skeeter

I know what is in your backyard remember ? Those are some great videos, thanks for sharing. The only place I've ever seen a Tom do his courtship display is from Shannon's back window when she was in your same area and leasing a home there. We haven't seen even a Turkey in our area for over two years now and it's become very uncommon to hear a Gobbler in the Spring anymore. Happy to report that after reading Bill's description of the Pileated flock I belatedly put out my suet feeder ( just like the one shown in Bill's photo ), but some smart-posterior Crows figured out how to pull the hanging-chain apart and knocked it to the ground twice where they could attack it. Before then I had the surprise of a Pileated feeding on it just 48 hours after putting it up. Due to Mr. Crow, I resurrected my old wooden, "upside-down" suet feeder yesterday and saw two Pileated's arguing over it this morning. Meanwhile the neighborhood is taking turns feeding the two resident ducks down at the Marina.

The Brits had enough sense to cancel all Airline Service to China. We're still helping the virus to spread. The U.S. evacuees were re-routed to land at an Air Force Base rather than land at a Public Airport....smart move ! My former employer has a Brewery in Wuhan....Harbin. The last epidemic over there with an infectious disease had many of my former co-workers that had to travel there very scared. Sorry about your In-laws being unable to come.

Wow ! ! ! How fortunate to see dozens of Pileateds at one time and location.. We've only seen two at a time together while chasing each other around the base of a hardwood tree. Had no idea they would ever gather in flocks like that. We've seen an occasional single at our suet feeder only. Last year I took MDC's advice (maybe never again ) and stopped bird feeding from May 1 through Nov. 1 and, yeah, it cut way back on the Varmint problems ( numerous Skunks, Possums and Coons) but the large variety of songbirds we had previously never re-appeared at the feeders. Now it's mostly sparrow-type birds plus Carolina Wrens, Dark-eyed Juncos (snowbirds), Tufted Titmouse (which will fly right up on the one feeder when I'm re-filling it ), just one pair of Cardinals and several Blue Jays. Doves on the ground and the Three-Amigo Crows that hang around. We also followed MDC's request to stop feeding the Deer two years ago due to the CWD in Stone County and hardly ever see a Deer anymore in the Baxter/Lampe area. Our neighbors around here say the same thing....like where did they all go ?

Yep, huge flocks of Robins over in Baxter area. Saw them up in the danged Cedars and also out prospecting in the yard looking like they were trying to get worms turning their heads sideways then pecking at the ground. We also have seen the resident Crows poking their large bills deep into the ground at the bottoms of grades but cannot determine what they are coming up with. Wind is up, maybe it will blow the gloomy clouds away soon ?

At many of the courtesy docks, there are folks fishing off them all the time, usually when the nearby Campground is open....no problem. Don't like the idea of anyone, commercial or otherwise, completely taking up all of one side of a courtesy dock with numerous boats tied-up to it that are not there temporarily while the owner/boater goes and get's their towing rig.

The speed of the Missouri's current helped those guys with not having to paddle like crazy to make good mileage every day. ACOE has turned that River into a self-scouring barge ditch. That contrasts 180 degrees with what reports say the MO River was like in Lewis & Clark days when it was spread out and ran much, much slower than today. Still, it was an incredible feat to drag their big boat upstream against whatever current was present in the early 1800's.

Guess who is a part owner of MLF ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kroenke_Sports_%26_Entertainment https://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/kelly-bostian-major-league-fishing-pro-tour-riding-a-historic/article_7079813f-0c08-579a-87c0-275bf1a5b9ed.html

Thank you for attending and including the link on which to make comments. I'd suggest anyone concerned include their comments prior to 11-30-19 and like mojorig just said, the more comments they get on the same subjects the more weight they carry. Here's what I wrote and feel free to copy, change, or wordsmith it however you choose: ACOE should be doing a study on 1.) increased shoreline erosion, 2.) operational and recreational safety impacts to other boaters, 3.) damage to privately owned docks AND ACOE licensed Marinas that are being directly and clearly caused by the proliferation of these so-called "Wake-Boats" that are constructed to allow water ballast to be added to on-board tanks causing them to produce enormous, outsized boat wakes. In addition to the damaging wakes these boats create, there is the impact of transferring invasive species such as the Zebra Mussel via the left-over water that is impossible to completely drain from the ballast tanks in these Wake-boats.

Late 1950's and I'm out with my Dad and his Sis at LOZ and they are both in their very late 50's and we're in a Rental boat from The Antlers where they liked to stay. Dad loved to troll so he ties a black & white Lazy Ike on his rod and ties a green-sunfish Pico Perch on Auntie's rod and decides to troll down the middle of the main channel. Auntie Anne gets a hit and starts reeling it in, gets' it up to the side of the boat, looks over the side and almost throws the rod & reel into the Lake. Dad grabbed it from her just in time and hauls a pretty good sized Eel into the boat. Auntie thought it was a snake and being born in the far NW Suburbs of St. Louis County in 1899 when all around was woods & fields had experiences with snakes and wanted no part of it. When they say Eels are slimey, slippery critters they mean it and I think I recall Dad having to finally step on the Eel to de-hook it.

Kinda' funny how this went down....and it tells you something. There's a Facebook page/group that got started devoted to all things Table Rock Lake. Some great shared photography and some good pics of nice fish on there and general information along with answered inquiries about facilities around the Lake area. Anyway, some discussions got started (because someone posted if anyone had signed some petition to ban Wake-boats) about the damaging effects from huge Wakes to Docks, Shoreline and how the incredible wakes from all these plowing "Wake Boats" were making use of the Lake hazardous to other boaters. So many people chimed-in with complaints and bad experiences and were then argued with, insulted and cursed at by apparent owners of these plow-Boats that the owner/administrator of the group put out a notice that posts on the subject of damaging wakes and careless boat operation would no longer be allowed. 🙈🙉🙊

With the cooler, pleasant weather we just went out leisurely " Crusin' " from Baxter up to the mouth of the Kings yesterday. Bill's comment about summertime boaters is right on since we were, unknowingly, on the same water. Man, it was a Tuesday and the boat traffic reminded us of 4th of July ! Tubing and more tubing, which is fine and fun for the younguns', but get the heck out of the middle of the lake with all the crazy turns it takes to bounce the tubers over the boat wakes....no one sharing the lake with you can anticipate when and where you're going to pull a sudden 180. Then there's the 'toon pulling the skier that passed us close on our left which is sorta' OK but too close....the skier goes down and the dumbbutt 'toon driver makes a sharp turn to his right, right in front of us, to go back and retrieve the downed skier. Hello ! Moron, do you not recall just passing us ?

Yessir, that also applies to this 20 slip dock on the main Lake channel/shoreline near us that the owner(s) have 2 of the ultra-bright dusk-to-dawn lights burning on. They are mounted on the lake-end of the dock out from under the roof. Trying to see other boat's Nav. and Anchor lights coming around the gradual shoreline bend this dock is moored to beyond the overly-bright, unnecessary lights is impossible due to the direct glare from those lights and their reflection off the water. I know two guys around here that often night-fish that have complained to the Corps about this dock-lighting as a safety issue without results and they said the Corps employees ask for the street address that is supposed to be posted on the end of the dock but there is none. The one fella' said he was over by this overly-lit dock with his Nav. and Anchor lights on and was almost run-over by another boat that swerved and then stopped and actually apologized. 😲 The other boater said he couldn't see the Angler's boat lights because of the overpowering glare from the two dock lights. When the Kimberling City Fireburst is held on the same night as the Shell Knob display and the boaters are returning in different directions from the two, it's not IF it's gonna' happen, it's WHEN.

We enjoy sitting out on our deck after dark when it cools off a little and watching the ISS go over, star and moon-gazing and what's going on out on the Lake. For gosh sakes be careful out there while night fishing because we have been seeing numbers of pleasure boats and jet-skis running without lights well after dark and have no idea whether the operators are just stupid or stupid drunk. Last night was a classic when a boat headed out of Baxter about 9:30 with no Nav or Anchor lights on at high speed down the Lake. We couldn't figure out what the strange glow in the water was back under the boat's transom and swim-deck and finally realized he/she had one of those boats equipped with some kind of underwater lighting and that's what they had turned on and that was all. That boat was one of six we saw passing by with no lights just last night alone....

Thanks, seeing so much of those bright-as-the-Sun Bowfishing lights in use on a lot of nights. The guy leaves them on moving from one area to the next and then running back into the launch ramp. Also, "docking-lights" that boaters are using as some sort of headlight while running at night are not legal but we are seeing more and more of them. Then there's the 20-slip dock owner across the White from point 17 that has two large dusk-to-dawn lights out on the end of his dock protruding out from under the dock's roof over his swim-deck that blinds boaters trying to see other boats' navigation lights at night.

Grandson asked me to "fix" his reel that his Dad had messed-up. Quickly discovered Dad had looped line around the rear of the spool and had just kept crankin'. Easy fix and an opportunity to show "Patch" how to disassemble an open-face and how they work. Included a little lesson on how to correctly set the drag and how to fight the fish with the rod and not just by crankin' the reel. Showed him how to take care rigging-up the Ned Rig and how it was important to get that worm on the hook shank straight and he watched Mr. Fumble Fingers (me) struggle with it and tied it on. Later that evening he takes the same rod/reel/Ned and lands, gets a picture of and releases this beauty....

Yeah, you just nailed it " lots of people in MO have corn to sell, Arkansas, not so much". The well-funded Corn-Ethanol Lobbyists hard at work passing out "perks" in Jefferson City.... vacations and money to the Missouri Legislators again who are easily bought and sold and owned. Always follow the money !

The fact that a person can buy Ethanol-free 87 Octane in AR but not in MO is raising suspicions of some kind of the usual Political "deal-making" that fattens some MO State Politician's wallet.

Submitted "Ha-Bob's" in Lampe that they didn't list. Intersection of Hwy 13 and "H" where you turn off 13 to go down to Baxter.

Learned through experience that if you're searching for Ethanol-free gas from a gas-pump in a 100 mile radius of St. Louis....you're out of luck. There was some little-known agreement with the EPA that only gas containing Ethanol would be sold within a 100 mile distance of St. Louis. No, I don't know the name of the agreement or why it was imposed but the nearest station that sells Ethanol-free to the West of the Metro area is reportedly in Rolla. Our Grandson got a new job in STL and moved there from Springfield, went searching for Ethanol-free for his lawn-care equipment and ran into this situation.

Same thing has happened lately with the Weather App on DIRECTV you can get if your receiver is connected to the Net. The former Weather App was far better than the worthless Piece of Junk they now expect viewers/subscribers to be happy with. Neither one of them would put the Radar images in motion so you could kind of determine where the heavy weather was headed but at least you could get your local Radar on the previous thing but not on the new clunker.

Years ago, MDC recognized the need for regulating the bed-jerkers on Missouri Streams and Rivers and wisely instituted a catch & release policy on those waters during the Bass Spawn season. Very obviously, that same need is now present on the State's Reservoirs due to incredibly increasing fishing pressure and MDC can easily "fix" this by correctly extending the same catch & immediate release regulations that they have wisely placed on moving waters to the State's Lakes. MDC would not be the first State in the U.S. to have done this and there must be some kind of monetary pressure on them since they are failing to recognize this very important need. Like all the knee-jerk, reactionary goofs in all levels of Government, it appears things will have to reach a crisis level first before they take action.

Cannot recall the last time I've seen TR this clear at this time of year. Seeing signs of it beginning to turn over.

Jerks and unsafe, inconsiderate idiots are not limited to the pleasure-boat, wake-boat crowd. One of the worst morons I've ever encountered was Sunday evening coming out of Big Indian and heading towards Baxter Boat Dock. We all had the youngest Grandson out on the 'toon during his Easter Break and he had just nailed a dandy 18" Smallie and had successfully landed it on 6 lb despite the usual frantic "crash-dive" at boatside. We're putt-putting along in a straight line about 40 yds. away from the shore on the left side when I hear this boat coming up from astern. Here comes some brain-dead idiot (that I hope is reading this) with Arab-style headgear on driving a red Bass Tracker with a portly gent in the passenger's seat. This idiot passes us not even 25' ( yes, that's FEET) away on our port side, between us and the shore, and then cuts DIRECTLY across our bow. All five us are immediately pissed and we followed the jerk to the Baxter launch ramp where my Wife prevailed upon me not to start anything...which four out of the five of us were ready to do. We got good pictures of the moron walking up the courtesy dock to get his tow-rig and trailer with his Arab-style rag still on his head and the Red Tracker and its registration numbers in the foreground. 😖

ROTFLMAO !

Not sure what is going on here but thought it was worthwhile to report to the local MDC Agent. Our Daughter and Grandson decided to do a little Sunday evening fishing off the bank down around the Baxter launch ramp and courtesy dock. They came back after dark with pictures on their phones of very large heads and carcasses of several Spoonbill that had been butchered at the ramp. No one was still around so no idea who was there. Normal Spoonbill snagging area is far away from Baxter by water, way up the James arm.