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The
Weekend Edition Fri, Sat, Sun ...Sept 29, 30 & Oct
1,
2006....
Updated @ 10:40 AM Sunday
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 Our River
Picture of the Day.. (Sunday) ....... is one I snapped at
Kinder's
Restaurant on Saturday night. It's the lights of the new deck on the
restaurant and the Golden Eagle Ferry at the ferry landing on the Calhoun
County side of the Mississippi River. Oh yeah.......And...
that moon beam !
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Our River
Picture of the Day.. (Saturday) ....... is one I snapped at
Eagles Landing Marina.. It's Gary Fels and the flathead catfish he
caught Friday on a trout-line in Dardenne Slough.
RiverBill
says....Looks like you get the "RiverBill's Catch Of the Day Award"
......When's the fish fry ?
A new page has been
added to RiverBill's.....named..... "Catch Of The Day"
Click
here
to check it out ! .......... Gary gets the first entry
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Our 2nd
River
Pictures and e-mail of the Day.. (Friday) ....... are
from Kelly Young. They were on the river this past
Wednesday to celebrate his son's birthday and snapped us a picture of the
Celebration Bell cruising past.
Kelly
wrote:
Bill,
We were on the river Wednesday 9/27/06 celebrating my son Jordan's 2nd birthday. He loves to go to the beach! This is a picture of the
"Celebration
Belle" as it went by going pretty fast.
First thing I do every morning when I turn my computer on is look to see what the picture of the day is. Great Website!
Kelly Young
Click
here to read the article in the this week's on-line Telegraph about the
Celebration Belle when they stopped in Alton.
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Our 1st
River
Pictures and e-mail of the Day.. (Friday)....... are
from Frank and Cindy. Last Sunday they almost
"stayed home" because of the weather....but, decided to go boating
away and ended up having a Great River Day !
Frank
and Cindy
wrote:
Ahoy River
Bill,
Sunday morning my wife and I woke up to a cool and windy day. It just didn't seem like a good day to hit the
water, but we said what the hell let's bundle up and go for a boat ride.
It turned out to be a very interesting day on the water.
We pulled up to Enterprise island and was amazed by the new sand bar formed by the dredging of the channel. As we walked the sand bar we could see the America pumping sand and water up onto Iowa
Island. Quite an operation!!
As we headed down river to Grafton we seen a
paddle wheeler docking at the Loading Dock. It was a wonderful looking old boat named
The Spirit of
Peoria.
So even though the weather wasn't that great the river still provided us with a great
day.....Ain't she
great !!!
Attached are pics from our day 9-24-06.
Keep up the good work.
Frank, Cindy
and our River Dawg B.J.
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Last
Year's River Picture of the Day
------ What the heck was the picture on RiverBills.com last year on this day ?
Friday
It was a picture of a row of sailboats silhouetted against last Saturday's
sunset......What a picture......Look at those magnificent colors !
The pic was taken by Captain Harry Ragland, of the
sailboat "Tapacolo".
Harry wrote:
"
Saturday (last year) was a good day for sailing, with steady winds out of the
East. I sailed "Tapacolo" from Portage Des Sioux to
Alton and back. By the time I got docked the sun was setting... and
this is how it looked from the back porch of Palisades Yacht Club."
Saturday
It was a picture of ... MaryBeth....one
of the " Girls of Alton Lake" ----
We have some of the best women in
the world boating on Alton Lake and Mary is definitely one of them.
Here she is cruising along
on the river, looking beautiful, her gorgeous red hair all up in a
bun, sporting them Jamaican braids.....And soaking up that Summer sun.
Click
here to check all the Girls of Alton Lake
Sunday
It was a picture of Tom
and Lou's clubhouse on the upper end of Dardenne Slough. It is a
really neat place ...all decorated in river stuff.
This picture was taken by Mike &
Sherri Stanczak, who can be seen flying around above the river in the black
and red powered parachute.
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Tall Stacks
Festival in Cincinnati......
Rick
put a message on RiverBills
Message Board about why we have seen so many riverboats in the area
recently.. Thought I would put it on the front page and dig up some more
info on it.
Rick
wrote:
Most of the river boats that are in the area are heading up to the Tall Stacks
Festival in Cincinnati. Tall Stacks happens every 4 years and is next week. Its
allot of fun it see 20 plus steam boats and replica all in one place.
Thanks Rick of MOCONE
Click
here for more info on the Tall Stacks Festival
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Look.....Wild
Animals At This Weekend's Alton Block Party
.....According
to the on-line Post Dispatch.....This Saturday's "Blues Fest"
is going to be the last block party of the season at
Alton. Live music........wild animals and plenty of
tasty treats.
During the band breaks exotic animals take the stage.
Click
here to read the story in the on-line STLtoday.com
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Kinder's
Restaurant
has a live band scheduled for this Saturday night....
"The Works".......
will be playing on the outside
deck starting at 8 PM.
Lets Dance !
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The
Celebration Belle
docks at Alton ------ According
to the on-line Alton Telegraph ..... the Celebration
Belle Riverboat
docked at Alton, IL....... next to the Argosy Casino this past Wednesday.
Click
here to read the article in the on-line Telegraph.
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A
Real House Boat ......... We
received an e-mail from J.K. Chapman....He spotted an on-line story and
picture of a "Real Housboat", but....... he wasn't sure it could
lock-through.
Click
here to go to The Observer News and check it out !
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Fishing
Report ------ The Missouri Department of Conservation has
issued this week's Fishing Report.
Mississippi River (above St. Louis):
66
degrees, normal, dingy; channel catfish good on nightcrawlers; flathead
catfish fair on live bait; all other species slow.
(Report made on 9/28/2006)
Missouri River (below New Haven)
68
degrees, low, muddy; catfish good on natural bait;
all other species fair.
(Report
made on 9/28/2006)
Check out the report for the entire state of Missouri
.................go to
http://www.mdc.mo.gov/fish/fishrt/
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Thursday
...September 28,
2006....
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Our River
Picture and e-mail of the Day ....... are
from Kurt Jaeger, who hails out of the My River Home harbor
in the boat "Patricia Ann". He sent us a
picture of his wife enjoying a beautiful river-sunset:
Kurt
wrote:
Bill,
In keeping with the sunset theme, here is a picture I titled "Cocktail Hour @ River Mile 214". This is my wife Patricia aboard our boat "Patricia Ann", enjoying the view. We are lucky to have such a great place to cruise so close to home. Really enjoy your website Bill.
Kurt Jaeger (My River Home)
RiverBill says......Thanks for
sharing your sunset with us Kurt !
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Last
Year's River Picture of the Day
------ What the heck was the picture on RiverBills.com last year on this day ?
It was a picture of a
River Sunset..........Look at that sky
.........Look at those colors............What a great shot........ Robert Cope
sent us the above picture with the following e-mail;
"Yesterday's
sunset was incredible. The outer clouds from (Hurricane) Rita created an
interesting effect that I've previously only seen at night around the
moon."
Bill says..........This is one of the pictures
that made it onto the RiverBills.com posters that are posted in the river bars
and restaurants around the area. Good shot Robert !
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The
Mississippi River, A Towboat, A
Railroad Bridge and A Train ........
In yesterday's edition, I challenged area photographers
to come up with a photo of the Louisiana
railroad bridge, the Mississippi River and surrounding landscape
similar to what was on
www.railpictures.net.
Robert Cope sent us these pictures that he took of the bridges and scenery in
Louisiana, Mo on his trip to Hannibal last May.
RiverBill
says...Good shots Robert ......Thanks for sharing !
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Kinder's
Restaurant
has a live band this Saturday night...."The Works"....... on the outside
deck starting at 8 PM. Lets Dance !
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For
Sale ~ Cedar Hill Resort........Restaurant,
2 houses, 1 mobile home lot, approximately
17 Acres. Turn
key Operation.........
$
750,000......
Call
Dave Ash 314-280-8997
Click
here to view website
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Upper
Mississippi River Basin Association.........Added
a link in hte left hand column to the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Association.
The UMRBA is a regional interstate organization formed by the Governors of
Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin to help coordinate the
states' river-related programs and policies and work with federal agencies
that have river responsibilities.
Click
here to go to UMRBA.
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Wednesday
...September 27,
2006....
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Our River
Pictures
and e-mail of the Day ....... are
from
Terrie and Brian Bert, of the boat Gulliewash.
They snapped a shot of one of those marvelous sunsets we
have this time of year.
Bill,
A few of us "River Rats" decided to camp out on Bolter Island last weekend (09/16/06) and this was our sunset--- you don't get to see one like this very often!! WONDERFUL!!
Terrie & Brian Bert
"The Gulliewash"
RiverBill says......Thanks for
sharing your pictures Terrie and Brian. I think the top
picture is one of the best sunsets that we have ever posted
on this site !
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Last
Year's River Picture of the Day
------ What the heck was the picture on RiverBills.com last year on this day ?
It was a picture from Jeri
Behnke's birthday party at Capt'n Jack's last year. From
left to right are Linda, Jeri and Laura.
Must
be close to that day again so....Happy
Birthday Jeri !
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The
Mississippi River, A Towboat, A
Railroad Bridge and A Train ........ Here is a link
to a picture, sent in by a "Boat and Rail Enthusiast", that looks like it could have been be snapped right up
the river at Louisiana, Mo........but it was really taken at La Crosse, Wisconsin.
I
think it's a awesome photo ....Click here to
check it out on www.railpictures.net.
Do any of you photographers of similar quality photo of the Louisiana
railroad bridge, the Mississippi River and surrounding landscape ? .........If
so, please send it in !
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Missouri
....Motor Fuel Refund Claim.........
Don't forget to fill out the Missouri Motor Fuel Refund Claim Form, # 4923,
and send it in to get your marine motor fuel tax refund.
Click
here to access the on-line form.
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Web Link
Fixed.........Fixed
our web link to the National Great River Museum on the left hand side
of this page. This one might be temporary........so click
here and check it out !
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Tuesday
...September 26,
2006....
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Our River
Picture of the Day ....... is from
Robbie Serfling of St. Charles........It's titled......
Early
morning bass fishing in Burlington, Iowa on the Mississippi River
RiverBil says......Thanks for
sharing your picture Robbie.....Hope the fishing was a good
as the sunrise!
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Last
Year's River Picture of the Day
------ What the heck was the picture on RiverBills.com last year on this day ?
It was a series of 4 pics from the Cardboard Boat Races at Capt'n Jack's. Four entries , 3 actually made the race. Chuck
and Sue in MoonDoggie
II tipped right away, Dennise
and MaryBeth screamed around the course in record time, the Pirate ship
with Capt'n
Bill, Egg Throwing Mike and Gary made across the harbor and last but not
least the, the Pontoon
Battle Ship manned by all of the "Off-Brothers" ruled the waters
that day. This is just the highlights of the race..... keep your anchor right
where it is....more pictures of the festivities tomorrow.
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Dedication
Celebration at the Confluence Tower........
According to an
article in the on-line Alton Telegraph........There
was dedication ceremony
last Saturday for the Lewis and Clark Confluence Tower in Hartford, IL to mark
the 200 anniversary of the return of Lewis and Clark to the St. Louis area.
Click
here to read the article in the on-line Alton Telegraph.
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Missouri
Conservationist on-line Magazine........The
October on-line edition of Missouri
Conservationist on-line Magazine is out..
Click
here to view it.
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Fall Colors Predictions......Missouri Department of Conservation foresters
update fall color reports weekly from mid-September through early-November.
Click
here for this weeks forecast.
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Aiding Endangered Species
Along Areas of the Mississippi River .....According
to an article in the on-line Post Dispatch.....A federal grant will allow the
Illinois Department of Natural Resources to expand a pilot landowner incentive
program that helps landowners preserve natural habitat. This should
improve prospects for certain threatened and endangered species in a 300-mile
stretch along the Mississippi River.
Click
here to read the story in the on-line STLtoday.com
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Press
Release ...The
U.S. Department of Homeland Security...United States Coast Guard issued a
press release dated Sept. 7, 2006 about the "Preparedness
of the Coast Guard Today Compared to One Year Ago"
Click
here to
read the Press Release
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New
Web Link Added.........Added a link
in the left hand column under the "River History" heading for
a website named ...Steamboats.com. It's all about
steamboats......pictures, history, stories and more.
Click
here and check it out !.
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Monday
...September 25,
2006....
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Our River
Picture of the Day ....... is a shot
of the dredge "America" working near the lower
end of Iowa Island on Sunday. The picture was
sent in by Carl Seider, who hails out of Grafton
Harbor
.
RiverBill
says...Thanks for the picture Carl.
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Last
Year's River Picture of the Day
------ What the heck was the picture on RiverBills.com last year on this day ?
We didn't have a picture on this day last year.......So I went back to 2004
and grabbed one. In 2004 it was a picture of the Golden Eagle Ferry hauling cars and trucks across the river from St. Charles County to Calhoun County.
There
was a new link added to RiverBills.com that day in 2004 named River
Ferries. It's a link to GreatRiverRoads.com. Take a look.
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Boat
Accident...Eagles Landing Marina........There
was a boat accident at Eagles Landing Marina on Saturday night involving a
1994 Wellcraft and 1977 pontoon boat. According to the Missouri Water
Patrol Report the throttle stuck on the Wellcraft causing it to hit the
pontoon boat and then the shore.
Click
here to read the Missouri Water Patrol Report N07060175
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Boating
on-line Magazine........The
October on-line edition of Boating Magazine is out..
Click
here to view it
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Attention
Waterfowl Hunters......The Mississippi Valley Duck Hunters
Association is having an informational meeting with the Missouri Department of
Conservation on Wednesday, October 11. Click
here for more info..
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Kids
Fishing Hall of Fame ......The
Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation has launched their Kids
Fishing Hall of Fame on the takemefishing.org website.
Click
here for more info.
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llinois
Department of Natural Resources - Fishing Report.........
is out for this week for the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.
Click
here for the Mississippi River and scroll down to your favorite fishing
area.
Click
here for the Illinois River and scroll down to your favorite fishing area.
For the complete report go to
http://www.ifishillinois.org
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Events
Mark Lewis & Clark's Return to the St. Louis Area........
According
to a story on 5ksdk.com....... the past weekend was full of events to
commerate the return of Lewis and Clark to the St. Louis area 200years ago.
-
The
National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and the Osage Nation
celabrated the anniversary of their return.
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Lewis
and Clark Confluence Tower was dedicated.
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A
statue of Lewis and Clark, located near the Eads Bridge, was unveiled.
Click
here to read the story on KSDK NewsChannel 5
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New
web link Added.........Added a link
to the Mississippi RiverWeb Museum in the left hand column. The website
contains all types of information about the Mississippi River..... such as the
average flow rates of the Mississippi River at Grafton, IL and St. Louis, Mo.
as shown below.
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Grafton,
IL.......... 67,100 cubic feet per second
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St.
Louis, Mo .....118,000 cubic feet per second
Click
here and check out the Mississippi RiverWeb Museum.
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Sunday
...September 24,
2006....
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Our River
Picture of the Day .......
is a shot of some of
the boats in Mason Chute a few weeks ago.
Thought it would be good to see a bit of sun shine on a gloomy day like today.
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Last
Year's River Picture of the Day
------
What the heck was the picture on RiverBills.com last year on this day ?
It
was a picture of a Harley
Colored Houseboat moored in the upper harbor at Capt'n Jack's
Marina. The vessel is owned by Kent and Judy Houdek from Stillwater,
MI. They told me that they have been on the river for 1 1/2 years since
they departed from Lock and Dam #1... and...... "Yes"..... there is
a Harley on the front deck.
Kent told me "This is the coolest spot
they have visited so far."
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Saturday
...September 23,
2006....
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Our River Pictures and E-mail of the Day .......
are from Kathy. She sent us more pictures
of our favorite River Dawg..........Cody !
Kathy and her husband found this adorable pup several months ago near Kinder's
Restaurant........And ........Cody still needs a good home
!
Kathy
wrote:
Hi Bill,
Here are a few updated pictures of Cody. He is now 11 months old and weighs 52 pounds. We haven't been actively seeking a good home for Cody since
we've been contemplating keeping him. However, we are not in a situation where we can easily do that. He is a lovable and good-natured dog. He
seldom barks unless he's outside and sees a rabbit or squirrel. Cody is in excellent health and is up-to-date on his shots. He's totally housebroken,
comes when called and sits on command. Cody needs a loving family with a nice
fenced yard. He would not be an outside dog since he prefers to be with
his family. He loves walks and would make someone a wonderful friend.
With your help, perhaps we'll find a happy home for Cody.
Thank you so much.
Kathy
dkskarstad@frontiernet.net
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Last
Year's River Picture of the Day
------
What the heck was the picture on RiverBills.com last year on this day ?
It
was a "first glimpse picture" of some of the white pelicans that
migrate through our area.
Ron and Darlene Skeen sent us this picture of
some the
pelicans in flight that they spotted on
Turkey Island (UMR 237 - 238)
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Friday
...September 22,
2006....
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Our River Pictures and E-mail of the Day .......
are from Little John
of Big Dicks Half Way In Racing
Team. Seems they have a new team member...baby Hayden. The
pictures are of Grandpa Little John, Randy and his baby Hayden.
John
wrote:
Bill,
This is the new crew member to the KWITCHABITCHIN race team.
His name is Hayden.
With Little John, Randy, and Hayden, we can proudly say that we are a three generation team.
John
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Last
Year's River Picture of the Day
------
What the heck was the picture on RiverBills.com last year on this day ?
It
was a picture, sent in by Captain Darryll Weil, of the 2nd tug for the Grafton
Ferry. The tug in dry-dock is named Bluewater .
Darryll
wrote:
"Went up to the River to do some work on my boat. While at Sharky's
Cove ran into Pete Tully from Polestar Marina who told me he was having
extensive work done on the second tug for the Grafton Ferry. After lunch
I went over to see how the work was progressing and took some pictures of it
while it's in dry-dock. Judging by the amount of work going on it is
obvious Pete is making it as reliable as possible as he told me they carry
about 9700 cars a month now. As far as I know the Grafton
Ferry is the only ferry that actually crosses two rivers, the Mississippi
and the Illinois, on each trip. "
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Con Trios Website.......
Captain Darryll Weil, who hails out of Woodland Marina in the cruiser named.... “After You”.... has recently taken over the webmaster responsibilities for the Con Trios Yacht Club’s website.
He has made lots of updates and improvements. Good
job Darryll !
Click
here ....and... take a look.
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Delta
Queen docks at Alton ------ According
to an article in the on-line Alton Telegraph ..... the Delta Queen Riverboat
docked at the Riverfront Park in Alton, IL. last Wednesday.
Click
here to read the article in the on-line Telegraph.
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~~~River History~~~
On
this day in 1842.......Abraham Lincoln and James Shields, then
State Auditor of Illinois, rowed out to an
island in the Mississippi River across from Alton, IL. to duel with broadswords.
The duel was over Lincoln's severe criticism of Shields' proclamation that
ordered tax collectors at that time to accept only gold and silver for payment
of taxes and school debts. The issue ended up being resolved
peacefully...and ...the duel never took place.
Click
here for more info on the Lincoln - Shields Duel as published on the ILLINOIS
PERIODICALS ONLINE website.
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Fishing
Report ------ The Missouri Department of Conservation has
issued this week's Fishing Report.
Mississippi River (above St. Louis):
71 degrees, normal, dingy; channel catfish good on nightcrawlers; flathead catfish fair on live bait; all other species slow.
(Report made on 9/21/2006)
Missouri River (below New Haven)
70 degrees, low, muddy; catfish good on natural bait; all other species fair.
(Report made on 9/21/2006)
Check out the report for the entire state of Missouri
.................go to
http://www.mdc.mo.gov/fish/fishrt/
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Thursday
...September 21,
2006....
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Our River Pictures and E-mail of the Day ....... are
some sunset pictures from John Payne:
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~~~ RiverBill's Archives~~~
