PB trapshooters recognized at AIM event

Poplar Bluff High School’s trap team competed Saturday at the AIM (Academics, Integrity, Marksmanship) state shoot at Linn Creek, Mo., where a total of 218 shooters were on hand.

Tayler Hillis earned fourth place honors in the Juniors division with a score of 198 out of 200.

In the Sub-Junior division, Austin Stoner took the fourth spot with a score of 193, and Madison Cash earned the win in the Pre-Sub Junior Ladies division with a score of 177.

Several team shooters set personal bests, earning patches along the way.

Hannah Cash shot her first 150 straight, while Hillis was able to complete her first 75 straight.

Madigan Franklin was recognized for her first 25 and 50 straight, and teammates Maria Bailey, Blaine Birdsong and Eli Depew earned patches for their first 25.

The PBHS trap team will host an ATA shoot Saturday, based out of the Poplar Bluff Gun Club.

The event is open to an Amateur Trapshooting Association member, and if you’re not, you can sign up the morning of the shoot.

Registration will run from 7-9 a.m. Saturday, with shooting kicking off at 8 a.m.

On another trapshooting note, Poplar Bluff sophomore Austin Stoner, who previously was named to the 2019 AIM All-State team, now has been selected for the Scholastic School Sports Foundation’s 2019 All-Scholastic Team.

PBHS sophomore trapshooter Austin Stoner has been selected to the Scholastic School Sports Foundation's All-Scholastic team.Photo provided

More than 230 student athletes have been named to the team nationwide and will be recognized in mid-July at the championship event in Ohio.

Stoner’s academic success, steady trapshooting skills, community involvement, a written essay and numerous letters of recommendation earned him the position on the All-State team.

Stoner said shooting on the school team has taught him self discipline and team building skills, along with how to work together as a team. Going forward, he hopes to be someone his teammates can look to for advice and encouragement.

Water Falling,

Fishing Good

The water levels at Wappapello and Clearwater lakes continue to drop, just as more heavy rain is predicted next week.

Even better, the fishing has been pretty darn good, with lots of nice crappies finding their way into the livewells of anglers who venture out.

Wappapello is falling about 6 inches per day, and at last check was still a little more than 7 feet high at 367-plus feet.

The St. Louis District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hasn’t given a projection on when the lake will be back to normal summer pool because of the rain predicted for next week, but Wappapello staff have said they do continue to plan on opening the People’s Creek lower campground Friday.

Clearwater Lake has been falling rapidly, to the tune of more than 2 feet daily, though the rate should start to taper off pretty quickly. As of Wednesday afternoon, the level was down to 503.8 feet, just 6 feet above normal for this time of year.

The discharge from Clearwater into the Black river already has begun to taper down, and as of Wednesday it was at just more than 3,800 cfs.

Spawning Success?

The constant rising and falling of the water at the lakes over the spring months causes concern for successful crappie spawns.

“Flooding has definitely been the theme this year,” said Department of Conservation Fisheries management Biologist Dave Knuth, who oversees the fishery at Wappapello lake.

Cooler water temperatures this spring and a slow warm-up, Knuth said, likely pushed some crappie spawning later into May, and the slow, steady fall of Wappapello in particular likely didn’t hurt the success of the spawn there.

“Crappie are fairly resilient to changing water levels, and as long as you don’t have any significant drops in lake elevation during the spawn, they seem to do fairly well,” Knuth said.

A successful shad spawn, Knuth noted, is his main concern.

“Spawning activity for shad takes place in May and June,” he said. “Hopefully, most of the shad spawning has occurred and we will not see the negative effects of a falling lake during this critical time. If we can get through June for the shad without seeing a significant fall in elevation of the lake, we may have conditions conducive for another good year for crappie.”

Paul Cieslewicz, the fisheries biologist for Clearwater Lake, agreed.

“My biggest concern is the gizzard shad spawn, and I was hoping it wouldn’t fall as fast as it has lately, but they (Corps of Engineers) have rules they have to follow,” Cieslewicz said. “My gut says we’ll be OK on the shad spawn.”

Herbicide Treatment

If you fish Duck Creek’s Pool 1 much, you’ve undoubtedly been frustrated with the amount of vegetation growing in the water there. It’s a catch-22 of course, because while making things harder for anglers, it’s good habitat for the fish.

Next week, MDC fisheries staff will be spraying herbicide along boat lanes in and around the northeast and northwest boat ramps in an effort to cut down on the amount of submerged vegetation.

The south end of the lake was treated last year and will be done again next spring.

Youth Crappie

Tournament

The Wappapello Crappie Club will host a youth fishing tournament Saturday, based out of the Sundowner ramp.

Participating children must be age 15 or younger and can register between 5:30 and 6:30 the morning of the event at Sundowner Marina.

Fishing will begin at 7 a.m., and everyone should be in the weigh-in line at the Sundowner pavilion by 1 p.m.

As a bonus, food will be served at the weigh-in for participants and their helpers.

His and hers

Tournament

Fresh off its inaugural tournament of the 2019 season, the Current River Smallmouth Association will hit the water again Saturday.

This time, the organization will host its annual His and Hers tournament, with fishing once again based out of the Watercress ramp at Van Buren.

Fishing is slated to run from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m., with the weigh-in at the ramp.

Paul Henderson has all the information at 573-686-5476.

Comment Period

If you’re interested, the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge is opening up a 15-day comment period today on its commercial trapping program for beavers, muskrats, nutria and raccoons.

“This is nothing we don’t already do,” said refuge manager Ben Mense, who noted raccoons have been added to the use proposal.

Such public uses on Mingo, he said, must be looked at periodically to ensure they still are in the best interest of the refuge.

“Any uses we have, like fishing, bird watching, hunting and trapping have to go through the compatibility process every 10 years, and this one is expiring this year,” Mense said.

The draft compatibility determination document is available for viewing on the refuge website at www.fws.gov/refuge/mingo, at the visitor center off Highway 51 or at the Puxico Public Library.

Written comments will be taken through June 28. They can be delivered to the refuge office or mailed to Mingo NWR, Attn: Comments, 24279 Highway 51, Puxico, Mo., 63960. You also can email comments to mingo@fws.gov.

After the comment period, any necessary changes will be made locally before the proposal is forwarded to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Region 3 office in Minneapolis for final approval.