Outdoors

August Ain’t So Bad

It is unusual for the Ozarks to get so much rain in July, but it certainly doesn’t hurt fishing, especially in streams. When I was a kid, any summer rain that raised the Big Piney and made dinghy-colored water flow into it, sent me to a couple of favorite gravel bar spots with a rod

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An Odd River Creature

I volunteered to fry fish for those who come to a class reunion at Houston, Mo in mid-September, so this past week my daughter and I took the old johnboat down to the river not far from Lightnin’ Ridge and set a short trotline. We baited about 20 hooks with green sunfish Christy caught from

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MDC announces changes to waterfowl managed hunts due to COVID-19

All reservations will be allocated through a weekly in-season reservation draw. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has modified the 2020-2021 waterfowl managed hunt process to assure the safety of hunters and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. MDC is committed to providing hunting opportunities on managed waterfowl hunting areas throughout the waterfowl season. To allow

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Dove hunters can get tips at virtual MDC program Aug. 8

Get information on how to bag this popular gamebird at this free online program. Dove hunting is a popular outdoors pastime in Missouri, but the speed and darting actions of a mourning dove in flight can make for a challenging target. People interested in getting more information on how to get this gamebird from the

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Wonderful wacky Walleye

by Jim Low Missouri’s most delicious sport fish is a little wacky. If you’re like most Missouri anglers, you’ve never caught a walleye on purpose. If you’ve eaten one, you probably wished you could get more. But the ways of the walleye are mysterious, and few Show-Me State anglers have cracked the code. That’s because

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Missouri state record brown trout

A fishing guide who decided to go fishing on his day off wound up catching a German brown trout that was just short of a world record but shattered the Missouri state record.

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New Missouri record fish beats the old mark

Robert Audrain III’s new Missouri record fish beat the old mark by 33 percent. The St. Louis angler’s 4-ounce longear sunfish eclipsed the previous record longear by a whole ounce. “It’s funny because most of my friends thought it was a joke,” Audrain said, laughing. “Because of the fish’s size, they really didn’t think that

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Missouri’s BIG Game FISH

The cold pierced our bones. Rain came down in buckets, filling the bottom of the boat with water despite the bilge pump and our attempts at bailing. When the lightning raced across the sky, we caught a glimpse of the shoreline. I knew it was dangerous to be in an aluminum boat on the water

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Finland’s Best

If I had to pick a half-dozen lures to take with me all the time no matter where I intended to fish, one of them would no doubt be the celebrated floating Rapala. While we were in Canada a few summers ago, my wife lost one of my Rapalas to a hungry smallmouth, which came

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New MDC migratory bird, waterfowl hunting digest now available

The Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) new Migratory Bird and Waterfowl Hunting Digest for the 2020-2021 hunting season is now available where permits are sold and online. Learn more about waterfowl hunting in Missouri and view the hunting digest online at huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/waterfowl. The handy, free guide has detailed information on needed permits and duck-stamp requirements,

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