skeeter

Good point on using the "synthetic deck boards". I replaced our deck 18 months ago and went with that synthetic material in hopes of avoiding the usual back breaking, time consuming, every two year maintenance of natural wood and so far, so good. After cutting and installing Timbertech product I started noticing during the Winter and early Spring, the exact same type of material used for the bunk boards on many unoccupied boat lifts for large boats back in Little Indian (Baxter) area. Apparently, it is slick enough that no marine carpeting is needed which is what holds the water and airborne moisture against the wood and starts the rot thing in the first place. Can't recall the maker of the lifts using those synthetic boards but they do have a local shop. I'm sure going to order more of that material and use it in the future on both lift boards and trailer boards. It's more pricey than natural wood but should last about forever. Wish I had some boards from the deck project left over but we figured our purchase close enough that we had no lengthy pieces unused.

It's a Corps ramp and should accommodate two boats at a time depending on skill, or lack thereof, of driver(s). Parking and pull-up area to back in is much enlarged and improved. There is a courtesy dock. The Baxter campground is now open complete with fee-collecting gatekeepers but the less-steep, flatter ramp in the Campground is gone. The Corps removed it and moved their swim beach over where the flatter ramp used to be during their two-year-long Campground re-construction.

Anybody want to offer any theories on why the Rock is still so off-color ? It's been about four weeks since the 3" + rain and not much since then, then the turn-over followed by all the water flushed out of Beaver meaning they were running water thru the dam at TR. Algae bloom maybe ??

" can we please turn off the sunshine pump and bubble machine?" ROTFLMAO ! Thanks for that.

The sponsored tournamant Pro's are touting the Lithium Ion marine batteries saying they don't get weak with use during the day and last 2000 charge/discharge cycles and weigh 50 lbs. less than lead-acid. Then you read where they cost $1200.00 apiece !!! Riiight !! Only if someone else is footing the bill. Sounds like a new marine theft target.

+1 to the previous three posts. This "bed jerking" has got to end.

Correct. As I mentioned in my original post, most of what you posted in your first posting was true the way it went down. I wasn't really "arguing", there was no point in that, it's over and done with. All I was doing was stating the facts, as I knew them, from the other side of the coin as there are always two, and sometimes, three or four sides to every issue and the board-member making the original inquiry deserved to hear both sides. These days, so many (not you) choose to forget, ignore and completely disrespect those with opposing opinions and views.

Can't say if MU fans will be there but you can try the " OO " Grill at the intersection of Highway 13 and " OO " on the far North side of Kimberling City.

Actually and factually, the authority for dam building along tributaries of the Mississippi River came from " The Flood Control Act of 1928 (FCA 1928) (70th United States Congress, Sess. 1. Ch. 596, enacted May 15, 1928" That pre-dated FDR's election to the White House by several years. Herbert Hoover was the President who signed the bill into law and now we will hear about what a horrible President he was....! I would have bet $100 on the opinion "sour grapes" being expressed. The Anti's never were happy unless they managed to denigrate their oppostion with personal attacks and I see that habit prevails. Remind you of anything taking place in politics today by a certain group begiining with the letter "L" ? Ha ! Stating proven facts always ticked off the nay-sayers. They responded with half-truths, which are far more dangerous than lies. Like stating that the charlatan Rimbach was ultimately proven correct. Really ? By whom pray tell ? Prove it......and you better be able to quote Professional sources...not half-baked "opinions" by unqualified individuals pretending to be an "authority" like Rimbach did. Moving those high water markers in Onondaga cave prior to Congressman Symington's visit should have resulted in Rimbach's prosecution and prison time but Symington was so embarrassed after his office was informed by the Corps how he had been "had" that they hushed it up. Re-election time was coming soon and he didn't ever want to admit an error. As far as cost overrruns...they were fully and willfully caused by the Lake opposition dreaming up new objections while the Corps laboriously and slowly responded to their previous objections. They had planned all along to drag the project out until costs escalated via the horrible Inflation of those days and public opinion could be swayed by their readily available "speakers" they could trot out at a moment's notice because not too many of them, somehow, seemed to be regularly employed. Massive Government intrusion ? Sure it was. But wouldn't that be the same thing you propose by "buying up" established properties in the flood plains Mr. Franklin ? Would you give those current property owners a choice whether to sell or not ? And then who would own that "bought up" land and what would you propose to replace the lost taxes on that land that goes to support local services and schools ? See....there is no simple answer, as we all discovered years ago, and that same R.E. tax issue surfaced when the COE began it's eminent domain acquisition of the Meramec Lake properties. As I said in my original post....where to begin. There are two sides to every issue and I was stating facts, not opinions, as I and other simple anglers experienced and learned them as we encountered a well-organized and well-funded opposition. If the "pro" side was heavily funded as stated in Agnew's post, I sure would have enjoyed seeing some of that monetary support.

Ha ha ! Yessir, you sure nailed that one. But it's the only job where you can be wrong 80% of the time and not get cannned ! [grin].

That is my understanding also. Unless the weather cools suddenly and dramatically this Month the spawn is going to be very early this year.

Where to start ? So much of what Agnew wrote did happen but the facts from the other side are totally lacking. The victors always write the history books so that's what people will believe and swallow but I, along with several other Bass fishermen in local clubs, was involved on the pro-Meramec Lake side and can tell you that you aren't getting even close to both sides of this long-dead issue. Contrary to what you are reading in other posts, there was a large amount of public support for the Lake in anticipation of a close-by, flat water resource becoming available to East Central Missourians. The problem was, there was no formal organization like the anti's had in the Sierra Club, to express their approval so those in favor of the Lake had no voice and that became evident with the MDC and MO Conservation Federation being overwhelmed with organized and well-funded numbers of letters and phone calls in opposition to the Lake and therefore, changing their minds believing they were representing actual public opinion. Remember, these phone calls were made back before caller I.D. so the recipients had no way of telling they were all coming from a "phone bank" with the same person making multiple calls. Agnew left out Gebhardt's support of killing the lake/dam in response to the Sierra Club's meddling in his town-hall meetings and "seeding" those same meetings with attendance by many dozens of Sierra Club supporters not residing in the 3rd District who were distributed around the gym at the Bishop DuBourg High School meeting in a well-orchestrated effort to make it appear that applause support came from everywhere in response to Gebhardt's negative speechifying against the project. I was personally in attendance at that meeting and watched, in amazement, the organization and direction present, pre-meeting, telling each group of anti's where to sit. I was one of many working stiffs who wanted a nearby Lake to take my then-young family to without enduring a three-four hour car ride and high priced overnight stays at LOZ. Rimbach was a complete amateur with no training or credentials to conduct his "subterranean mapping techniques" and tried to pass himself off as some kind of "professional" cave expert and bona fide Engineers, both private and Government employed, with Degrees from reputable Schools and years of experience, knew this but couldn't get the media to publish anything negative about the guy. Lester Dill's Meramec Caverns was located a few miles downstream of the dam site and would have been protected against the rapid and destructive Meramec River near-flash-floods. Symington's visit to Onondaga was orchestrated, in-part, by Rimbach and Dill, the former of who, it was later discovered and proven, had gone into the cave which was then under Dill's ownership, and re-located the high water survey marks to a much higher level than what the COE had placed throughout the cave system after a thorough and wholly professionally conducted survey. LOZ association (I can't recall their exact title) did write several five figure checks to the local Sierra Club headed up by the master of half-truths, Jerry Sugarman. LOZ association was scared to death of Meramec Lake and one check was revealed to have been in the amount of $50.000.00. Try fighting that kind of money while working for living, raising a family and attempting to defuse half-truths and outright lies about the project as spread by Rimbach and the Sierra Club. Many of the "anti" Dam forces didn't hold 9 to 5 jobs and could free themselves up at a moment's notice to go around to service clubs, Church based organizations, school groups during class time etc. etc. and relate their highly biased opinion of the project. And the "cost overruns" were caused, in large part, by the delaying tactics of the anti-dam movement. The really funny thing is today, the Meramec on weekends in the Summer is virtually unfishable from a jet-drive boat due to the bank-to-bank "aluminum hatch" floating downstream mixed freely with those out-of-control rubber rafts that bounce around overloaded with beer guzzling, inebriated partiers completely ruining the peace, beauty and serenity of that River. And lastly, had the Meramec Dam project been completed on time, the disastrous flood that took out Valley Park in Dec. 1982 could have been reduced to 1/3 of what it was as the Lake was scheduled to only just begin filling at that time and could have retained a high percentage of those flood waters. http://interact.stltoday.com/mds/news/html/1425 By the way, you should have seen the original 1950's plans for damming the Meramec. The dam site selected was just downstream of the Big and Meramec River's confluence and would have created a Lake completely taking out Pacific, MO and backing water up the Meramec as far as Sullivan, MO with branches reaching far up the Bourbeuse and Big Rivers both.

Stone County did turn off the old sirens which we couldn't hear anyway and you probably couldn't either down Big Indian unless the wind direction was just right. Midland makes a nice S.A.M.E. weather alert radio with the NOAA logo on it that is able to be programmed for the types of weather alerts and the Counties you want to be alerted to. Also has battery back-up if the power goes out and can receive AM/FM + alarm clock and time/date display. I found the best price on it on Amazon. Programming feature is nice as it excludes the alerts you aren't interested in. In your area I would suggest programming in Stone, Carroll in AR, and Barry Counties in MO with the last two being sort of early warning alerts as those two Counties are "upstream" of your area and generally where the weather comes from. There is a web link in the owners manual that tells you County codes. Ours went off numerous times Tuesday night and Wednesday morning during the local tornado outbreak and the new "Dual Polarization" radar just installed at the Springfield NWS office paid dividends as it enables the radar to scan vertically as well as horizontally and actually detect the debris (sometimes) that the twister sucks up into the air. I think the NWS then knows when the tornado is actually on-the-ground instead of just detecting rotation in the clouds rather than have to rely on local reports.

Tim , "Superior knowledge card " ? Hardly....all I was stating was my previous experience with one when a kid and reported incidents in the Western U.S. If that's your definition of "superior knowledge" so be it. F & F, Couldn't agree more. You've obviously spent time in their territory too and know you have to be aware. Just trying to comment on what changes are going to occur soon in the Ozarks as the population of cats seems to be on the increase. Trout Commander.....knew there would be a "keyboard jockey" out there...I was right. Smalliebigs, Noticed your posting about "running" being a factor in the documented attack on the youngster in CO. That dovetails with reports of the activity of a lot of folks that seems to have triggered the aggressive lion behavior. Yep, hot dogs suck . Got your drift. Hope things are going well for you guys.

Thanks fellas for posting your feelings and opinions on these oversized, far-too-numerous, Commercial Bass tournaments. Well written and I'm sure there are many others who are tired of this Commercial abuse of the public's natural resources to make a buck. Fun-type or Charity fund-raiser Bass Club derbies ? No problemo ! Best one I've heard of is the TR club that measures and maybe photographs the catch at boat-side and releases them. That avoids the Bass mortality those of us who live here and fish regularly observe after the weekends. Classic example is what Babler witnessed and posted about last Fall at some big money tournament weigh-in at Kimberling City where the few Bass caught were being held out of the water for far too long while the media talking-heads prattled on about nothing to fill their alloted time slot. The anglers should have known better but were required to hold those Bass out of the water as long as instructed to. Those promoters could care less about those fish and they were considered as simply a means to generate income. Just my two cents and I'm betting there are many others who feel the same but won't post. People are really getting fed up and the complaints and backlash are growing.

"They do attack sometimes, especially children." ? Better do a few searches on adult attacks by Mountain Lions out West! It ain't just limited to children like this traumatized little guy. There are recorded adult fatalities and it's an admitted growing problem as they expand their range and population and humans enter their territory more often. Since they are no longer regularly hunted, they have lost or are losing their fear of man if they ever had any at all. All the whining on here about not shooting these apex predators reveals Midwesterners' unfamiliarity with the true nature of these big cats. Admire them from a distance all you wish but if they decide to come after you, you will never know they are there until it's too late. No, I'm not foolishly advocating shooting them on sight like some keyboard jockey is undoubtedly going to reply, but their presence is going to change the way we use our outdoors resources. They are opportunistic predators and, yeah, I had an encounter with one about 150 years ago when I was 8 and living in Ojai, CA. You have no idea how being stalked will change your opinion.

Any information on which Legislator introduced that bill ? If they can be identified, concerned MO citizens should flood his email with appropriate comments.

Drive South on 13 thru Blue Eye and keep to the right on the South side of town towards Oak Grove, AR. You'll drive past a place just before you enter the main part of Oak Grove on the left side of the Highway out in the front yard of a house that looks like an outdoor flea market and junkyard combined. They always have the Confederate Stars and Bars flag flying out front. Most of the time, the people are selling pretty decent burn barrels there.

Anyone wanting to check one of the Supreme boats out, but on a lake, not a stream, can rent one of several they have at Baxter Boat Dock on Table Rock.

Surprisingly, recent DNA testing has proven that not all Black Bears in MO have AR origins. read: http://www.semissourian.com/story/1737623.html?response=no Could the same thing have happened with Cougars ? Maybe, but probably not according to MDC DNA testing, but one thing is for sure...with the abundant food supply in the State, there will eventually be breeding populations here. Then there was the Wolf shot by a hunter thinking, at first, it was a big Coyote : http://freshare.net/article/dna_tests_shed_light_on_mo_cougar_wolf_sightings/ Turned out to be another traveler.

Man, that is one pissed-off Cougar. See the way his ears are laid back ? That is any cat's body language for " I am mad as Hell and you better watch out ". He sure seems to be in great shape from a bountiful supply of yummy deer. Probably a good thing too that the trapper was a County Commissioner or MDC might have charged him with something illegal. Next one they catch they should release in Town & Country to help out with the deer overpopulation.

I don't know who those E-15 "proponents" are for sure but I can rationalize they are connected to or are the direct representatives of the Ethanol Lobby. We pour tax money into the Corn Farmer's pockets at an alarming rate and it needs to stop...now ! Two years ago, the Ethanol Lobbyists had the MO State Senate about convinced to start selling and requiring E-15 at MO gas stations. Thankfully, it got derailed when three State Senators who are cattlemen from the West side of the State got up and stated how their feed bills had tripled since Ethanol came about and that they had the increased corn prices resulting from Ethanol production to thank for that. That stopped the crap in the State but wouldn't you know it, the Feds pushed the E-15 through behind everyone's backs and with little to no advanced warning. That is the inherent danger with the EPA, there is next to no oversight of that Agency (only thru Congress and we know what a joke they are) and no direct citizen control of their actions. We have a part-time neighbor who is a nice guy and a Corn Farmer from West Central Iowa that is free to come down to TR between planting and harvest time, so he is here very often during the warmer Months. He is rolling in money right now, despite a recent messy divorce, and has recently purchased 2 new Combines, a 24ft. Chapparal ski boat, a new SS Camaro and some kind of new JD 4WD, eight wheel tractor. He contract-grows seed for the Corn Agri-business Companies and also custom harvests corn for his local area. He's been telling us how this Corn price bonanza has set neighbor against neighbor in his neck of the woods. It seems the land in the Corn-belt is now so valuable, thanks in large part to the Ethanol subsidy, that everyone is trying to buy everyone else's land. He went on to say while the financial situation is very good it has set neighbor against neighbor and created very hard feelings.

Here's some information direct from the out-of-voter-control EPA Nazi's. http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/additive/e15/#use Scroll down to the section about what vehicles can and cannot use E-15 and it specifically excludes boats. My previous posts about the Gosh-awful,costly Ethanol debacle that has been rammed down the throats of Americans are numerous and I won't bore members with repetition. All I can suggest is write and re-write your elected Representatives in the House and the Senate and express your concern and outrage at this well funded Ethanol Lobby that continues to cost consumers Billion$ in engine repairs, increased food costs and fills the Corn Farmer's pockets with your tax money via the asinine and unwarranted Ethanol $ub$idy.

Very neat you were able to witness/hear this battle AND get some pics. We see deer over at Shannon's all the time and there are two big Tom Turkeys that repeatedly go into full display there every Spring right outside her back windows. If you get a chance, email me the vid of the battle. Hope all is as well as can be.

The daytime as well as the nightime flocks were definitely Snows. Very high, maybe 1000 feet + as a guesstimate and in their usual huge flocks taking up acres of space in the sky. They always sound like a party flying over and you almost always hear them before you see them. One of nature's wonders being able to exert all that energy to fly and still yapping away to beat the band. Thoroughly enjoy seeing their display and their numbers every year both in the Spring and the Fall.