Saturday will be a big one for local children ages 3 through 12 as the Southeast Missouri Sportsman's Association, Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S. Forest Service host the annual Kids Fishin' Fun Day.
On-site registration for the event will begin at 7 a.m., with fishing continuing through about 11 a.m., when a free lunch will be served to both anglers and their helpers.
As always, the Forest Service will hold a casting contest, plus there will be a bounce house on site.
Several prizes will be given out, including rod and reel combos and two complete camping packages.
A big change this year is the location of the event. Maintenance at Don Jones' pond off Highway T required a move this year, and Saturday's event will take place at the pond behind New Covenant Church, off Kanell Boulevard in Poplar Bluff.
The pond is stocked with bluegills, bass, crappie and catfish in good numbers and the shoreline is easily accessible, though it is steep in a few locations.
If you have your own rod and reel, you're encouraged to bring it, though some loaner equipment will be available.
Crappie Time
With both Wappapello and Clearwater lakes nearly back to normal levels and the crappie spawn winding down, fishing remains good.
"The crappie are doing well," said Totten's Lakeside Resort owner John Totten at Wappapello. Customers, he noted, "aren't catching limits, but they're getting pretty close. There have been a lot of nice fish caught.
"It's a lot better than last year."
Crappie fishing also continues to be very productive at Clearwater Lake, where some anglers have reported taking limits of 12-inch fish in just a few hours.
Catfishing also has been especially good lately, with lots of channel and flathead cats coming from area waters.
As the water continues to warm, large numbers of cats will move toward the Wappapello dam for their annual spawn, and the fishing can be quite good.
With the warmer water, bluegills also should be staging near shallow water for their spawn, which should be strongest near the end of the month when the moon is full.
Crappie Club
Sixteen teams fished Saturday's Wappapello Crappie Club tournament, which saw falling water, hot temperatures and windy, choppy water, but at least it was sunny.
The team of Jines and Jines came away the winners of the event, hauling 6.25 pounds to the weigh-in. As is many times the case, the winning team was aided by the day's big fish, which weighed 1.85 pounds.
Second place went to Guiling and Conner with 5.52 pounds, and third place was captured by Sifford and Norris with 5.44 pounds. They also had the second-largest fish of the day, weighing in at 1.49 pounds.
Fourth place was earned by Wolpers and Medler with 5.22 pounds, and the top five was rounded out by Chism and Chism with 4.90 pounds.
The club's next tournament will be its children's event on June 16.
Bass Circuit
The Wappapello Bass Circuit will host a tournament Saturday, based out of the Redman Creek ramp.
A launch time of 5:30 a.m. has been set, and the weigh-in will begin at 3 p.m.
A pre-event meeting to assign boat numbers will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the Wappapello VFW, off Highway D north of the dam.
To register or get more information, call Justun Buchanan at 573-42996312 or Matt Allison at 573-778-6969.
Clearwater
Tournament
Another bass tournament this weekend will take place at Clearwater Lake when the East Ozarks Bass Club hosts an event Sunday.
The tournament will be based out of Piedmont Park and will launch at 6 a.m. The weigh-in is slated for 2 p.m.
Trap Shoot
Poplar Bluff High School's trap team will try to follow its recent success at the Paul Larson Memorial Shoot when they hit the range this weekend for a friendly competition down the road at Corning, Ark. Shooting, according to Poplar Bluff Coach Josh Wesemann, should begin around 9 a.m.
This time, however, team members will compete individually instead of in squads.
Corning Coach Jim Clifton always has a good team, so this event should be fun to watch.