skeeter

Nice picture on there at 6:52 of Sun just behind the clouds and not over the Horizon yet. Thanks for posting the link.

Can only see limited areas with snow cover left in typical locations. North sides of hills, shaded areas, parking lots and some roadsides with massive piles of snow from plowing etc. Had a temp. of 40 at 6 A.M. so it melted all night but will be gone by the weekend....except for plow piles.

Yes, it was. Found on a fence line in the Missouri River Bottoms area of St. Louis County. It was considered the largest "non-typical" rack ever recorded when found. Perfect habitat for deer....lot's of row crops planted in rich River-bottom soil, good cover along the River's edge and on the adjoining bluffs, water always available and no hunting pressure. An awesome animal and too bad no one had reported seeing it while still alive and been able to get a picture or video. 4 & 1/2 years old and TOOTHLESS ! Makes you wonder what, or how he ate.

Like anything else it depends on the circumstances. First, is there anyone who lives there full-time and has their boat on the dock or is hired to regularly look after your dock ? If not, then I would definitely not leave my rig on the lift over the Winter if I were not present. Low water can prevent lift-floats, depending on the bottom contour under your dock, from dropping down far enough, preventing launching of the boat but your dock doesn't seem to be the type affected by that. High water can prevent access to the dock. All docks on floats are affected by snow and ice loading, you only have to look at pictures of the dock damage in Oklahoma posted on the site to see this. Then there are the wind storms to worry about. If I had a choice, no, I would not leave my boat on a lift if I weren't living here. On the trailer, well-covered and, if possible, in a garage or under a carport with a reputable, on-demand, trickle charger hooked up to the batteries.

VERY seldom do TR coves freeze over. Last time I recall was the Winter of '77-'78. By the time you arrive, if there was any ice in the extreme back ends of shallow coves, it will be long gone. Nice warm-up coming, so they say, but that warm air has to flow over the very heavy snow in NW AR first ! Even some liquid-type rain is forecast in the long-range prognostications/guessing-game for next weekend (not this one).

I have no problem with hunting deer or other game, provided it's in season, with tags, and according to the MDC regs. The size of the herd needs to be controlled to avoid Winter starvation. In the TR area there are no row crops to munch on and most hill-country deer rely on the mast crop so they are much smaller than farm-country deer. However, in my neck of the woods we have a bad poaching problem and we residents have noticed the deer numbers are WAY down because of it. We have bow-hunters staying in the woods long after dark, we have road hunters shooting out of their pick-up windows during daylight and after dark and complete idiots shooting towards groups of homes with high-powered rifles. We also have those who brag ( after a few cold ones loosen their tongues ) about having several butchered deer in their freezers; all of them shot the same year. Many apparently believe since they were born and raised in these parts the game belongs to them, anytime and anyway they choose to take it. So, you're probably wondering....why not report these illegal game-hog activities to MDC ? Believe me, we have, including license plate numbers (if they haven't been removed first!)and vehicle and personal descriptions. Reports have been made by outraged property owners, after finding fresh remains/guts of butchered deer at all times of the year on their land, as well as legal hunters. So far, nothing. Can only suppose the MDC enforcement division is stretched so thin they can't seem to get down here since no one has ever seen an MDC vehicle or officer/agent in the area in response to complaints.

Saw the "official" snowfall map NOAA Springfield has on their website for the Feb. 9th event. Don't know how they come up with these numbers but they show only 2 to 3 inches of snowfall in the Mid-Lake area. Using the old fashioned "Stick-a-ruler-in-it" method in several carefully chosen level areas of the property where I knew all the previous snow had melted to bare ground, we got 6.5 inches. No drifting occurred as there was very little wind. At 6:30 it's -3 degrees and very heavy fog off the lake has coated everything with freezing fog which should be spectacular when the Sun comes up.

Supposed to get up to another 8" in the Lake area today and the way it's coming down right now I believe it. However, temps in the mid 50's are forecast for the late weekend and a nice warmup for next week so that should melt it all......until the next one !

Took the UTV down to the Baxter launch ramp yesterday and someone had been down there with a snowplow/blade, surprise, surprise!!! Don't know who it was but the tires left tracks that would suggest a tractor. They pushed the snow downhill on the launch ramp to block access to the courtesy dock ( ? ) but the ramp surface is still hard packed with sleet/ice/snow and the snowplow vehicle's tires just packed that frozen stuff down worse. Since Baxter ramp faces due North it get's no Sun and the little bit of melting we had yesterday didn't affect it. The short road from the parkie's shack at the campground entrance down to the ramp was snow covered and packed and real slick.

Hey, no way ! Don't pin it on me. I'm as fed up with it as anyone. I'm wearing out the snow blade on the JD keeping our's and the neighbor's driveways cleared. Plus I put in a brand new deck and I'm freakin' out about all the snow, sleet and ice covering it. And, the Marina owners where I keep the boat have not been on the roof of my dock shoveling the weight off. Went down there yesterday and the dock I'm on has the styrofoam completely submerged which dropped the back end of my boat and jammed the trolling motor up under my rail mounted storage box ! They best get up there before the next one forecast for Tue./Wed. hits 'cause the nice melting we had yesterday is gone and didn't take enough weight off.

Ha ! That "nuisance snow" I was yapping about turned out to be at least four inches in the mid-lake area 'cause the Low Pressure center stalled. Started about Noon Friday and was still coming down at Midnight. More in the forecast tonight into Sunday and then more in the forecast for Wednesday. Darn that La Nina !

Hope you haven't left home yet. Baxter is packed with the snow over the top of the sleet over the light freezing rain we got early in the week. Then, we got at least four more inches beginning yesterday (Friday) noon and lasting past midnight and it's the type of snow that packs. You would probably need four wheel drive with locking transfer case and front and rear locking diffs plus chains and even then it would be questionable if you'd be able to stop your rig while backing down. You don't expect the Corps to maintain those ramps for the launch fee$ they charge do you ? [grin] Seriously, the salt or chemicals would really eat-up the concrete.

Not much, we lucked out, unlike Grand Lake in OK where docks are sinking. ( See RPS's thread "Sinking Marinas in Oklahoma" under the General Angling discussion ). TR area got about three-four inches of snow at most covering about an inch of packed sleet preceded by a very small amount of freezing rain. I heard of no or very limited power outages but we have three more snow events in the immediate and long range forecast and although the first two look like nuisance snows at most they are already concerned about the event next Wednesday. Thanks for your offer, someone will probably take you up on it when it get's hot as hades down here. ( Please let that be soon ) ! Right now we need rain as the lake is LOW and dropping daily. Some say that makes fishing easier but it means a lousy Fry survival during the spawn.

OK back to the subject of this thread...puleeeze ? Weather science is now pointing the finger for the Wild Winter Weather directly at the La Nina event in the Pacific. See multiple articles here: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=la+nina&fr=buzzlogsrp&gid=94267 Many predicted this last Fall and, for once, they were correct.

100% AGREE. The ONLY Dictator..er..President to directly ignore a Supreme Court decision. Should have been impeached and then flogged and jailed !

FDR was elected to FOUR terms and that led to the XXII Amendment installing term limits for the Executive Branch. Now, we need term limits (oh boy, do we ever !) for the Legislative Branch. Odd thing about the XXII was that it was begun by Truman and the Hoover commission he appointed in '47 and Truman was FDR's V-P who served his remaining term out after FDR's death in '45 and then Truman was elected in '48. Congress passed the Amendment in '47 and the necessary number of States ratified it in '51 making it law.

I've seen local Marina owners on their dock roofs shoveling snow and chipping ice and thought how dangerous that is, but these are the results if they don't get up there and keep up with the additional weight. A couple of those pictures, numbers 5 and 15 look like the docks were allowed to go aground due to low water conditions. Thanks for posting and glad this missed TR, although not by much.

The adddition of a three-way swivel is kind of a recent development. The original float n' fly kits came with a pear-shaped, clip-on style bobber that you clipped onto your line at the top and bottom of the bobber. Slip bobbers can be used but you won't get the same action when you jiggle the rod to give the jig some action, instead, the jig will move mainly up and down as you tug on the line. That "craft-hair" used on the float n' fly jigs is pretty stiff stuff and not at all like marabou. It's also difficult to get much sideways movement to change locations being fished with a slip bobber rig. When you move the fixed-line bobber the jig moves through the water in sort of a pendulum motion that, on some days, attracts a bite. A very subtle shaking action, like what the angler is using in the video Stump bumper posted, is what is recommended to imitate a crippled or distressed threadfin. Funny think is they are still selling the "fly-dope" that reminds you of a thick and scented vaseline product that is used to dress the craft hair on the jig. Even the little plastic tube it comes in is identical to 10 years ago.

Good for a laugh.... Let the slings and arrows commence !

Looking forward to reading all the weekend fishing/catching reports during next week's "Significant Winter Storm " event that NOAA SPGFLD.is now thinking will be hitting the area. Rain(which we badly need)changing to freezing rain(which we never need)and then snow in the Mon. thru Wed. time period. They are predicting the storm will be coming together in the Four Corners region which always spells trouble for us. Get out and enjoy the nice weather while it's here.

Local business owner's thoughts on the new By-Pass are that it's going to cost several of them their livelihood. There is a lot of fear and they fought like crazy to get a turn lane put into the road plans at the Southern end so folks could access the old road without having to go all the way to the Northern end first, then have to turn back South. http://www.modot.mo.gov/springfield/major_projects/Stone/Route13BWtoKC.html

Used to be 915 msl, lately, two different Marina owners have told me it's 916 msl. NOAA has the area colored in on it's National Drought Map as "Abnormally Dry" which is the prelude stage to official Drought. We need rain. http://www.drought.gov/portal/server.pt/community/drought_indicators/us_drought_monitor

Tried the "Float n' Fly" system (the "fly" is nothing more than a jig tied with "craft hair" like you used to see on those ugly little Troll dolls) years ago when the original guy who manufactured and sold the kits was still alive. Found out quickly on TR you had to have at least 10 to 12 feet of line out below the stationary float. A "slip-bobber" won't work to make casting the rig easier because you can't effectively "twitch" the jig with it due to line movement. Got my decades old 9wt, 9ft Eagle Claw fly rod out to cast this cumbersome thing with and even with a rod that long it was very difficult for me to cast it. I had to hear the bobber hit the water first on the backcast before bringing the rig forward and it quickly became a case of "chuck and duck" and it was a pain to throw it. Not recommended if another person is sharing the boat with you. There must be some renewed interest in the system as one of our local guys is inquiring about using the F n' F system too and he does very well in the cold weather with other methods.

Kitty has good taste in neighborhoods . There was another "eco-nut" on here who wanted to see large, predatory cats return. Hope (but doubt) this is his/her backyard. If it were, the NIMBY complex would be in full swing. Betchya' !

Yep, I recall that too. It takes a lot of water to fill 'er back up from that level and affects wells, marinas, docks, launch ramps and so on. Most docks were high and dry up on the bank and many launch ramps ended way before the water line. Numerous boat owners put in off the end of old Hwy "H" at Baxter where the old blacktop road continued out into the lake but that won't be available because during the $1.3 million re-hab of the Baxter campground the Corps' contractor removed the old concrete ramp down at the end of "H", removed the old asphalt and moved the swim beach right where the end of the road runs into the Lake. There were a couple of enterprising guys who took a video camera out and made tapes of the exposed banks and sold them to anyone interested. Amazing what showed up. Some of the Marina owners have told me the Corps is "required" to keep the Lake no lower than 890msl.