What you see above is getting to be a regular sight when we go out to Roundrock these days. The unfortunate fish in that poor photo (on extreme zoom for my little camera) was trapped against the overflow screen when the lake was pouring through it. (Looks like another inch of movement and it might have found a way through the screen and onto the adventure of the intermittent pond.) All those years when the lake was just a muddy puddle at the base of the dam left me thinking that if only I could have a full lake, all would be right in the world. And all those years when the lake was just a muddy puddle at the base of the dam left me thinking that I would never get to stock fish in it. (Had I been able to stock the lake with fish five years ago, you can just imagine the fish stories I would be telling you now!) This spring, I get to see the other side of the matter. The lake is so full that the overflow drain is getting clogged with debris and the spillway is eroding dangerously. And I seem to have so many fish that they are clogging the system with their mortality. I thought a full lake would be a pastoral water feature, passive and lovely and really requiring no intervention on my part. I guess not. Missouri calendar:

• Dewberries bloom.

Today in Missouri history:

• Willard Preble Hall was born on this date in 1820. As governor he lead the state in the closing months of the Civil War after having been nearly captured by Confederate troops.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 1:01 am and is filed under Critters, Dam!, Lake & Pond. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.