jdmidwest

I have heard stories about horse traders taking a trailer load of horses down to Texas and bringing back a load of hogs and letting them loose. Probably brought some meth back from Mexico too. I am sure the MDC is well aware of what is going on. That is why they have decided "hunting hogs" is not a good idea. There were guided hunting programs that were feeding the hogs, therefore expanding the problems. It was more than just interference with their trapping efforts. http://www.trophywildboarhunt.com/missouri.html http://www.dakelhoghunts.net/ http://www.huntwildpig.com/state-specifics/missouri/ http://www.biggamehunt.net/forum/bad-hog-hunting-mo I know some are tired of seeing the hog hunting on this thread, but. I have seen it first hand hunting mushrooms the damage that the hogs can do. In Europe, they train hogs to hunt truffles, a mushroom. I have seen them raze a good morel patch, I am sure they like them as much as I do. And turkeys are nesting at this time. Hogs will ruin turkey nests and eggs, not to mention their forage foods like acorns. We need to eliminate the hogs, not proliferate them for hunting purposes.

Not to mention that the hog hunters are bringing more in and releasing them to become wild. I have seen guided hunts and the whole 9 yards in some counties. They need to be gone, period. It should be pretty simple. Back in the days of the open range, hogs run wild. Farmers would herd them up and butcher once a year. Fence laws came about and wild hogs disappeared. Then in the 90's, someone let some wild Russians loose in Iron County, supposedly a failed hunting preserve. Now, they are everywhere. And they make a mess, ruin property, carry disease, and destroy wild game habitat. Kill them all on site, eliminate them completely. Don't proliferate hog hunting in MO as a sport. That is the solution.

You can still kill pigs on sight. MDC is trying to discourage organized hunting as it is leading to a growing population. Trapping is the only effective way to get rid of them, hunting them keeps them moving making them hard to trap.

V is closed, no access to river. DD has campgrounds on north and south side of bridge, private now. Stay up near Amidon on Conservation land and you will be safe.

They bite all year long in the Castor River. Head upstream to the headwaters above HWY 72, water warms up quick there and its easy wading.

Its safe for canoe. No walleye. Just the usual bass, panfish, catfish. Pretty clear lake with good depth and standing timber. Forest all around except for campground.

What about all the number 2 in the water?

Use the rope and make a stirrup on the front of the boat to step up on.

They are here. Today's rain and this weeks temps will get them rising to top.

I just drive to TN for the nice big river and lake smallies. 3 to 4 pounders are common there. And I take my Tracker boat with me.

I had been launching with a rope like Al and have not had many issues. But I like Wrench's method, I'll have to try it next time. It would surely be better in a wind or current.

I would not clean any guns tonight if I were you.

I hit a spot yesterday that usually produces and did not come up with anything that looked like a fungus. I have friends that are finding them, but all in open fields. Another week or 2 before it gets serious for me, all mine are in the deep dark woods far from mankinds wanderings.

Gotta love the net. I saw it sail by and had to look it up too. Seems like it is the one that took out a 300 ft span of bridge back in 2012. Glad I backed off and give it room. It was a light skimmer, it did not displace hardly any water. The wakes off it were not much worse than a 14' jon boat. Large pleasure boats on that area are the worst for wake. Heavy laden barges are next.

It is a pigment response to a parasite. The larval stage of a parasite in bird droppings enters the skin and goes thru one stage of its life cycle. The fish tries to block it off and the pigment of the skin changes. I see it alot down in TN in both largemouth and smallies. Normally in summer and early fall.

Mic, they were using the concrete as habitat. The river had under cut the concrete and fish were hiding out under it. I guess they declared it unsafe and removed it. They tried something there and nature kept trying to get rid of it. The Handicap platform was washed away once and they rebuilt it. It was a deck that sit 6 foot above the water line on a shallow run that was only shin deep. I have never seen anyone fish from it. It would have been hard for any one in a wheel chair to pull up, cast over the rail, catch a fish and reel it in. But they spent my taxpayer dollars on it without thinking it out. I did use it one time to watch canoes go buy while relaxing with a cold one. The concrete structure was to improve access for Jadwin and Akers float camps to toss boats in. It was a flop, choked a nice bluff hole down to a trickle. It ruined a few runs below too.

The next one will include a CT scan looking for anything that may have popped up elsewhere. Doc is still confident he has gotten it all with the surgery. I really wanted to go brand new, but was watching Craigslist also. I saved about 10k by buying it used. This one was the same as new, only used a few times. Trolling motor did not even look like it had been in the water. He still had the paperwork where he bought it new in 08, that is about how much it depreciated. I might buy a new camper with the money I saved. I have made a few advancements on the boat. Upgraded trailer lights to LED's. Newer electronics. New batteries. New cover. A little tweaking here and there. It will run 30 on plane with 2 in it and gear. Fast enough for me. It rides pretty smooth with the deeper V in front. Barge wake was not much of an issue last weekend. I feel more comfortable walking around in a boat with higher sides and lower deck. With the grandson, its a plus too having taller sides and a buffer zone. I have never been much of a high deck fan, especially on windy, wavy days. I have fished out of many boats in my life, this one was pretty comfortable for both of us last weekend. We spent the weekend casting docks, jigging bluffs, and trolling crankbaits. All worked out fine. Bass were fooling around pre spawn in the lake. Most of the ones we caught were smaller males. The river produced a nice creel of white bass that were ready to spawn. And we did get some nice drum too to keep things interesting. Not too bad since we were fishing after a big front and a cold snap. Carharts were out on Fri. We did not hit the water till 10 on Sat. We did have some interesting traffic. A little rocket hauler came by on its way to Cape Canaveral. The Delta Mariner came up the main channel on the Tennessee River, I had to quit trolling and give her some room. Mighty impressive boat on freshwater. There are humans on the bank and houses behind her, its a big boat.

Coming home from the hospital, I started thinking about all of the things I was going to change. Life is short, sometimes shorter than we realize. My 1ST quarter checkup was today and I am still cancer free. All is well, I have healed up nicely. Speech is good, arm strength has returned. I am almost normal with the exception of a hairy tongue. I have been fishing the past few years out of a 40 year old Tracker Pro 17. She was a good boat, but I wanted more. That trip home confirmed my conviction, a new boat set up the way I wanted it. I wanted Aluminum with 2 livewells. Power Trim. Lower floor plan for rougher water. Motorguide trolling motor. Search was on. I looked at Ranger and Lowe, even a G3. But I kept coming back to Tracker for some reason. I found a nice 08 Tracker Crappie Pro 17.5 on Craigslist, barely used that met all of my requirements. It has features that I could not find in current production unless I went with a deep V. I fished her for the first time last week on Pickwick Lake and the Tennessee River and loved it. The layout worked well for us. Life is good.

I remember a cold winter day, late in the afternoon, I used that old pit toilet. Unknown to me, the door was messed up, swelled from rust. I went in and closed it with a sound like a bank vault closing on me. On the way out, it would not open. I kicked the crap out of it and finally it busted free. I thought I was going to spend the cold night in that thing. I was stripped down to just jeans and a shirt going in.

Looks like they are mowing things down to increase traffic flow on upper river. Not good. River is too small for float traffic up there. They should keep it down stream. I wonder if they will "improve" the worthless handicap access they spent alot of coin on several years back.

Third week of April would be a nice time to see spring at its best. Watch stream gauges and weather reports, its flood season. In April, the whole river should be floatable. A kayak or canoe would be best to see the sights and fish. It would be money well spent if water is running clear and normal. Fishing and floating makes for an enjoyable spring day. You can cover more water and get away from accesses that all can walk around and fish. Wade fishing would be best in upper stretches. Lower river below Alley Spring has deeper holes. Plenty of side trips in the area if water is high. The entire area of the Ozarks will be in its finest colors.

That place is a bear with a 4 mile wind. Yesterday, I think it clocked in around 45 mph in the afternoon. Flat land and not much breaks. I always look at the wind when I head down there. Its best when glassed over or a gentle breeze. Otherwise, you can hi center a stump and end up in a hard spot. I have duck hunted it in the middle of the main pool with about a 10 inch swell holding on to a cypress tree. Shooting sucked. It does not take much of a wind to stir up the waves on it. But you did what was needed. Check wind direction and fish off the side the wind is blowing. Deep lane around East, West, and South side. It was worth a shot. I would have bailed out and fished Stanley Creek down and Mingo. Its an option if wind is puffing.

Where do you find those plastic slabs? I hate drilling into the boat.

You may want to check with an agent before you get around one of their nests. There may be a law against disturbing a Federal Bird.

Its been there a while. Or some local lost it last week bait fishing for lunkers. Could have been Erics. He must have hooked a stocker and it swam upstream towards the hatchery with it.