GOING - - "A-MUD" - (Low Water Curse)

Some 450 ft of Towline trails off the back of Towboat (in 8ft of water) to the
grounded pontoon boat in less than 1 foot of water - - 

"Ahhh yes, early spring, warm weather, lets get the boat out and enjoy some time on the water with last years leftover cheaper gas!" - - That has been the mood here over the last month, as warm days and sunshine brings out the "early boating birds".  There is one small drawback - - many of our "summer" boaters are not keenly aware of the Lake's "Winter Draw down" - - meaning the lake level can be 4 to 5 feet down during the early months of the year - - this requires paying a bit more attention to where you boat - - large areas of water 6 to 10 ft deep in the summer, can now be only 1 to 2 foot deep - -!  Such is the case with our adventure seeking group yesterday - - .  Our boater decided to take the 5 or 6 "kids" on a early afternoon boat ride - - leaving the 3 mile mark of the "Big" Niangua and ventured up the "Little" Niangua (Note: the "Little" Niangua arm is not noted for having a great deal of water past the 6 mile mark anytime, let alone at a 655.67 level)  - - as our "explorer's" neared the 6 mile mark cruising along at a fine pace, in what appeared to be a large body of water - - - they suddenly found themselves smartly A-MUD! - - - after several attempts by the passengers to "push" the 28ft Pontoon off the mud bank and several "good sam" fisherman trying to pull them off  - - alas - no success!  A phone call was placed to us - - and we headed out from our port in the Big Niangua and arrived on scene - - with the help of fisherman in a Jon boat, a little wading in "knee-deep" mud and nearly 500 foot of towline - - we quickly put an end to this groups "3"-hour plus stay on a mud bank - - the sun was going down and things were cooling off quickly - - once ungrounded, as suspected, the motor had ingested to much mud and could not cool the motor, so we towed them safely home - -
NOTE - - WINTER OR SUMMER - - "WATCH WHERE THY BOAT" - - If you see logs sticking up out of the water or ducks "standing up" - - you might want to check your water depth - -