Owning Property Near Corp Of Engineer Lakes Vs Lake Of The Ozarks

[Tom Tricamo]

Gents,

Good Monday to all of you. Wanted to get your thoughts on owning property NEAR a Corp of Engineers Lake (Norfork, Table Rock, Beaver, Bull Shoals) vs owning property DIRECTLY ON the Lake of the Ozarks. I know everyone will have their own thoughts on the pluses and minuses of each situation, and I'd like to hear them.

My take:

Corp of Engineers Lake:

Plus -

1. Cleaner Water

2. Less congestion and fishing pressure

3. More bucolic

4. Less likely to experience contaminated water

Minus -

1. Cannot own land directly on the lake itself.

2. May or may not be able to obtain a deck permit (for instance, a quick phone call down to the Corp's office in Mountain Home revealed that their are no more dock permits for all of Norfork)

3. Premium pricing for properties with dock access

4. Less tourist/fisherman traffic, less "amenities" (grocery stores, places to take the kids, etc)

Lake of the Ozarks:

Plus -

1. You can walk from your bed in your lake house down to your boat in about 90 seconds

2. Tons of stuff for the non-fisherpeople in your family to do while your out tossing Senkos on docks and chunk rock

3. Relatively cheap housing prices

4. Pretty proximate to St. Louis

Minus -

1. Tons of lake traffic during the high season

2. Escaping to nature can be difficult in a crowded cove

3. Because there is no land "buffer" between the shore and where one could own property, you definitely have septic run-off and a-less-than bucolic setting

What is everyone's opinion? Do you agree with my pluses and minuses? I'm heading to Norfork in less then a month and I've been reviewing some maps of the area; I can't believe how few docks are on the lake!! I'm pretty excited to see what the boat traffic is because of this. My wife and I love the idea of one day owning a Lake house but she isn't too keen on swimming in "dirty" water. I think we both would like the idea of a more natural setting, yet the longer drive, lack of amenities, and non-water front location could effect our decision as well. A personal decision, no doubt about it, but was curious to know what you guys had to say.

Tight Lines,

Tom Tricamo

[Flysmallie]

LOZ is fun to visit but I would never own property on that lake.

[Tom Tricamo]

Is there a particular reason why you wouldn't own property there? I'd really appreciate your perspective.

Thanks,

Tom

[Flysmallie]

It's overcrowded. I like some peace and quiet. If you are into the big boats and playing on the lake then it's fine. I like it a lot in November.

[oneshot]

Own property in two places next to Corps Land can be at the Lake either place in 10 minutes.Can enjoy thousands of acres of Public Land and I mean enjoy other than fighting Car and Boat Traffic.

oneshot

[kevthebassman]

Lake of the Ozarks is too crazy for me. Completely unenjoyable between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I don't care to fight the crowds of drunken yahoos, both on and off the water. It's nice when the water is too cold to swim though.

[fishinwrench]

Being basically a native of LO I agree with your pluses & minuses. I'd say that you are close to "spot-on". And apparently the pluses outweigh the minuses for the majority of people....since the population is still agrowin' round heya

Kinda reminds me of a camping trip I was on recently, we picked a nice secluded spot during the week in a very large campground and was enjoying the solitude. Then come Friday afternoon folks began filtering in and even though there was plenty of room, and areas with even better river access than we had, they chose to pitch their camp within 25 feet.of ours.

It's almost like dumping a calf at the far end of a field that has a few other cows in it....the calf feels safer when in the direct company of others I guess. It seems that people who seek solitude are usually imposed upon by those that are afraid of it.

And so it goes for Lake of the Ozarks...Moooooo!