skeeter

Yep, and now you gotta' pray the Govt. doesn't get it's hands on your retirement savings because they are eyeing I.R.A.'s for possible taxation if you earn over a certain amount. It seems they aren't satisifed with the taxes they will collect on your voluntary and mandatory withdrawals when that time comes.

Thanks for the reply. Had no idea that constrictors of any species could manage that with those angled teeth. Guess we were watching from upwind...thankfully [grin] ! My only guesstimate is that the tree squirrel was just too large to swallow but I'm certainly no expert. We go out of our way to protect Black and King snakes on and around our place as they seem to keep the Copperheads down and the darn burrowing Ground Squirrels from overpopulating. This big old guy or gal was easily a very thick seven footer and one of the biggest I've ever seen close up.

Yeah, definitely. Lot's of cattle in AR between the northern edge of the beginnings of the Boston Mtns. and the White and we all know about the Chicken and Turkey raising operations. Long Creek, Big Indian and the Kings' get hit hard with Ag runoff during moderate to heavy precip events. What many of us are trying to figure out this year is why TR is the clearest it's been in 30 years. Reminds me of the early to mid 70's before the CAFO operations got rolling.

What he said....plus..... Don't wish your life away....ever. Take it as it comes and treasure every moment. As some of us are finding out the hard way it's a very short time that is given to us.

With those rearward facing teeth in a constrictor's mouth, you'd think that once they start swallowing some prey it's a one way trip right down the old gullet. Apparently, Mother Nature has provided the snake with some kind of safety valve or reverse gear because we just encountered a 7 foot black snake on our property that was trying to swallow a squirrel. The big old snake got the squirrel down to about the shoulders and then must have decided it bit off more than it could handle and that's when we spotted it sort of slowly thrashing about and actually disgorging the squirrel carcass. In the short period of time the snake was attempting to swallow the squirrel,the snake's digestive juices had already begun working on the squirrel's head. Don't know how that snake could reverse it's attempted ingestion of the squirrel but it managed to do just that but did not look too happy or healthy afterwards as it crawled off into the Ivy bed.

Stick with Mr. Babler's advice about using butchered Sunfish for crawdad trap bait. Best bait there is and we always catch our share of mini-lobsters every year but haven't dropped our traps in just yet. Water temp. too cool and too changeable I'm guessing. Being a lifelong Mizzou fan since before Dan Devine days and having an alumnus in the immediate family here is the chief rea$on Mizzou went to the SEC http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/first-year-in-sec-bringing-mizzou-over-million/article_b81444e0-cdab-5c70-880f-9b93f0ae38bb.html and http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/sec-money-brings-upgrades-to-mizzou/article_6371a1f1-a649-54cf-8176-3e51512ff71b.html The Administration got real fed up with OU and Texas receiving the lions' share of the league revenue in the Big 12. As usual, it's all about the almighty dollar and I don't blame them.

ROTFLMAO !!! I don't know who starts more incorrect, crazy rumors...the UPS guys or the chicks doing hair at the local "miracle shops" ! I've heard some doozys from both sources lately. [bIG GRIN ]

According to 306.100 sub section 16, auxiliary lighting is OK while fishing but not while underway. These boats NEVER shut those high powered lights off in my area,they must not have an off switch. Both our local State Rep. and the MO Highway Patrol, Water Division, are terming this tournament a real "hot button" issue and they received a large number of complaints from area residents about the two-night-long audible and visual peace disturbance. So there were plenty of area residents upset with the operation of these boats. But what the heck, somebody made a few bucks so screw everybody else...right ? And no, Frenzel, it wasn't limited to just one night so obviously you weren't being awakened every ten-fifteen minutes from dusk to dawn two nights in a row. The large V-8's powering most of the Airboats were never shut down either and I wondered how they were "sneaking" up on fish while cruising shorelines, points and bays. Those carp must be deaf...and dumb !

I'm glad I'm not the only one to comment on this. It wasn't only in Clevenger since there were reportedly 110 boats entered. Two sleepless nights in a row with multiple roaring engines that never got shut down and incredibly bright lights, that never got turned off, shining in our home all night so bright you could literally read a newspaper by them is a little too much. And no, this is not an exaggeration, maybe an understatment. What happened to the MO law that a vessel operating after sunset could only display navigation and anchor lights ? Are there no decible limit laws on Table Rock because these things sure exceeded them ? These boats were running back and forth all night long down the middle of the lake to their "hunting" grounds with those nuclear powered lights on. Anybody else trying to do a little Spring night fishing had to be blinded. Not every boat was a roaring Airboat but those that were kept their big engines going even while "cruising" the flats, bays and shallow points looking for targets. They finally shut down and pulled out about 6:15 this morning...YAWN ! I hope their little tournament is over and good riddance.

Please believe me when I say I am not trying to pick a fight here and I couldn't agree with this Gentleman's statement more. But....has it occurred to anyone that this is EXACTLY what has happened with the Big Money Bass Tournaments ? Resources....valuable....career....ring any bells ?

Like it or not, class warfare or not, this is a large contributor to "gloom and doom". If you haven't seen this already, it's well worth your time watching. Class warfare ? Yeah, but from the top down. After 42 years at a Fortune 500 Corporation employed in the Corporate Hdqtrs. offices in Finance, I can tell you firsthand that most of this is caused by rubber stamp Boards of Directors and their cross-serving on each other's Boards. They regularly vote obscene rates of compensation, consisting of salaries, bonuses and stock options to the current Corporate Officers thus denying shareholders legitimate profits which would then filter down into the economy. The SEC does little or nothing to regulate this raping of Corporate Treasuries and this Country is the acknowleged leader in this travesty.

I'm assuming all you Walleye fans realize they are proven Bass predators ? Of course, they do taste a lot better too. {wink}

AMEN sir, AMEN. The 28th Amendment to the Constitution is needed installing retroactive term limits for Congress and also retroactively abolishing the Congressional pension placing them all, former and current, on Social Security like the rest of us peons. ! Serving in Congress is just that...service..it's not meant to be a lifelong career filling your pockets at the public trough. If people can't recognize that fact with the current situation in D. C. we are truly doomed. And don't anyone give me this lame excuse that term limits aren't needed because that's what the ballot box is for....wise up ! Incumbents have voted themselves such huge re-election advantages that any challenger has to completely prostitute themselves to special interest groups in order to raise necessary campaign funds and that starts the whole thing over again.

Congratulations for going after one of these fraudulent, hypocritical liars. You were diligent and fortunate to have discovered his mis-use of TRLWQ funding. Did they join in the lawsuit ? They should have ! Seems to me that a person could make a good income by starting some kind of truth squad or de-liar consulting service ( not aimed at anglers of course ! ) to assist prospective purchasers of homes and real estate in the TR area to ferret out all the hidden falsehoods that seem to be present in a high percentage of local Real Estate transactions. At first, the local Real Estate Industry would resist and attempt to suppress this with all available funds but let them become co-defendants and losers in a few expensive court cases and that might change.

Very true and a great observation. We had an older gentleman who is a part-time neighbor "accidentally" catch an 11lb. 1oz LM (as weighed on his new, digital scale) back in the heat of July while bluegill fishing when the LM played shark and nailed the hooked bluegill while the Gent was reeling it in on 6lb. test with a #6 hook !!!! He took some great pictures and released her at boatside. If you are ever in the Office on Baxter Marina, when they re-open, his picture is on their bulletin board. A true Sportsman !

Real Estate agents ? Especially the Female variety.... lowest form of life on earth.....even worse than used car salespeople. They will tell you whatever they think you want to hear so they can collect their outrageous commission. They will never mention "take lines", septic systems, perc. tests on undeveloped ground, shelf rock drainage problems etc. etc. etc....unless you encounter an honest RE agent and THAT is a definite oxymoron ! What they, and owners/sellers hiding R.E. defects and not listing them on disclosure statements, get away with in this area would get them sued for big bucks in a bigger City environment. And the injured party would win every time. Anyone seeking to buy in this area should get to know someone living here first for advice and the truth. Yes, you did get lucky.

Yessir, they sure do. And I've heard people make good money speculating on them. They buy them up, as many as allowed per dock, as soon as they learn the new dock is going in and then re-sell, or try to, at a big mark-up. That could have something to do with the numbers of year-round, empty slips we see during these tough economic times ?

Yessir, they sure do. And I've heard people make good money speculating on them. They buy them up, as many as allowed per dock, as soon as they learn the new dock is going in and then re-sell, or try to, at a big mark-up. That could have something to do with the numbers of year-round, empty slips we see during these tough economic times ?

Fully agree that shoreline management is needed and welcome...up to a point.... but they need to recognize that big errors were made, or money changed hands (?), in establishing the "take" lines so long ago and maybe do a little re-surveying with state of the art GPS ?? But it's my two cents that the "shoreline management" also means, or should include, not ruining shorelines with issuing more and more dock permits that cover over good fishing banks with eyesore docks....while others sit 80 to 90% empty.

As regards the docks....we both know they aren't going to remove any docks. However, before they issue more and more permits for more and more docks, let's see those numerous slips on the existing docks get filled up that we have seen remain empty for years. Not just in the Winter, but all year round. I know anglers who do quite well fishing docks but I personally am sick of those new docks being installed on some of the best and most productive shorelines and the necessary subsurface cutting and clearing of timber that goes along with it. Yeah, you can fish docks but that just doesn't compare with fishing a natural shoreline.

Trying to make sense of COE "take" lines is impossible. As someone else posted, THEY( COE ) have no idea how those lines are/were determined. A clear example is directly across the water from us where massive homes have been built along an almost bluff-like shoreline right down to about the 930' line. There was a fancy lake-side gazebo (since moved) built there that you could lierally fish from for a number of years. Conversely, we looked at a piece of property 15 years ago for a possible home site on the other side of the creek mouth/arm from the aforementioned homes on top of a 30' high, absolutely vertical bluff. While prowling thru the overgrown land we came upon one of thos brass or bronze COE markers placed 150' BACK from the top edge of the bluff. I wrote down the numbers, called the Corps and they verified it was placed correctly and that no, due to some change in zoning for the area due to proximity to a COE campground, no vegetative modification permit would be possible. Figure that one out, and when you do, call the Corps and explain it to them too because they have no freakin' clue. Several buddies told us about homes they saw that were actually flooded back In Little Indian in 2011. How did that happen ? Another LOA survey mistake ? That's what struck many of us in the area as being so asinine and a total waste of time about the advertized COE Table Rock Lake Management meetings. When the arm of the Government in control of an area cannot explain to the Citizenry the reasons for their regulations and restrictions in a logical, sensible manner, they absolutely make it impossible for any planning or input from the public. Several who attended the Reeds Spring meeting came back disgusted and confirming the "asinine and waste of time" opinion and said the Corps had hired (at additional expense) some outside Company to "facilitate" the laughable "meeting". They really didn't anticipate such large crowds to attend these meetings and had to move the scheduled Dewey Short Visitor's Center meeting over to the Chateau on the Lake. Many of us are of the opinion that the COE is another out of control Government moneyhole just like the totally out of control EPA.

Supposedly, this is an email address where you can send your input if you are unable to attend a meeting: M4TRMP@usace.army.mil And yeah, those numbers of visitors seemed ridiculous. Like someone was trying to justify their job or their budget

According to the COE website, they are seeking public input. Whether or not they listen and respond is always questionable. They claim to be interested in managing the shorelines better, due to higher than planned numbers of users based on 30 year old planning. Plus management of the adjoining Government owned land. When they decide to explain their rationale for the "set-back" lines and the extreme variances in where they are placed,the public might be able to respond, plan and offer input more logically. I know of homesites on extremely steep banks where the owners have built seemingly almost to the water's edge at 928' and other land, directly across the mouth of the same creek arm, where the COE markers are located 200 ft. back or inland of the top of 30 ft. high, vertical bluffs. Someone want to explain that discrepancy ? The other thing that struck me on reading the postcard was the mid-lake meeting location. Why not meet at a hall in Kimberling City "The Bass Capital of the Ozarks" (according to them ) ? That location would be much closer to the water and residents, businesses, etc. that rely on and live on the Lake are far closer there to the meeting site than up in Reeds Spring...and there are halls/meeting places available there. As many of us know who have been affected by taking water over the bow, gunwales or transoms of our boats while trying to fish, from these outsize wakes certain boats produce, one area that needs serious attention, before it get's totally out of control like at Lake of the Ozarks, is the size of the boats permitted in the future on the Lake and allowing continued artificial generation of damaging wakes by pumping ballast into watercraft.

Just wait until someone figures out how to put hooks and an a line tie on one of these and paints it to match shad or bluegill. http://gizmodo.com/5...ver-go-belly-up At $19 per fish, they are far less expensive than the current crop of overpriced Japanese baits.

With the well-known and openly professed current Administration's hate for coal fired power plants and the coming enormous increases in electric bills due to the Government mandated, gradual switch to natural gas, any source of power generation is going to become more economically feasible. Just wait a few years and see how your wallet get's hit and you'll see what I'm talking about. The one energy source the U.S. has in overwhelming abundance is coal so, naturally, we are going to be forced to abandon it as a fuel source. http://www.aecc.com/...on_monoxide.pdf