Stone County, Missouri - The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reports James Wright of Cape Fair became the most recent record-setting angler in Missouri when he hooked a white bass on Table Rock Lake on a trotline. The new “alternative method” record white bass caught by Wright on April 6 weighed 3-pounds, 4-ounces with a length of 18 3/4 inches. Wright was using shad for bait to try to catch catfish, but instead he caught a state-record white bass.

“I was in my new boat baiting hooks on a trotline, and out of nowhere something hit the line hard,” Wright said. “I grabbed the line and yanked it, and then the fight was on. I finally got it in the boat after about three minutes and was totally shocked to see that it was a white bass.”

Wright added that he wasn’t sure if it was state record so he contacted MDC immediately.

“Once MDC confirmed that the fish was a state record I was so excited,” he said. “This was my dad’s and my dream. I just can’t believe it came true! This is by far the biggest white bass I have ever caught on a trotline. I plan on having it mounted so I’ll never forget catching a fish like that.”

MDC staff verified the record-weight fish using a certified scale in the town of Galena.

“2016 is shaping up to be a year for state-record fish,” said MDC Fisheries Programs Specialist Andrew Branson. “We have already had six new records so far, which is more than an entire year sometimes. The mild weather we have had so far this year means more anglers are fishing, and catching big fish.”

Wright’s recent catch set the state record for white bass in the alternative methods category.

Missouri state-record fish are recognized in two categories: pole-and-line and alternative methods. Alternative methods include: throwlines, trotlines, limb lines, bank lines, jug lines, spearfishing, snagging, snaring, gigging, grabbing, archery, and atlatl.

Missouri - MDC congratulates Joshua Cole on breaking the state record by shooting 30-pound, 15-ounce freshwater drum with bow and arrow on Table Rock Lake.

REEDS SPRING, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reports that Joshua Cole of Reeds Spring became the most recent record-breaking fisherman in Missouri when he shot a freshwater drum on Table Rock Lake using a bow and arrow. The new “alternative method” record drum taken by Cole on March 31 weighed 30-pounds, 15-ounces. It was 33 inches long and had a girth of 30 inches. He shot the fish around 10 p.m. about one mile from Point 10 on Table Rock Lake.

“I can’t believe I shot a state-record drum,” Cole said. “I knew I was shooting at a big drum, but I didn’t realize how big it was until we got it in the boat.”

Cole added that it took two arrows to get it in the boat.

“It really didn’t put up much of a fight with two arrows in it,” he said. “I’m just glad we got it in the boat with no problems.”

The new freshwater drum broke the previous alternative-method state record of 26-pounds, 8-ounces taken on the Lake of the Ozarks in 2008.

“March was a great month for catching record-breaking fish throughout the state,” said MDC Fisheries Programs Specialist Andrew Branson. “There were four new state records set in March. This just goes to show you that conservation makes Missouri a great place to fish.”

MDC staff verified the new record-weight fish using a certified scale at MDC’s Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery in Branson.

“Once my friends and I got the fish in the boat, I knew that it was a state-record fish,” Cole said. “This is by far the one of biggest fish I have ever caught in my life, and I still can’t believe it!”

Cole hasn’t decided what to do with the fish just yet, but his hopes are high to shoot something bigger.

“This was my first time out bowfishing this year, and I can’t believe I shot a state-record fish,” Cole said. “I’m so ready to get back out on the water and find bigger fish.”

Missouri state-record fish are recognized in two categories: pole-and-line and alternative methods. Bowfishing is considered an alternative method and consist of a bow or crossbow that shoots arrows attached to a string so that the fish can be retrieved after they’re pierced. Other alternative methods include: throwlines, trotlines, limb lines, bank lines, jug lines, spearfishing, snagging, snaring, gigging, grabbing, and atlatl.

Route K in Stoddard County Reduced for Edge Rut Repairs
 
Route K in Stoddard County will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform edge rut repairs.

This section of roadway is located from Route 51 to Route M.

Weather permitting, work will take place Thursday, April 14 through Tuesday, April 19 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Dexter, Missouri - OSHA 10 Hour Class for contractors or anyone needing training can register by contacting Tish Gentry or Dave Ellinghouse at (573) 624-5540.  the cost is $100 per person.

The class will be on Tuesday, April 12th from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday, April 13th from 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. at County Wide Insurance Agency conference room. 

Parking is available in the back parking lot at 140 S. Walnut St. in Dexter, Missouri.

Cape Girardeau, Missouri - The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) says there’s always a price to pay when someone litters. In a case today, the price is a Red Fox’s rear leg.

“It could be the price of a ticket for the person who litters, or something as serious as a limb in this case,” said Bruce Henry, MDC’s natural history biologist for the Southeast Region. “There’s always a price for littering, it’s just a matter of who pays.”

Henry responded to a call today to a Cape Girardeau neighborhood, where a den of foxes had settled in under someone’s porch. When he arrived, he and the residents found a young red fox, about six to eight weeks old, under a nearby bush with a plastic bag wrapped around one of its rear legs.

“The plastic bag had wrapped so tightly, it was wound like twine around that leg,” Henry said.

Henry removed the bag from the leg and delivered the fox to Skyview Animal Clinic for treatment.

“In this case the leg must be amputated,” said Dr. Sean Byrd, a veterinarian at the clinic. “Because of the nature of the injury, it will heal very quickly.”

However, Dr. Byrd said the hard part for the young fox will be rehabilitation. It will transfer to Watkin’s Wildlife Rehab in Sedgewickville after surgery.

“We worry if it will be able to jump in order to catch its prey, because that’s an essential motion that a fox must be capable of,” Dr. Byrd said, adding that the young age of the fox is in the fox's favor, because it is still in the learning stage and it may be able to adapt.

“The chances of it being released back into the wild aren’t great, but that’s what we hope for,” Dr. Byrd said. “If not, it might be used as an education animal to serve as an example and educate people about the dangers of litter.”

Henry said the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center needs volunteers this Saturday for a Riverfront Cleanup, which will directly help other local wildlife like the red fox.  The cleanup is from nine to 11 a.m. at the Mississippi Riverfront in downtown Cape Girardeau, Cape Rock and Red Star Access. Another cleanup event is scheduled for Cape LaCroix Creek in Cape Girardeau April 23, from nine a.m. to noon.

“People don’t realize how important these cleanup events are until we look at an animal like this that gets caught in our mess,” Henry said. “He just paid an expensive price for someone else’s littering.”