jdmidwest

New problem today while creek fishing. While wading a small creek that I normally float once or twice a year, I came across lots of disturbed gravel, so bad it made it hard to walk. Seems like a herd of horses were rode up the creek this weekend in this area. I guess the hot weather drove the horse back riders off trails and into the creeks to keep the animals from overheating. I can honestly say, there was more damage to the stream bed by the horses than at the access where ATV's had been using the river in the first hole.

The F/18 is an awesome display of power and grace. I have watched the Air Guard unit at Lambert do their morning rollouts several times before the new Lindbergh Blvd went in. Many times I have sit at Montauk and watched the mock battles take place over the Salem/Ft. Wood airspace. I even watched one drop flares one time, it was a great show. The catch and release area at Montauk is a great place to catch this show on a weekday. Last time the Blue Angels came to Cape, they practiced several times during the week and we had several "fly bys" in town. Looking forward to it. And it is always nice to see some of the old WW2 warbirds. The A-10 demo is great too, especially when you see a jet plane almost hover over the air field.

Maybe you go to catch a big fish, for most of us, its just getting out, getting away, and enjoying the outdoors. A nice fish is just a little bonus.

I am beginning to think the catch and keepers are really getting thick. I hit a couple of my honey holes this week and only came up with 4-6 inchers. I hooked a 12" largemouth tonite, first nice fish I have seen in places that normally produce a few 15-18 inch smallies. Creeks have been getting alot of pressure lately judging by all of the tracks.

Missouri has a rule somewhere against chumming for trout in parks. Declare Taney a new trout park and it will be illegal... I can't believe Lilley started a thread on shuffling, wasn't there a train wreck on that a few years ago?

Which part did you float? Looks like a upper float and the water was in good shape.

How are you going to continue posting on the internet??? Where do you think all of the plastic comes from in that computer you are banging on? Petroleum.

Paddle leashes are for open water like lakes and oceans where losing a paddle would be a catastrophe. In streams, you don't need to worry about it and like others said, it is a point of entanglement which you have to worry about if you get tossed in swift water. Always carry a sharp serrated knife to slice any ropes or such if you get spilled. I also carry a small compact paddle in the hatch on solo trips in case. Skegs are usually on larger boats over 14', which are normally used for large open water and make them track better. Both of my yaks are 12' and they track ok on lakes and too well on streams. 10' is good for streams but I like my 12' ones as long as I stay out of swift water, then it is more work. Rod holders are a hinderance on most places I float, they stick up too high. I either keep the rod between my legs in my sit in or strap it down with one of the paddle holders on the sit on top when going thru a brushy spot. There are times I lay out flat in the boat to get under logs or bridges to clear and come across brush all of the time. I use mine all year, fishing in the warmer weather and duck hunting in the winter. I would hate to climb back into a canoe again.

I have 2, one in the daily driver and one in the camp bag. Both are walkie talkies, so they are dual purpose when camping. Both have alarms that can be turned on like the one I use at home to alert you. The NOAA system pretty well covers all of the places I go, even in Alaska and Arkansas. Many a night I have hunkered down in a tent during a thunderstorm with the radio on. It is not failsafe, but it gives you a little peace of mind. I keep one by the bedside with a battery backup made by Eton, have for years. I seem to live in a pathway for wind storms, I have had several pass thru within miles the past 10 years and was alerted each time. The only downside, it beeps for thunderstorms, I wish you could filter the alerts for tornado or floods only.

The Global Warming thing was more a matter of politics than science. I am not against pollution control, that is a different matter all together but it has a link to the global environmental climate as far as acid rains, cloud cover, air quality, etc. But I tend to look at things on a little broader period of time. Theories like cows producing methane gas are causing glaciers to recede is not really based on science at all, its just a far fetched notion create by a bunch of vegetarians. Glaciers have receded since the last Ice Age. There was a time when there were no glaciers. The Earth has warmed and cooled many times and they have all been due to Natural Events. Deforestation is a big problem, trees scrub CO2 out of the air, absorb sunlight, and control the runoff. The flash floods are worse because of bare hillsides, excessive gravel from erosion, loss of riparian tree lines along streams, and more paved area. Plant more trees to increase water quality, increase air quality, and manage forests properly is my thought. On the other side, I think we are all a little closer to hell today as hot as it has been. Man, it has been a scorcher, heat index 105. We had to tuck the boat up against the shady side of the lake this morning by 8, if we hadn't, we would have had to run the bilge pump to get the sweat out of the boat....

For the first time in many years, the Navy Blue Angels are coming to Cape Girardeau next weekend. Its going to be a hot one, but it will be a great show. Blue Angels

Sorry, no PhD, just a Bachelors Degree in Biology, Minor in Physics, and Post Graduate level courses in Pathogenic Microbiology. But that was a really long time ago and I partied alot in my college years.

Even for an Atheist, you must have read the Bible to post the statement, so you have been warned.... A big asteroid falling from the heavens will cause climate change. Cows farting and letting off methane will not. Think of how many buffalo roamed the plains before white man killed them off. I am sure there were more than cows in modern times.

Sorry, I left that one out....

Outside Bend, Farm subsidies were created a long time ago to insure that farmers could make a living while they produce the food we consume at a reasonable price. Most would have found another way of living as farming is a dirty, hot, nasty, hands on way of making a living. And, if the market is not good that year, they would end up in the hole. Corn uses up alot of resources out of the soil, you can not continue to grow corn year after year and expect much of a yield. You have to rotate your crops with other products like soybeans to maintain soil quality. The subsidies insure that our food source and market prices stay stable, unlike the petroleum industry which is allowed to fluctuate wildly and affect us in the pocketbook for a staple that we all need to survive. Government mandated that we produce Ethanol and keep a certain percentage of it in our fuel unless the price of unleaded gas dropped below a certain dollar amount. They gave out grants and ramped up production without taking in the account that it gives you less fuel mileage, it takes alot of water, it depletes a food source, and it does not really help out the ecology.

People that have never witnessed a flash flood never even think about it. Small little streams turn into raging rivers in a matter of minutes. I grew up on the other side of a creek that you could cross without getting much more than your ankles wet. But when it rained, it drained a huge watershed, and could rise 15 feet or more in no time, as could the branch that separated the house from the barn. One summer back in 76, we had some campers across the creek with a PU truck camper, Caddie, and other stuff. The creek rose from a 6 inch thunderstorm that night late. They were able to get out of the camper and into the jon boat that was on top of the camper before it turned over and washed away. The Caddie ended up 1/4 mile downstream. We lost over a mile of fence, a low water bridge, and hogs. The campers never came back. Several times since, we have had larger floods, but no damage. Everytime I camp, I try to be aware of any rain or river changes. The portable NOAA radio is great for this as well as other severe weather.

Farm subsidies were created for a reason, to provide us with cheap food and to give farmers an incentive to keep growing food. The CRP program and others that convert marginal land into wildlife cover and control erosion have their purpose too. Subsidies for Ethanol Products are a waste of taxpayer dollars. Ethanol is hard on the combustion engines that were not designed for it. It uses alot of ground water in its production. It is not cost effective, it costs more to produce than a gallon of gas. You get less gas mileage, so you burn more fuel. The most popular way of producing it involves the use of corn, which has been diverted to its production. Since corn is used in other things, it is raising the cost of the food we eat. Corn is used in livestock feed, so meat is on the rise. Production of corn is one of the most taxing of the major crops on the soil also. More fertilize and herbicides enter the streams as a result. Until a more feasible means of production is achieved, it should be halted.

I don't disagree that we are responsible for Polluting the Earth, we have come along way in controlling that in my lifetime with emission controls, better landfills, better water quality, and better education. I don't have a problem with that part. But how can you say we are changing the Earth's Climate. Most of Missouri was covered in Ice during the last Ice age and it has been receding since. And the recession of this ice is thawing out beds of old vegetation that releases methane into the air. It is not the cows farting that is causing global warming. Solar Activity peaks and wanes and science has shown trends with that and its relation to warming and cooling. Your CO2 increase could be countered by replacing natural forests to absorb the CO2, but we clear the land for other things and don't bother to replace the trees. Your flooding is caused by man, we have channelized streams, clear cut forests allowing runoff to increase, paved everything creating more runoff, etc. When it rains, it does not soak in like nature intended it too, it runs down hill, fast. Earth has seen many changes and it has recovered better each time. From volcanic activity to shallow seas, dinosaurs to mammoths, now we have smallies and whitetail deer, Missouri has seen it all and is still very liveable.

I doubt if the Best Minds and Greatest Expertise will ever be involved in solving this crisis. I too am a bit pessimistic on this also. Nuclear Energy is the best solution for production of Electric Power. Oil is our best solution for automotive needs till the Hydrogen Fuel Cells come of age. We still have plenty of oil, it can be extracted safely for the most part. One little mishap in the history of all of the barrels of oil that have been extracted has been blown out of proportion. Factor the barrels of extracted oil versus the spilled oil and I am sure it is still a small percentage. Ethanol was a folly, bad for the environment, bad for combustion engines, bad for the water table, bad in the fact that it used a valuable food source for its production. Bad because the government subsidized it is also a testament that the Great Minds were not engaged on that one.

Did everyone think that it just may be that we live in a more "connected" time now? We have access to weather anywhere, radar, river gauges, forecasts, trends, and historical data all on the net. Years ago, we got it on the radio or tv, and it was local, and it was alot of guesswork. Now we have more accurate data, quicker and faster. That and the fact that mass media loves to make hay over a good storm or tragedy. It gets replicated and blown up and sometimes out of proportion. Global warming was a hoax, just a normal cycle of the Earth. Climatic changes are measured in epochs, not administrations. Of course, it really could be the book of Revelation coming thru...... Conflict in the Middle East, lost morality, Obama, floods, etc all seem to make you think about the words in the last chapter of the Bible.

Most counties let you ride the county road system here in MO. Also, there are miles of gravel forestry roads that let you accomplish the same. The problems that have been an issue is using stream beds for trails and hiking trails for trails. We also have St Joe park which has miles of trails, hills, and lead tailings to play on.

No new law needed here, it is already on the books and has been around for a while. It has been enforced many times, I have witnessed a few myself. All-terrain vehicles, prohibited on highways, rivers or streams of this state, exceptions, operational requirements--special permits--prohibited uses--penalty. 304.013. 1. No person shall operate an all-terrain vehicle, as defined in section 301.010, RSMo, upon the highways of this state, except as follows: (1) All-terrain vehicles owned and operated by a governmental entity for official use; (2) All-terrain vehicles operated for agricultural purposes or industrial on-premises purposes between the official sunrise and sunset on the day of operation; (3) All-terrain vehicles operated by handicapped persons for short distances occasionally only on the state's secondary roads when operated between the hours of sunrise and sunset; (4) Governing bodies of cities may issue special permits to licensed drivers for special uses of all-terrain vehicles on highways within the city limits. Fees of fifteen dollars may be collected and retained by cities for such permits; (5) Governing bodies of counties may issue special permits to licensed drivers for special uses of all-terrain vehicles on county roads within the county. Fees of fifteen dollars may be collected and retained by the counties for such permits. 2. No person shall operate an off-road vehicle within any stream or river in this state, except that off-road vehicles may be operated within waterways which flow within the boundaries of land which an off-road vehicle operator owns, or for agricultural purposes within the boundaries of land which an off-road vehicle operator owns or has permission to be upon, or for the purpose of fording such stream or river of this state at such road crossings as are customary or part of the highway system. All law enforcement officials or peace officers of this state and its political subdivisions or department of conservation agents or department of natural resources park rangers shall enforce the provisions of this subsection within the geographic area of their jurisdiction. 3. A person operating an all-terrain vehicle on a highway pursuant to an exception covered in this section shall have a valid operator's or chauffeur's license, except that a handicapped person operating such vehicle pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of this section, but shall not be required to have passed an examination for the operation of a motorcycle, and the vehicle shall be operated at speeds of less than thirty miles per hour. When operated on a highway, an all-terrain vehicle shall have a bicycle safety flag, which extends not less than seven feet above the ground, attached to the rear of the vehicle. The bicycle safety flag shall be triangular in shape with an area of not less than thirty square inches and shall be day-glow in color. 4. No persons shall operate an all-terrain vehicle: (1) In any careless way so as to endanger the person or property of another; (2) While under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance; (3) Without a securely fastened safety helmet on the head of an individual who operates an all-terrain vehicle or who is being towed or otherwise propelled by an all-terrain vehicle, unless the individual is at least eighteen years of age. 5. No operator of an all-terrain vehicle shall carry a passenger, except for agricultural purposes. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any all-terrain vehicle in which the seat of such vehicle is designed to carry more than one person. 6. A violation of this section shall be a class C misdemeanor. In addition to other legal remedies, the attorney general or county prosecuting attorney may institute a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction for injunctive relief to prevent such violation or future violations and for the assessment of a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars per day of violation. (L. 1988 H.B. 990, A.L. 1990 H.B. 1279, A.L. 1997 H.B. 389, A.L. 2004 H.B. 996 and H.B. 1142 and H.B. 1201 and H.B. 1489 merged with S.B. 1233, et al.)

As we all know, what may be the worst ecological disaster of our time is taking place in the Gulf as we speak. The oil rig suffered a malfunction, caught on fire and 11 people lost their lives. If that is not tragic enough, the well has been spewing oil into the Gulf for 52 or 53 days now. BP is on the hook for the bill, but is it really their fault? A fail safe valve was installed at the well head that was designed to shut off the flow of oil in case of a disaster, it failed. Being in business, you sell me something "Fail Safe", that means that it has the safeguards designed into it to prevent it from failing and you should stand behind it with some kind of liability. Seems like the supplier of this device is at fault, why are we not blaming them??? When the oil plume hit the surface, NOAA's plan was to set the oil on fire and burn it off. EPA countered that plan for fears that it would endanger the environment and stopped that plan. Both are government agencies, why are we holding them accountable?? I have no love for BP or any Foreign Petroleum Provider, but we have run all of ours out of business by regulations and government intervention. They are not an American Company, why should we care if we put them out of business?? Because we are dependent on oil, we have a government that wants to regulate it to the point that is not feasible to do business as an American Oil Company, we really have to have the outside intervention. Hence, the US Government Policies are really to blame.

Contact your local MDC Agent or office, they will probably know. Ask one of the canoe liveries or campground hosts near K bridge.

I think he was being nice, around here they use a single strand of barbed wire. Years ago when I was a kid, we used to ride trail bikes in the seventies. After Christmas we took off riding on log roads in a National Forest that contained some private land mixed in. Some landowner decided to put a single strand of barb wire between 2 trees across the road. I was first and saw it too late, hit it and shred a new down vest I had gotten that morning.