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• Eleven Point Crazy: Two men vs. elements — Hank Franklin
Smallmouthin’, river runnin’, campfires. What more could a guy want?
• Remember the silence — Don Rathert
Older outdoorsman surveys today’s tumult and recalls the quiet of yesterdays on the Current.
• Rewards for those who stop to look — Greg “Rudi” Rudroff
When you put down your fishing rod and concentrate on all that makes a stream a true wonder, you get amazing photographs like Rudi Rudroff’s.
• After hours floating yields moonlight memories — Rick Mansfield
The beauty and serenity of a night time float cannot be overstated.
•Floating, fishing from canoe takes thought, skill — Bill Cooper
Fishing and floating are both fun, but to safely and successfully combine the two requires practice, skill and a good partner.
•Rock Talk: The float trip that changed my life — Jo Schaper
Jo Schaper floated the Current and Jacks Fork in 1996 looking at rocks. She found a cave-like rock formation on Tufa Creek but no cave. Her study of Tufa Creek led her to a geoogy degree and a new path in life.
•So what did we learn — Howard Helgenberg
Life experiences, if you learn from them, make you a better floater.
•Kayak fishing best of two worlds for Brett Boschert — Jo Schaper
Springfield accountant Brett Boschert grew up around St. Charles, fishing at Busch Wildlife and Montauk State Park. He uses kayak fishing as a way to get exercise and pursue his favorite outdoor activity.
Special Coverage: It’s not your grandparents’ Johnson’s Shut-Ins anymore
Four and a half years after the worst disaster ever in a Missouri state park, Johnson Shut-Ins State Park is officially open and operating under a new sort of normal.
Our special package of coverage includes:
• Gov. Jay Nixon snips the ribbon to officially reopen the park — Jo Schaper
•Rebuilt Taum Sauk pumped storage reservoir back in business — Jo Schaper
•Maps and photos inside the refurbished park — Emery Styron
•Scenic beauty, outdoor fun, history found here — Ron Kruger photos
•Arcadia Valley long a scenic haven for residents, visitors — Kathleen Brotherton
Do we really need world class bass? — Bob Todd
If having world class smallmouth, such as a group from southeast Missouri recently caught near Wilson Dam in Alabama, means giving up Missouri’s world class Ozark streams, Bob Todd’s not a taker. He opines that major expansion of special management areas discourages fishing and doesn’t necessarily boost the size of fish caught.
Bluegill: A fish for all ages — Tim Huffman
The small but scrappy bluegill and readear provide some of the best family fishing. Huffman gives the basics for catching them and a survey of some of the best spots for fishing them in Traveler Country.
Traveler Editorial — What kind of ‘world class’ do we want?
The Missouri Department of Conservation didn’t aim very high with its white paper on improving smallmouth fishing in the state, but is the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance asking for too much? Letters to the editor: Readers sound off on closing access in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways and deer season changes.
The Seasons: nature’s seasons change in June, though MDC’s don’t — Bob Todd
On the calendar, not much is different in June except that you can take frogs. Unofficially, however, some fish are finished spawning, others are starting up and it’s easy to pick the wrong day to fish.
;)
Huge oak shelters thriving natural community — Jim and Donna Featherston
Squirrels, possums, bats, owls, birds, snakes, mice and thousands of tiny critters that feed on dead wood or fungi all find a home in ancient oaks. One of the most interesting creatures is the periodical cicada that lives for years in its larval stage and but a few weeks as an adult.
Nature’s Corner: Many baby cottontails go out on own in June — Aaron Horrell
Cottontail rabbits grow quickly from four-inch hairless infants to animals ready to go their separate ways and five weeks.
The Iron Kettle: Sure hit dishes for summer picnics — Pat Todd
Recipes for Picnic Peanut Rolls, Fresh Zucchini and Veggie Salad, Broccoli Salad, Baked Beans and Corn and Skillet Fruit Salad. Don’t let store-bought convenience foods spoil you. Cook up something easy and delicious for a good old-fashioned summer picnic, Pat says.
Through the Years in Traveler — From our files
25 years ago, 13-year cicadas were ruining sleeping and fishing in the Ozarks
Other stories:
• State, federal caves closed in Missouri, show caves still giving tours
• Carbon monoxide can kill
• Conservation Commission sets fall deer, turkey season dates, tweaks regs
• Conservation Commission pulls privileges for 28 Wildlife Code violators
• Squirrel season open; bag limit upped to 10, possession limit to 20
• Lake Wappapello Outdoor Theatre season underway
Travel maps in this issue: Big Piney & Gasconade, Clearwater Lake, Lower Current and Eleven Point, Lower Meramec, Niangua & Bennett Spring, Parkland Region, Upper Current and Jack’s Fork, Upper Meramac, Huzzah and Courtois and Wappapello Lake.
You can order a single copy of this issue for $5. Call 800-874-8423, Ext. 2 or send a check to Traveler, P.O. Box 220, Valley Park, MO 63088. Or pick up a copy at one of these locations: Traveler Newsstand Locations
For a free sample copy of July’s Traveler or a free three-month trial subscription, email your address to circ@rhtrav.com.
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| Sam Styron of Harrisonville, Mo., has seen business grow as new products and the weather have more farmers turning to aerial application of seeds, herbicides and insecticides. IFT photo by Mindy Ward |
HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — As the sun peaks through the clouds, Sam Styron cannot help but dream of summer days flying high above farm fields.
His voice quickens, as he tells how the yellow modified 402 Air Tractor gently glides through the air only to dive to heights of three to five feet above the soybean crop.
River Hills Traveler
Get into spring!
Here’s a summary of stories in the March issue of River Hills Traveler:
Crappie can be found on Clearwater in March — Bob Todd
Bob and Roy Halbert follow clouds of shad along the old Black River channel in Clearwater Lake to catch all the crappie they cared to clean.
Choke tube wins friends, sales for SE Missouri hunters — Steve Felgenhauer
Machinists and hunters Stuart Ruehling and Mike Ponder developed a choke tube to fill in slow times at their Frohna shop. Their product, marketed under the name, Indian Creek Shooting Systems, shows up consistently in shooting championships, and has led to friendships with big name hunters such as Walter Parrott.
Change tactics or else… — Bill Cooper
Turkey numbers are down from historic highs and it takes more effort these days to bag a wise old Ozarks gobbler. Bill offers five field-tested tactics to improve your turkey hunting success.
Teamwork key to safety at whitewater event — Becky Allgier Tinsley
Becky grew up on the hog farm next to Millstream Gardens, where the Missouri Whitewater Championships are held each March, but she didn’t see behind the scenes of the races until she covered them as a writer and photographer. Tinsley interview race officials to learn how safety is emphasized in an inherently dangerous activity.
]]>To learn more about Joplin’s Project 2010, click here to visit their Facebook Fan Page.
]]>In your quest for a greener, more efficient lifestyle, may I suggest you consider shower shaving.
A flexible, tubular arm lets you position the Shower Tek mirror as needed and directs a flow of hot water through the enclosure to eliminate fog. A handy rack keeps razors off the shower floor, even pink ones. I became an inadvertent adherent some months back while the sink in my basement bathing area was out of commission. It was either shave in the shower or trek up two flights of stairs to the family bathroom where there’s tough competition for face time with the mirror over the vanity sink. (Life with a wife and two lovely girls is rewarding but it does drive a man to the basement to shave and shower. What is with those 27 plastic bottles in the upstairs shower? What is wrong with ordinary bar soap? Herbal oatmeal body wash!)
I digress. We were talking about shower shaving. The basement sink was sinko, so I took my brush, shaving mug and round mirror with the flexible neck into the shower stall. Once the regular shampoo and shower were done, I wet the brush, stirred up a lather in the mug, applied it to my face and scraped off whiskers, peering into a fogged up, 4-inch diameter mirror perched dangerously on a narrow shelf. The results were rough, but a new habit was born.
The transition was not as silky smooth as a man’s skin in a Gillette commercial. Sometimes there was blood on the floor. I did some fancy dancing when the mirror fell from its shelf toward my toes. Several times I showered, dressed and sat down to breakfast with the uncomfortable feeling of having forgotten something. Only when I rubbed my stubbly chin to ponder, did I remember what.
Shower shaving is something you want to do while you are there. There is no efficiency in getting back in the shower a second time only to shave.
]]>People from the Ozarks and around the world want to help the people of Haiti. Many people from the Ozarks, especially religious groups, have been assisting Haitians for many years. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
To understand the magnitude of the tragedy in Haiti, a brief geography lesson can be helpful.
Haiti occupies the west end of the island of Hispaniola, which is immediately east of Cuba and west of Puerto Rico. The east end of Hispaniola is occupied by the Dominican Republic.
The population of Haiti is about 10 million, which is roughly equal to the combined population of Arkansas and Missouri. About one third of the population (equivalent to the population of the St. Louis metro area) resides in Port-au-Prince, which is near the epicenter of the earthquake.
It was shot and produced over the course of 8 weeks in collaboration with WIN’s Nancy McMurrary. The piece’s genesis lay with my girlfriend, Caitlin, an elected member of WIN’s executive committee. As an enthusiastic supporter of her boyfriends’ professional aspirations as well as a committed member of the chronically cash-strapped WIN, Caitlin introduced me to, and greased, WIN’s levers of power.
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