Archive for April, 2008

Landing a giant catfish, Turtle Man, and SHANTY BOATS!

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

OK, folks, I have just found the best You Tube pieces on fishing for river cats (including a GIANT) and catching snapping turtles!! Here they are! First watch the TURTLE MAN catching snappers by hand. Play it through and then you have a choice of several more at the bottom. Try the GIANT CATFISH in film #6. Whew! Finally, if you have a little time, join the “Moron Brothers” in the SHANTY BOAT! A little pickin’ and grinnin’ and fishing! Then check out our weekly fishing updates from Pool 8.  Or read a first hand story of a young man’s shanty boat adventure on the Mississippi River in the 1930s.

Real Time Flood Watch

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

Folks in the south are feeling the threat of high water more than we are in the north. Here’s a link (click on colored fonts) for the USGS map that provides REAL TIME info on which Rivers in the US are cresting. The map below is accurate every day. Black Triangles indicate flood stage. Looking to compare stats with the Flood of 1993? CLICK HERE.

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Official Flood Stats from August 2007 Rains in Minn/Wis

Monday, April 7th, 2008

I recently ran across a number of stats presented by area scientists regarding the massive rains along the Upper Mississippi River last August. These rains produced unprecedented landslides in bluff country that resulted in seven deaths and several homes on both sides of the river sliding down onto the roads.

For more detailed stories, stats, photos, and reports from the August 07 flooding and landslides, see http://www.greatriver.com/natural/disaster/August07.htm 

Official FLOOD STATS

15.1 inches of rain fell in Hokah, Minn., over a 24 hour period on August 19. The previous high was 10.84 inches set in 1972.

The Root River crested at 18 feet in Houston, Minn.  When compared with previous flooding events, the August ‘07 floods had up to 5 times more rainfall.

Scientists report that the flood was so rare, the probability of its existence was once in 500 years, perhaps even once in 1,000 years. The storm’s wrath was comparable to a Category 5 hurricane.

Interestingly enough, the invertebrate count in large streams fell from about 4,000 per square meter to just 1000 after the flood. A specific amphipod, a staple of trout diets, dropped from about 250 per square meter to less than 10.

23.6 inches fell during the month of August, 9.5 inches shy of the average ANNUAL precipitation.

For more on the dangers posed by landslides on the 600 ft high bluffs along the Minnesota and Wisconsin border see our feature from Fountain City, Wis., When Bluffs Throw Boulders.  On April 5, 1901 a single boulder fell from the bluff face to smash a home and kill its occupant. Some 85 years later it happened again… in the same spot. This time, the Rock was left in place and is open to the public for viewing at the Rock in the House attraction on Hwy 35.

Weekly Fishing Reports

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

  NO FOOLIN’… Fish are biting as the ice clears out! But you gotta dress warm.Click link to catch our weekly
Fishing Reports  from the Genoa (Wis) Fishing Barge.