jdmidwest

There is a pattern if you can find it. Takes time and casting.

Wappapello had a bunch of the Herons today. Two Bald Eagles and an Osprey too. NO Heros in sight. Or fish.

My thoughts on the matter was that stubborn scientific info seemed to out weigh what I actually saw. A cotton mouth snake. And a lake with fishing potential.

Global warming is pushing southern animals north. Any college educated person should know that.

I have seen a trout eat a cigarette butt, marshmellow, corn, and feathers tied on a hook. That's pretty stupid.

I am sure we could go back and collect it. It seemed to like the dock pretty well. It was a loner. Maybe stowed away on a boat and was trying to find his way home. I was schooled. It was a cotton mouth. And it was north of the Missouri River.

Wrench may get high, but I doubt he could flap his wings and fly.

He swam up closer that morning while I was working on the electronics. It was a cotton mouth. Crappy cell phone pic zoomed in and cropped. Had 2 big boats jacking around me while I was waiting my turn so I snapped a quick pic. He had stopped swimming and sank some.

Maybe constipated, too full of sheet to fly.

My favorite, Garage doors made by Mennonites...... When was the last time one pulled the car up to one and pushed the button to open one.

Missouri Trooper Risks Life and Limb to Save a Blue Heron at Wappapello Lake Must have been a slow news day. But there you go, my Hero. Nice thing about the radiation damage, I can make a Blue Heron sound out of my damaged throat and fu'kd tongue. Can't whistle, call a bobwhite quail, assemble a flock of fall turkeys. But I can talk to the herons. Squaakk Squaaaakss

There, finally drug out some technical info. Why do the crappie thrive? They need spawn and food source too. I know the lake was still coming down, but the banks seemed to be pretty clear of mud. I did notice it back in the extreme parts of the coves. I still want to see it at normal pool. I can live with a nice white bass spawn also. Those are fun to catch. And there is a mention of Walleye. All lakes go thru a phase. First years after a fill build up some fat bass. Timber seems to have broken off and floated around for the most part. That big ole point around Florida was pretty open and clear. Looked pretty open on the side scan. Silt on the edges was the last thing I would think about. The banks were open rocks and gravel without any form of cover trees. Not much mud around the edges. But, with all of the agriculture around it and the topography, there is a good chance of runoff silt. The local soil was unique, part of the glacial deposits that flattened out the area it drains.

It looks like it could be full of possibilities, has to be fish in there somewhere. Something other than crappie, I did see a few of them pulled out of the trees. Graphs showed bait clouds and suspended fish. But, I did not have time to get to know it much. The drive is boring, lots of grain and flat lands. We broke it up and came back thru the north river road just to have some curves.

I think the high water was worse than the boat traffic. I will have to go back and give it a real try. The bare banks all around were confusing, no cover except for the trees.

And only caught one bass. Saturday started off as usual. When I was getting boat ready Friday nite, I noticed some new mouse turds on the carpet. I set a trap and sure enough, nailed one. Hopped in truck to leave out and noticed all lights out on passenger side of trailer. The hunt was on, killed an hour tracking down the wire, fender marker light chewed thru and killed the lights. Patched them up and started out. . We took our time Saturday just seeing the sights. Had breakfast at JR Diamonds in Troy. Drove by and checked out Vandalia City Lake, nice little overly fertile lake nestled among farm land. Checked out the Visitors Center at the Clarence Cannon Dam, drove to the spillway and lower dam to the river. Both were muddy, like the lake and they were drawing alot of water out. 3 gate open and generation at main dam. Probably good fishing when the water clears up. Only 2 boats on it. Checked into the Junction Motel at Perry after making the rounds at Samuel Clements Museum and Mark Twain State Park. Had a nice grilled shrimp dinner at the Junction Restaurant and Bar. Toured the Hobby Fishing Store. Got up on Sunday Morning and had big breakfast at the Junction Restaurant. Put in at the Hwy U boat ramp in the State Park. Fiddled around at the ramp 45 minutes tracing down the problem of why I did not have power at the graphs. Found a blown fuse, but have feeling the real culprit was the little rat has shorted something out somewhere. They worked. Hit the bluffs to the west of the ramp and worked some trees. Motored around the Florida point to the south side and started fishing the shallow flats. We both picked up a bass. Boat traffic started picking up and pounding the boat. We ran back to the ramp and headed for home. Took a pic of a cotton mouth that had been hanging around the ramp all morning. It shows the clarity of the water. Everyone I talked to had fished it several years ago and liked it. But the boat traffic was thick, lots of pleasure boats. I will have to go back during the off season.

In TN, they help work all of the old Indian Trash out of the riverbanks so the collectors can pick them up. Ancient Indians were litterbugs.

Put a jet on it and avoid low lying limbs, perfect boat??

And the herders that fail to enforce the rules of their licenses.

Fish have fed the masses since before Biblical Times. Now they have become livestock managed by the Government Herders. I toss crappie back when I catch them as a bycatch, I am not a crappie fisher. It is my decision, not something forced on to me by others. Catch and release is my decision. Many years ago, we fished and eat our catches. I enjoyed those meals. But I realized that catching was more fun than eating. So I kept less and less of all species. But still they decline. Trouble is, the Herders are promoting the fishing part to increase the larders that make them fatter. So now, much to my dismay at the attempts of my conservation methods, my fishing keeps declining. Can't really blame the ones that keep legal fish. Blame the herders that push them to buy more licenses.

Probably brought it from home. At least it wasn't one of them copperheads that tend to roam that neck of the woods. We fished it the first of July. Falling river from a medium rise. Fished from Cane Bluff to Whitten. Then from Riverton down half way to Narrows. Pretty tough. Put and take trout are still jacked up from the floods at the hatchery. They seem to still be stocking less and not as many.

Yeah, water skiers. I was thinking about the lack of docks and private ownership of the lake would stop most of that.

I have been reading about the pumped storage part, that has to goof things up when they are working that. Might even start out below the dam and fish the power pool. Other ponds and smaller lakes in area also. After the events of the last year's, I know that fishing time could end abruptly.. My new resolve is to explore new stuff, see more places. This is one of those weekends.

So, its like Lake Wappapello?? But it looks so pretty on the map. I have to try new waters. Life is too short. Road trip and beer drinking. BTW, I don't crappie fish.

These work good too. I have them in 22, 38, 9, and 45. CCI shotshells

As part of my new directive, stop beating the same ole water to death over and over, I am off to new waters this weekend. Looks like Mark Twain is pretty quiet on here. Not much info. Anybody fish it? Any hints or special spots?