skeeter

The reason for the "ominous music " on the National Geo program is these Snakehead fish are nothing but bad news. If you think the Asian or Bighead Carp is a problem in our major rivers the snakehead is about 1000 times worse. All the Asian Carp eats ( we think ) is plankton and algae, the snakehead is a carnivore that is voracious for anything else that swims. They can breathe or gulp air like certain gar species and have this nasty ability to be able to cross short distances of dry land by using their pectoral fins to sort of "walk" or "slither" across the ground. If they get into our waters you can kiss your fishery good-bye as they will out-compete and out-eat anything else. The morons who released them should be prosecuted and locked up.

OK Phil, having let the cat out of the bag about a problem at Beaver how about sharing with us what that problem is ? I've heard many stories about the "leaks" at BS coming out of the bedrock downstream but never heard anything about Beaver. You would think that would be the most researched and safest dam on the River chain as it was the last one built. Thanks.

NWS Springfield office is warning that a dangerous flooding event is setting up. Saturated ground, creeks full to banks and more heavy precip. coming. Look's like Capt. Don's long range weather info. is coming true with heavy rain Thurs/Fri and more Sun/Mon. It all depends on where it falls and for how long. Makes you appreciate why the Govt. built the White River chain of Lakes back in the day.

Patfish, Well, that would be OK except the water running on the top of the shelf rock under the yard hasn't quit yet and if you try and walk in the yard we're sinking over our shoe tops, it's that soggy. Can't recall the last time I saw this and I think a lot of it is from previous owners importing topsoil. We're just hoping that with the continuing rainfall the topsoil doesn't slide right off the underlying shelf rock and do a mudslide down the hill. We need some of those sunny, warm windy days with winds out of the SW to help in drying out and warming up the lake. More rain coming today and tonight and Wed. into Thurs. but it looks like results of frontal passage(s) and not a stalled out front with overrunning moisture aloft like the big one(s).

Patfish, I was riding my ATV through Baxter Campground last Saturday and the Park gatekeepers had just arrived for the season. The lake was almost three feet higher then and the lower sites on the West end of the point, and the sites on the North edge of Hwy. "H" were under water. The metal poles the Corps installed for campers to hang their Coleman lanterns on on the North side of "H" had about one foot visible above the water level and all roads leading to the water's edge were blocked with narrow orange plastic sawhorse barriers with signs on them stating " keep out " signed by the Corps of Engineers. It didn't matter whether the roads were in the campground, Hwy "H" itself, or leading to the dock or steep launch ramp, all were blocked with those barriers. The road to the launch ramp was about four feet deep and completely impassable, the road to the boat dock was about two feet deep and only the very last row of parking in front of the dock's gasoline storage tanks was out of the water. The public dock was inaccessible with the end of the access ramp about 70 to 80 feet from the shore. While I was there, two local fishermen with an 18' jon boat set up for fishing drove in and kicked the boat off their trailer at the end of "H" and went out fishing. That's a very gradual slope to the water there and even though they had a flat bottomed aluminum boat had to submerge the rear axle of their pickup to get into deep enough water to float the boat. I rode back down about three hours later and noticed those guys had a citation from the Corps under their windshield wiper ! Why the entire campground would be closed is beyond me as the sites with electric are well up the hill and should never be affected by high water. I'd keep checking with the Corps before giving up hope for the middle of May. I read Capt. Don's post about a long range prediction of 6- 10 inches more by next weekend and can only hope that forecast is incorrect but short term we are supposed to get several inches more Sunday and Monday with light rain coming down as I type this.

Good luck at finding a useable ramp. Everything at Baxter is under many feet of water and the Corps has orange sawhorses at all the roads leading to the water with signs on them saying to keep out. Saw some guys launch an aluminum john boat with fishing seats in it at the end of Hwy. "H" and about three hours later the Corps had a citation stuck under their windshield wipers. Don't make the mistake of submerging your rear axle under the water trying to launch as most have breathers on them and will suck in cold water. Just saw two boats go past the house wide open ( must be a small tournament) despite all the debris floating in and on the water.

--------------------------------------------------- Just a heads-up that if anyone you know of is plannning travel on I-44 between Springfield and St Louis from now through the Easter weekend I would suggest they check with MoDOT first. Driving West yesterday at 4:30 P. M. I just did get across the Gasconade River at the 131 mile marker previous to the Interstate being shut down in both directions because the River was coming over the road with strong current on the flats East of the River bridge. The Eastbound lanes were already shut down and the left lane of Westbound was underwater and then it came up some more. That may have been the flood crest but I kind of doubt it, probably too early on a river that size. In addition I almost guarantee I-44 will close at highway 141 in St. Louis County sometime Friday at the 272 mile marker as the crest on the Meramec River at Valley Park is projected to come within 1/10 of a foot of the record crest of 1982 and the Interstate went under about three feet of water back then. Since '82 the Fed's built a new $49 million levee around Valley Park that is going to push all the flood water over to the Interstate side of the Valley. There is one sure way to get around this closure and that is to exit at Grey Summit on Hwy. 100 which avoids the River crossings completely. Watching Table Rock come up I wonder just how high it's gonna' get ? Forecast is 931 MSL and that put's it at the top of the flood gates which I hear are all now all wide open. Sure glad I'm not a dock owner. There are trees floating in Big Indian and the White that are the size of large cars. Be careful out there and remember some of these snags are sub surface and you can't see them and you DON'T want to be in the water at these temps.

SKMO, got in late in the afternoon. Baxter Dock is closed and inaccessible with the water up (last night ) to the top row of parking in their lot. The Corps has a sign posted at the access road to the dock off "H" closing the area. Hear the crest isn't due until Sat. so it's gonna' get higher !!! Saw your pics of the 86 bridge, awesome, thanks for posting. Read my post about the drive down from STL on the " General Angling Discussion" . Gotta' get out, if I can find a useable ramp and flip a jig into the junk floating at the backs of coves.

It's going to be critical that if there is a fast warm-up while the water is still high and if the fish go on their beds that the Corps maintain the lake levels and not expose the nests. Since they have all 10 flood gates open I'd say that right now the last thing on their minds is the spawn but it should still be weeks off. Brownies and the Kentuckies go first followed a few degrees later by the largemouth. Early next week's forecast is for below normal temps as another Canadian high pressure moves in so who knows, at this time of the year, just what will happen.

SKMO. Gotchya' on which side of "H" you launch on. If what Phil is reporting about 10 flood gates being open at the dam, there ought to be a VERY noticeable current for your lee side of the points stategy. That's an excellent strategy. With all the visible and sub surface debris coming in it ought to be hard to get the boat on plane for safety's sake. 921.76 and rising is the latest this A.M. Might run across you if you're out tomorrow. Same boat ( a little older ) as yours if you recall the morning of the foggy Ranger tournament off the campground point.

Like I posted over in another thread, what happens to the hatchery if it goes over the new spillway ? Not aware of the MSL reading where it does go over the spillway but that would seem like it would be disaster for the hatchery down below. Latest lake level on the National Weather Service is 921 and rising so it can go up another 10 feet and then lookout.

Sure hope for all you trout anglers that the new spillway at TR dam doesn't get a tryout. It lools like that could spell disaster for the SOH Hatchery if it happens. Pretty dumb design IMHO but they claim it was necessary. It's gotta' stop sometime!!!

Thanks for your reply. Not sure this rain is going to help all THAT much but I experienced kinda' the same situation after the much colder Winter of '77-'78 when most of the lakes along the AR-MO border froze almost bank to bank except on the main channel and then it got close in places. Had a huge threadfin shad die off and then a 3-4 " rainfall at 65-70 degrees the last weekend in March '78 when a large warmfront blew in. When the warm water runoff hit the area lakes all the crawdads came out and everything in the lake was up on the banks eating them as there wasn't much else left. This year's situation isn't as extreme as that Winter but somewhat similar and should make some difference...... Maybe ! Guess we're all going to find out since once the rain is gone the weather forecast looks pretty decent.

Hey SKMO, good to hear from you again. Did they fix the courtesy dock at the Baxter launch ramp yet ? My daughter is bugging the heck out of me to take her fishing and I'm wondering if the rain you're getting in the area is a warm or a cold rain ? This time of year after a cold winter a warmer vs. a cold run-off can make all the difference ( maybe ). Anybody else local care to chime in I'd appreciate it. Thanks much.

No, not "finally" ! This is the third 8 inch plus storm since December and more to come tomorrow. Plus two ice events and one sleet event. Table Rock is possibly going to get it tonight and tomorrow and then it's coming our way. The nice thing here is it melts between storms unlike Chicago.

Come on up to St. Louis. We got 12 inches yesterday where I work and where I live. Wife and I spent three hours digging my truck INTO the driveway so I could get off the street and park. 25 miles West as the crow flies they got less than an inch. Go figure ! Time for winter to be over. Al Gore, what the hell happened to your Global Warming ?

Yeah, I saw that "courtesy" dock all torn up and neglected. What's up with that ? Isn't the Corps supposed to maintain that dock for all the "fees" they collect ? Might be time to make some very pointed calls to the Lake hdqtrs. and get them off their rear ends. Lot of folks are going to be needing that dock in the next few weeks. They are sure quick enough to place tickets on fishermen's vehicles they suspect haven't placed their "fee" in the box.

Yo ! Ricky......how are things down at club Babaloo now that Fidel has "retired " ? Is Raoul treating you any better ? apologies....couldn't resist

Anyone have their rain gauge out or, like me, is it inside due to freezing concerns ? Totals anyone ?

Now there's a mix for you. Slobo the Croatian and his Irish Setter.... Cute story and I can see it happening as we've had three " Big Reds " over the years and they are quick and agile. The first guy would retrieve rocks I threw in the clear shallow Ozark streams even though not asked to and would stick his head under water and look around for the rock I threw. It wasn't always the same one but he had good intentions Too bad Slobo couldn't have made a video tape of his "Lipi" actually catching the fish.

OMG ! Rolling on the floor laughing my arse off at that video, thanks so much for posting. Gonna' have to try putting one together but will aim it for the broad side of a close by tree, SPLAT ! Anything one can do to discourage and thin out the "tree rats " is a plus. They really have no predators anymore except for the Great Horned Owl that will pick them off at night if they can find their nest site. I've seen a full grown fox at my deer feeder try and nail one and the darn squirrel came out the winner. Your wife will rue the day she encouraged squirrels to hang around your home and will enjoy paying to have them removed from your attic after they chew their way in. Greatly encourage .22 with short shorts or high velocity pellet guns to reduce their numbers. Traps are so-so but for Pete's sake if you trap 'em send them to squirrel heaven and don't try and re-locate.

National Geographic Explorer channel on cable/satellite had a nice 20 minute video about Pruitt and his wife on last night, 1-1-08. Title of the show is "Monster Fish" and I'm sure it will be repeated, watch your program guides or listings. His wife went to net this fish and the net broke, he had to haul it in by hand over the gunwale of his boat. He's sure there are other, larger fish to be had. Bear in mind this took place just above the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers and that same area yielded a Bull Shark at one time.

Sounds like great news to me but here's hoping they don't sink them all in the "middle" of coves as the fry of the year need cover to hide and grow in. That's an excellent use of those danged old nasty tick hotels called Eastern Red Cedars that take over seemingly everywhere. More power to them and I hope they cut down more Cedars and uncover the glade environment that MDC has stated is disappearing due to shade cast by overpopulation of Cedars. There used to be a program wherein the Corps brought discarded Christmas trees to the COE campground areas in January/February and lot's of us would gather them up and devise permanent weights for them, drag them out on flats etc. and sink 'em. However, Eastern Red Cedars are known to last much longer in an underwater environment than typical Christmas tree species so bring 'em on. We always believed that if you sank a cedar that was still green it was an immediate Crappie magnet. Hope they make their way up to mid-lake some year.

No sight of any last weekend. Probably a little bit early. Wait for the second cold front behind this one that's going to stall out. Late next week they'll be riding in on it. Nature's F-16's ZOOOOOM !!!

Al, Figured I'd reply in this thread rather than over on the excellent post you made about your recent trip on the Big. Guess I didn't keep up with the Fed's designating the lead mine tailings as a Superfund site, thanks for updating us. Having ridden dirt bikes extensively in the 70's on a tailings site down Hwy 185 South of Sullivan I became very familiar with the "fines" and how St. Joe Lead and others would dam up entire valleys then "float" the "fines" via water transport into those valleys until full. That two mile long valley on 185 and a place in Flat River called the "Sugar Bowl" by the bikers were fun places to ride and would remind you of riding in the desert Southwest on BLM lands. However, those "fines" can be some of the most treacherous surfaces you ever encountered when wet. You've no doubt heard of "liquefaction" of alluvial soils during earthquakes ? Same goes for the "fines" only X 10. It only takes one rider to pass over a wet surface and the next guy will sink to his frame, guaranteed. My point is it's good of the Fed's to "stabilize" these tailings impoundments of fines but the material is so unbelieveably fine and so incredibly subject to movement by liquid that I think the only real solution is to transport those fines right back where they came from, deep underground and off the surface of the planet. Those stabilization projects will only last so long and then future generations will be faced with the same problems we have seen. In other words, the problem isn't solved, just put off for a few years. Let's hope the overseers of the Superfund sites realize this in short order.