skeeter

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.

You can come snag the dead four foot long spoonie floating between Baxter Dock and the parking lot

Many thanks, as always, Capt. Don. Outstanding, detailed report that is greatly appreciated. If I ever get done working on this consarned house maybe I can add some of my own.

I and several others were saying "good riddance" to a despised, amoral "greaser" who screwed everything he could that wore a skirt, had next to no acting talent and who abused drugs. This is what we were supposed to look up to and admire? Get serious !!! God blessed him with somewhat of a voice and somebody was smart enough to advise him to copy and imitate the leading black musicians of the 50's. You wanted to know and you got the unbiased truth and I guarantee there are thousands who feel the same way but are afraid to openly admit it due to Elvis mania. Let the barbs and arrows commence and I could care less, the truth often hurts !

Yep, and one of the worst "obnoxious drivers" in NASCAR has the same last name as a beer my employer makes that comes in a blue can with mountains in the background ! We first encountered him at a truck race at Gateway before he had "ascended" to the Cup cars, what a stuck-up jerk he was then and apparently continues to be. These guys are marketed and pimped by their business agents and press agents and their sponsor's names roll off their tongues in every sentence of every rehearsed speech they make. Have to agree that open wheel is where it's at. At the same truck race I mentioned in previous paragraph one of the support races was called the "Silver Bullet " cars ( I think ) and they were front engine roadsters ( remember them ? ) with rear mounted fuel tanks and the drivers sitting in an upright position sawing madly away at the steering wheel while trying to maintain their line through the turns. Great fun to watch and all were powered by stock blocks crowned with old-fashioned Hillborn injection and they flat put it on the NASCAR trucks with their much faster lap times. NASCAR has become BORING and is over-hyped and over-marketed for what you get. Think race fans are starting to realize that as TV viewership is down 18% this year and the Corporate types are WORRIED. I love F-1 with a passion but please, somebody get rid of Bernie Ecclestone and his dictatorial ways. At least they put some driver input back into the cars with the grooved tires and reduction in electronic traction controls.

Thom, Reading your post about required lake trout removal...didn't some mis-guided individual sneak them into Yellowstone Lake too ? I can only hope this Danube River fish stays in the Danube River. From the pics it looks like one ugly fishy. For some reason it reminds me of a Coelacanth ( sp ? ).

Not long ago, there WAS some good smallmouth fishing to be had at Byrnes Mill just upstream from Cedar Hill. Have not heard any reports about that fishery in at least five years so don't know if the usual suspects ruined it or ??? At one point, MDC was practically begging anglers to keep every Kentucky they caught from the Big as they were concerned that they were taking over the food source of the smallmouth fishery. Only problem was and continues to be those familiar with the River's watershed are well aware of the lead mine tailings that drain their toxic soup into the upper reaches of the stream and no one with any sense wanted to risk consuming those Kentuckys. I really have no idea why the EPA's "Superfund" that was used to rid Times Beach of it's human applied coating of Dioxin was never utilized to clean up the leftovers from decades of lead mining.

That pink hat is what attracted the shark !!!

Sounds like fun but it's not and is a real death wish. No exaggeration. Do it in a canoe and the tow boat wakes will swamp your canoe, some of them run five-six feet high. Tows get considerably larger below St. Louis and the further South you go the bigger they get. Do it on a raft and you will be swept under barges, either while they are under-way or rafted up on sandbars or along the banks. There are no services on that stretch of river. No marinas, nothing. And good luck navigating around Grand Tower while the water is low.

Yep ! " tree rats ", good one and exactly how I refer to them. I was busy thinning out the tree rats around the deer feeder last weekend. At one point there were eight of them on the ground and on the feeder trying to chew their way in. Like the idea about the jalapeno juice, you could probably hear them screaming for water after they chew their way into that.

Yes sir, you have that exactly correct. I would hate to live in a rural area where you have no choice but to depend on your well and have one of these ETHANOL production plants get constructed within ten miles of me. Guaranteed they will deplete the ground water table and make previous resident's wells dry up. Can't recall what the exact ratio is of ETHANOL to water useage but 6 gallons of water used to 1 gallon of ETHANOL produced is close. Wonder what that will do to aquifers that support springs wherein we enjoy trout fishing ??

15 % ETHANOL mandated in Missouri gasoline next year ?? That SUCKS, there goes fuel mileage down some more !! Missed the rip-off ETHANOL Lobby forcing that one through the Legislature. Hope everyone complains about it loud and long to their State Reps. and Senators when they discover what it will do to prices, decreased power, carbon build up and mileage. Wake up folks, ETHANOL ain't the answer and has it's own set of problems. There's a special interest group forcing it down our throats and they have plenty of funding to "influence public opinion ". Wait and see what highly increased corn prices do to food prices, anyone seen the price of a gallon of milk lately ? The good guys at Hydrotec in Nixa suggested I start using " Sea Foam " fuel additive in the Yamahammer due to ETHANOL CARBON DEPOSITS on Oxygen sensor rendering it useless. So far, so good, anyone else with the dreaded ETHANOL CARBON DEPOSITS might try it. Lot's of outdoor power equipment stores like Max's North of Kimberling City on Hwy 13 carry it due to ETHANOL caused problems in two cycle engines.

JC, Having had the same problem, only mine got in without me knowing about it, I would suggest a high powered air rifle which might be legal in your area. If they succeed in opening a hole and getting in the attic then I would suggest fixing a conibear trap (a google search for "conibear trap" will yield results) over the opening they made so they have no choice but to try and go through it to exit or enter. After you trap the first one ( they won't be alive ), re-set the trap for about a week, if you don't get any more there was probably only one squirrel involved. Squirrels can do a lot a damage in an attic and then you have the hole to repair too so hope you get 'em while they're still outside. If you can't find any small conibear traps to use see if there is a "Critter Control" franchise in your area. They are terribly expensive and charge by the "critter".

Recall them swimming the lakes but first I've heard of the Hwy. 65 crossing deaths. Think we discussed this lack of acorns issue back in the Spring when all the Oak trees looked really bad after the big freeze. Said something like " It's gonna' be a hard Winter for squirrels, turkey and deer due to freeze killing the oak flowers that result in acorns". Someone else came back and said the Red Oaks only produce acorns every three years (?) and this was their year and they were unaffected ??? Most of the oaks in my neck of the woods produced a second batch of flowers because, as usual, they got in my gutters and stopped them up. So maybe the acorn crop will not be affected. Maybe an arborist or really good observer out there knows. LMAO about "giving a squirrel a ride" . Trying to figure out how you got the feisty little buggers in the boat without losing a finger or two and kept them calm enough to drive the boat ? I've got a couple of large red squirrels that visit my deer feeder and an adult red fox that hunts the squirrels. Have seen the one squirrel kick the foxes butt ( how I wish I had a video camera for that one !! ) and they can be pretty good at defending themselves.

Anybody seen the usual Summertime leaping Spoonbill yet this year ? Amazing how these large fish come straight up completely out of the water and have no idea why this behavior exists. Used to see this happen at LOZ back in the 50's and ever since MDC stocked them in TR. If you happen to be looking at the piece of water they erupt from you'll swear for a minute someone put a new buoy there

Yep, know what you mean. Dark of the moon was Saturday 7-14 and Solunar tables put the peak activity at between 12 Noon and 2 P.M. which sounds like a crazy time to try fishing in July but I have, in the past, raised some nice fish on spook and red-fin about two casts lengths off the bluffs in the middle of the day when tables and moon were just right. So, off I go in the 21' Skeeter which I figure can handle the play-boat wakes if I take it easy. WRONG ! Took three wakes over the bow and gunwales in the first mile while barely on plane and taking the wakes as gently as possible. Water felt pretty good but wasn't real happy about it so kicked the Yammie in the butt and got some speed up where I could trim up the bow a bit, bigger mistake ! Good grief...the lake was just jammed with big and BIGGER boats, jet skis, pontoons, you name it all going in 200 hundred different directions, you needed a Traffic Cop to get anywhere. This was in the Baxter area so can't imagine what it was like from Kimberling to the dam. It was far worse than Fourth of July week, Springfield must have been empty. Finally got to a couple of bluffs I wanted to try and after about an hour of rockin' and rollin' with wakes over the transom a couple times I took my pounding and went meekly back to the dock. Guess I need a 28' bow rider deep vee bass boat with two 502 cu. in. I/O's on it

Bravo Gentlemen...many are getting the point that our current form of Government is way past due for a major change. First step, eliminate or outlaw the Congressional Pension. Members of both houses of Congress are SUPPOSED to be SERVING their Country not devoting 90% of their time in D.C. to getting re-elected so they can cash in on the ridiculously fat Pension. No matter if it's the Demonrats or the Republicant's ( as we have recently discovered ) soon after they arrive in D.C. and discover the fat, tax supported benefits for themselves they soon devote their every waking moment to thinking about what is going to get them re-elected. Founding Fathers did NOT mean for Congressmen to make this their life-long "career". It is supposed to be an honor and a duty to serve your Country, not a means of lining your pockets. The American public recently rose-up and shot down the asinine immigration reform bill and they can do the same with the Congressional Pension plan if they were aware of implications. Second step ( if necessary after achieving number one ): Our form of Government (surprise, surprise) is NOT A DEMOCRACY, it is a REPUBLIC. In simplified terms that means we elect Representatives to do our bidding in a Congress or gathering. We empower them to pass laws that we approve of or rectify situations that we disapprove of. Again, the Founding Fathers realized the necessity for this method of governance in the latter half of the 18th Century when it could take Weeks and even Months for elected Representatives and Senators to travel to D.C. by walking, horse back or horse and buggy. It worked then but obviously doesn't now so GET RID OF THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH and become a true Democracy. Let the people vote on issues directly and let those issues be introduced by initiative petition by and from the people. We no longer have to rely on horse and buggy transportation and have means by which to vote often and easily by electronic communication. Yeah-yeah I know this sounds extremist and all that but think about it, really think about it. Why is this Country not moving ahead and achieving the things we all want to see ??? one word CONGRESS. This government is supposed to be a living, evolving thing not something stuck in the 1700's for all time. Would it require a change in the Constitution ? You bet and I'm not advocating anything violent but there are ways and legal means to change the status quo. Not all change is bad and it would be empowering the people in the electorate directly for the first time in the operation of this Country and I have faith, overall, in the American public. Let the barbs and arrows commence...