corn prices has resulted in doubling and tripling the per bushel cost of barley, the world hops supply is at an all time low vs. demand and now rice is going through the roof. MO State legislature is considering repealing the law requiring 10% Ethanol in all gas sold in the State. Seems like some of the legislators raise livestock and have seen their feed bills increase drastically because of their "mandate".

Nice Fish ! Even more nice, he released it. Must have been a pretty good fight for a man of 84 ! I'm wondering if the taxidermists do a better job with the "Silver Kings" these days ? I've yet to see a mount that does justice to the beauty of these fish. Understandably, they just cannot seem to capture the reflectivity of their scales and when you get one alongside the boat they are almost mirror-like they are so bright. The 150 I had done in 1983 was a huge disappointment when it was uncrated. Thanks for posting.

Mr. Babler, with utmost respect, you sir, have hit the nail squarely on the head and this problem needs to be addressed in the worst possible way. This is ruining sport fish populations all over the Country and not just here. How utterly asinine to pull a spawning female off a bed and transport for miles to the "weigh in " to be supposedly released alive. There is big money involved here and anytime you encounter that it seems to always go their way. Only when the fishery is ruined or seriously depleted will the pressure ease up. Stupid, stupid greedy people. Measure the length and girth of the fish, if you must pull them off their beds, at the boat, record it and let them go right there and require a digital picture be taken, those cameras are inexpensive enough now, to control cheaters. And a hearty thank you for speaking out on this issue.

Strongest quake since the 5.2 in 1968. If memory serves that one was epicentered in S. Illinois also. The rumbling noise was pretty strong too. Reminded me of when the military used to break the sound barrier over STL in the 1950's and the resounding BOOOM that shook everything, this one just lasted longer and was a lot deeper. Odd this should come from the Wabash fault zone when all you hear and read about is New Madrid.

Just Wondering.....any relation to Charlie ??

It appears the lake " MAY HAVE " crested at 0400 hrs today at 933.25 which is a new all time record. Beaver is finally dropping slightly too so maybe the worst is over. MAYBE!!! _________________________________________________________________________ Table Rock Lake Top Flood Pool: 931.0 White River Top Power Pool: 915.0 (TRZM7) Bottom Power Pool: 881.0 Turbine Time Elevation Tailwater Release Generation Date CS/CDT (ft-msl) (ft-msl) (cfs) (mwh) __________________________________________________________________________ 10APR2008 1800 929.08 718.13 14576 227 10APR2008 1900 929.25 718.17 14591 230 10APR2008 2000 929.40 718.14 14599 229 10APR2008 2100 929.49 719.31 14572 229 10APR2008 2200 929.49 720.83 14627 229 10APR2008 2300 929.50 721.55 14717 228 10APR2008 2400 930.02 721.84 14716 231 11APR2008 0100 930.23 721.92 14716 227 11APR2008 0200 930.48 721.95 14725 230 11APR2008 0300 930.72 722.08 14717 228 11APR2008 0400 930.92 722.08 14752 230 11APR2008 0500 931.11 722.14 14707 230 11APR2008 0600 931.38 722.17 14718 228 11APR2008 0700 931.60 722.16 14713 ---- 11APR2008 0800 931.75 722.17 14730 ---- 11APR2008 0900 931.94 722.16 14605 ---- 11APR2008 1000 932.03 722.19 14581 ---- 11APR2008 1100 932.27 722.23 14599 ---- 11APR2008 1200 932.48 722.30 14600 ---- 11APR2008 1300 932.61 722.28 14560 ---- 11APR2008 1400 932.73 722.34 14588 ---- 11APR2008 1500 932.88 722.33 14572 ---- 11APR2008 1600 932.92 722.36 14599 ---- 11APR2008 1700 932.95 722.42 14597 ---- 11APR2008 1800 932.98 722.36 14577 ---- 11APR2008 1900 933.05 722.36 14587 ---- 11APR2008 2000 933.09 722.39 14601 ---- 11APR2008 2100 933.13 722.39 14582 ---- 11APR2008 2200 933.14 722.31 14583 ---- 11APR2008 2300 933.17 722.45 14587 ---- 11APR2008 2400 933.19 722.41 14587 ---- 12APR2008 0100 933.20 722.33 14575 229 12APR2008 0200 933.22 722.41 14582 ---- 12APR2008 0300 933.23 722.36 14599 ---- 12APR2008 0400 933.25 722.33 14614 ---- 12APR2008 0500 933.23 722.31 14588 ---- --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nope, I saw it too. For a split second I was thinking the worst.

The last hourly level recorded by their automated recording and reporting system was at 0100 hours 4-11-08 and it showed 930.23 msl. Can only assume their equipment broke or got jammed up with driftwood or something similar. I'll bet they have it repaired later today so their hydrology guys can do their much needed calculations. On a good note I see where they have successfully begun to lower Beaver, not much, but any amount helps.

Anyone know if the other Public Marina's on Table Rock are closed and inaccessible like Baxter is ? Been over two weeks now and gonna' be a lot longer. Thanks.