PLEASE CHECK REGULATIONS CAREFULLY: Special regulations may apply to designated portions of water bodies; some baits and lures may not be legal for all portions.

SOUTHEAST REGION (573) 290-5858

LAKES

Clearwater Lake: 92 degrees, normal, clear; black bass fair at night on topwater baits; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/18/2012)

Council Bluff Lake: 87 degrees, normal, clear; channel catfish fair on liver; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/19/2012)

Cypress Lake: 87 degrees, normal, dingy; bluegill and redear sunfish fair in 1 - 3' depths on jigs, crickets and worms; channel catfish fair in 2 - 8' depths on worms, crickets and stinkbaits; crappie slow in 1 - 3' depths on minnows and jigs; largemouth bass slow in 1 - 3' depths on minnows, jigs, plastic worms and crankbaits; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/18/2012)

Duck Creek CA Pool 1: 87 degrees, low, clear; bluegill, redear sunfish and warmouth sunfish fair on crickets, worms and jigs; largemouth bass fair on spinners and topwater lures; all other species slow. Note: boaters be aware of tree stumps due to low water levels. (Report made on 7/19/2012)

Lake Girardeau: normal, clear; largemouth bass, bluegill and crappie fair on worms and crickets; all other species fair. (Report made on 7/18/2012)

Perry County Lake: 88 degrees, clear; channel catfish good on stinkbait; bluegill good on worms; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/18/2012)

Robert DeLaney Lake: 89 degrees, normal, dingy; all species slow. (Report made on 7/18/2012)

Wappapello Lake: 87 degrees, normal, black bass fair on crankbaits and spinnerbaits; channel catfish fair on trotlines and jug lines using live bait at night; all other species slow.

Anglers should note the 9" minimum length limit regulation for crappie on Wappapello Lake. Call the Wappapello Lake Recreation Hotline for updates at 573-222-8139. (Report made on 7/18/2012)

RIVERS

Black River (above Clearwater Lake): 82 degrees, low, clear; smallmouth bass fair in mornings and evenings on tube baits; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/18/2012)

Black River (below Clearwater Lake): 74 degrees, low, dingy; black bass fair on topwater lures in early morning; walleye fair on crankbaits; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/19/2012)

Castor River (above Zalma): low, clear; all species slow. (Report made on 7/18/2012)

Mississippi River (middle): falling, muddy; blue catfish and channel catfish good on worms, chicken liver and cut bait; all other species fair. (Report made on 7/18/2012)

Mississippi River (Ohio River to Arkansas): normal, dingy; channel catfish fair on worms and cut bait; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/18/2012)

St. Francis River (above Wappapello): low, dingy; all species slow. (Report made on 7/18/2012)

St. Francis River (below Wappapello): 88 degrees, low, dingy; channel catfish good on chicken liver, stinkbaits and worms; flathead catfish good on goldfish and small sunfish; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/19/2012)

Anglers are invited to send pictures of their catch to the ShowMe Times - simply email a photo to SMT Sports Editor Andrew Cato, including your name, where the fish was caught, the species of the fish, and - if you care to share - what bait you were using!

The Southeast Intensity softball team - featuring members of the DHS Lady Bearcats, as well as coach Chris Bolin - were in action on Tuesday night at the DPR complex. The ladies faced off against the Sikeston Warriors in the Intensity Tournament, and fell 8-2. The Intensity will be back in action on Thursday night, when they face the SEMO Cleats at 6:00 p.m.
Above, Becky Anderson checks her swing on a pitch that's a little too high for her liking during the first inning of Tuesday night's contest.

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By: Taylor Eggimann
ShowMe Times Staff Writer

Cape Girardeau- Bell City High School graduate of 2008 and now SEMO student and basketball player, Nick Niemczyk, got the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honor Court.

Niemczyk has been playing basketball most of his life, but he has a gift in academics too. After graduating from Bell City in 2008 he went to TRCC to play basketball. While there he worked hard on and off the court his freshman and sophomore years. He signed with SEMO in 2010. This past season he started in twenty games, made 46 of his 125 3-pointers, and averaged 9.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. This will be his second year to get the Academic Honor.

To receive this honor a player must be a Junior or a Senior and have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher and have spent at least one year at the current institution. Niemczyk was one of nine players in the OVC to be honored this year.

With the summer baseball season wrapping up, area travel teams are competing in tournaments regularly. A Dexter-based travel team, coached by Josh Miller, Steve Wyman, Greg Miller, and Eric Sitze, picked up a come-from-behind win in the Portageville Tournament last weekend. The team consists of (first row, from left): Camden Riley, Dylan Sitze,Peyton boles, Reese justice, Brock Wyman, (second row) Coltyn Mills, Jackson Allen, Eli ford, Cole Nichols, and Seth Teel; Coaches are (third row) Josh Miller, Steve Wyman, Greg Miller, and Eric Sitze (Photo submitted by Eric Sitze).

JEFFERSON CITY- The results of this year’s North American Duck Breeding Population Survey are in, and the news is excellent, beginning with news that Missouri will have a 16-day early teal season.
 
The U.S. and Canadian fish and wildlife services have conducted aerial surveys to estimate breeding-duck numbers since 1955. The survey also evaluates nesting habitat conditions. The annual report of this survey provides an early look at prospects for the coming hunting season. This year’s report estimates total duck numbers at 48.6 million continent-wide. That is a 7-percent increase from last year and up 43 percent from the long-term average (LTA).

The North American population of mallards, the mainstay species for Missouri waterfowl hunters, is estimated at 10.6 million this year. That is up 15 percent from 2011 and 40 percent above the LTA. Mallard numbers have exceeded this year’s figure only twice in the past 56 years - 1958 and 1999.
 
The length of Missouri’s early teal hunting season is set according to the number of blue-winged teal recorded in the annual survey. Blue-winged teal numbers this year are estimated at 9.2 million. That is similar to last year’s population. It also is 94 percent above the LTA and nearly twice the 4.7 million needed for the maximum early-season length of 16 days under federal guidelines. This year’s early teal season will open Sept. 8 and run through Sept. 23.
 
Other duck species breeding populations recorded in the 2012 survey include:

• Gadwall, 3.6 million, similar to last year and 96 percent above LTA.
• Pintail, 3.5 million, 22 percent below 2011 and 14 percent below LTA.
• Green-winged teal, 3.5 million, up 20 percent from 2011 and 74 percent above LTA.
• Wigeon, 2.1 million, similar to 2011 and 17 percent below LTA.
• Scaup, 5.2 million, up 21 percent from last year and similar to LTA
• Shoveler, 5 million, similar to 2011 and 111 percent above LTA.
• Redhead, 1.3 million, similar to 2011 and 89 percent above LTA.
• Canvasback, 800,000, similar to 2011 and 33 percent above LTA.

Doreen Mengel, a resource scientist with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), notes that habitat conditions in the north-central United States and central Canada, where most of Missouri’s ducks are produced, were not as good this year as in 2011. She says that could cut into nesting success. However, she also noted that above-average precipitation that occurred in prairie Canada after the survey was completed may have improved conditions for late-nesting species, any re-nesting attempts and for brood-rearing.
 
“It would have been difficult to imagine that we would see these kinds of waterfowl numbers 20 years ago,” says Mengel. “Having near-record duck populations is a testament to the hard work hunters and conservation groups have made to restore wetland habitat on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border. It’s reason for celebration. However, remember that weather, local habitat conditions, and migration timing will play major roles in shaping the 2012 teal and regular waterfowl seasons we experience in Missouri.”
 
The Missouri Conservation Commission will set opening and closing dates, bag limits and other details of the regular waterfowl season at its August meeting.