Upper Lake Boat Ramps

[wily]

Are the ramps open at eagle rock or big m?

[SKMO]

Are the ramps open at eagle rock or big m?

Yes, both are open and in good shape. I have noticed that most folks are launching at the Corps ramp at Eagle Rock, not the private ramp at the Eagle Rock Marina so I am not sure what shape that one is in.

[wily]

We tried the Roaring River arm for white bass sunday afternoon (3/5). We didn't catch any whites. We fished the flats that are marked on the hot-spots map as #29 i believe. We caught 3 non-keeper largemouths, one on a 1/4 oz white spinnerbait in about 3 feet of water, and the other 2 on a white bucktail jig in about 9 feet. water temp was 48 degrees. For much of the day, there was a bald eagle in a tree overlooking our every move.

The water level makes navigation tricky. Be sure to swing wide as you enter roaring river. As you enter into the river from the main lake; favor the right side because there is a rock just barely under the surface about 200 yards out.

[Sam]

We put in at Long Creek the other day, and I wondered how the ramp would be with the lake so low. It was fine - in fact, the concrete still extends at least another 5 or 6 feet underwater.

It left me wondering how the Corps built those good ramps. SURELY they didn't build a little dam around the ramp area and pump water out so they could pour - but SURELY they didn't pour concrete underwater somehow - but SURELY there hasn't been a lake level of 898 or less since the lake was originally filled in the 1960's. ???????

Those are the only three alternatives I can think of, and the ramps being built when the lake was at 898 ft. or less is the only reasonable one, I think - but I didn't know it was ever that low. Did they build the ramps while the dam was being built, and are they that old? Does anyone know how the Corps actually built those good ramps so far down into the lake? I'm puzzled.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Sam I'm going to mix some speculation with memory. I believe the COE ramps were built, or most, before the lake filled and while the trees were being removed, etc. The lake did fill unexpectedly, if I remember right, which left a lot of private ramps short, because they weren't completed or thought of at the time.

There wasn't a great deal of interest in TR when it was built. The hiways from Tulsa, KC and STL for instance weren't exactly great and were 2 lane for the most part. My memory of TR is that it developed slowly for a long time.

[DarthVMAX]

Table Rock is still one of my all time favorites, however what Wayne was just talking about reminds me of the great old days when I was a young kid spending my summers there in the early 1970's to the early 80's. I remember during the early-mid 70's the roads leading to the lake were small and even somewhat "treacherous" especially when the ol LTD station wagon that was loaded with too much stuff pulling a boat (again loaded with too much stuff) would feel like it was "sliding" down the mountainsides on the loose gravel roads. One of many memories I had was hearing the dynamite going off and echoing through the mountains as the roads were still being built.

[2bfishn]

Those were the good old days.I grew up in the area and I remember night fishing the rock in the summer time. We launched at old 86 most of the time and normal we were the only ones there. If we did see anyone we knew them and you could fish every point from the dam to Long Creek and MABE see 2 other boats.. Try that now. I moved away for a couple of years and didnt get back into fishing for a while after I came back. First trip out I started to pull in on a point and lights came on. Started to the next point and more lights came on. I dont bass fish much anymore but I do miss those quiet nights on the rock!!