Is it LOZ ?

[Dutch]

I saw yesterday on tv that Missouri ranks #3 in the USA in boating accidents. Surely LOZ and all the crazy that goes on there must be what has us so high.

[jdmidwest]

Probably all of the beer bongs and mardi gras beads on the NFS streams.

Actually, we have 2 major river systems that account for alot of it also, the Missouri and the Mississippi. Several lakes account for alot of it too, we are fortunate to have them also.

What amazes me is all the unexperienced floaters that hit the streams, drink to the point of confusion, then can't remember which side of the canoe is up. You never see any reports of drownings there. Of course, there was that one guy that swallowed a live redear and choked to death, duh, murphys law.

[davekeim]

Get this! according to the government (believe or not believe your choice) the LOZ is the third most dangerous body of water in the US. #1 Atlantic Ocean (crab fishing), #2 Colorado River (rafters), #3 our one and only LOZ (stupidity).LOL!

Keep me in Southern Missouri!

Abdito!

Cardiac

[Terry Beeson]

The day I interviewed for the job here in Springfield, I was on my way to Camdenton to interview for another job there. I was a bit excited about the prospects of a job on LOZ since I had heard many years ago about the lake. When I got there and checked into the motel, I went for a drive around the lake... My dreams turned to nightmares of stupid people in big fast boats ruining my fishing...

Honestly, with all the condos and houses at the water's edge and all the part-time boaters in boats that are way too big and/or way too fast, I'm surprised it's not #1... But I guess there are just way more crab boats...

[Wayne SW/MO]

The Water Patrol certainly has its challenges.

A man from Huntsville has been critically hurt when his personal watercraft collided with a state water patrol boat that was trying to stop him at the Lake of the Ozarks. The Missouri State Water Patrol says the jet ski operated by William Fish made a sudden left turn into the path of the water patrol boat. The Water Patrol says its boat had its lights and siren operating.

[MrDucky]

Im often amazed when i visit the MO water patrol web site , Lake of the Ozarks seems very dangerous , Lake Havasue in AZ is really a bad waterway , Lots of partiers and too much beer . very dangerous

[The Caddis]

This kind of bothers me, LOZ did not make that idiot drink beer, and LOZ sure didn't make him turn into the water patrol boat. My guess is that if you remove alcohol from the equation, accidents go down on LOZ.

[SilverMallard]

Probably so, Caddis. Cuz more of the boat bimbos would still have clothes on. LOL

Yes, between the Miss and Mo rivers and LOZ, that accounts for most of it. Truman also has it's fair share of accidents, but that's mostly due to navigational difficulties exacerbated by weather and/or darkness. And it's nothing like LOZ's accident rate!

Yeah, Terry, LOZ is a party boating zoo...not a good fishing lake. Once upon a time, the fishing was much better than it is nowadays. A 20' Triton with a 200hp 4-stroke outboard is a dingy on LOZ these days. I get a kick out of all the cigarette boats and other bay boats folks buy and put in the water up there. I've been traveling THRU LOZ on 3 holiday weekends in the past decade when we personally encountered some sort of emergency response or people directly involved in fatal accidents or murders at LOZ while stopping for food or gas. Another time, we had to defend ourselves with a handgun in the State Park campgrounds against 2 guys who had just murdered a security guard while trying to steal a boat and were running from the cops. They tried to steal my truck. That was the FIRST of the 4 incidents. And that one made us decide that LOZ was NOT a place for us to try and relax anymore.

That's a different sort of "playground" up there!

[Rusty]

I will NEVER return to that lake. It's a accident waiting to happen.