An Outing on the Insane Upper End

One thing is certain --- we aren't setting any records for common sense or courtesy. Not on the high end anyway.

10 hours ago, BrowningCollector.com said:

Was out until 11:45 ish this a.m. just below Piney.  Couldn't stand up in the boat any longer and decided to put it on the trailer before my 12 year old or I got hurt.  43 years of fishing TR and I've never seen it like this summer.  Written my letters to $Long, $$McCaskill and $$$Blunt along with making my views known (politely) to the Corps and Water Patrol.  Hoping everyone else has also.

How in the world they allow massive cruisers on a lake like TR is beyond me. The wake board boat chaos was down right nuts.  Cutting in front of one another, not paying a bit of attention to what was going on around them.  NOT one sign of the Water Patrol.

Fishing was fairly good on 3.5" swim baits and spoons.  4 nice keepers with a total of 16-18 fish on flat points near deeper water.

I really think getting the politicians involved is a waste of time. Guys it's PUBLIC water, they aren't going to outlaw any type of boat and it's a proven fact that you can't legislate common sense. Might as well just man up and learn to live with the popularity of our chosen waters.

1 hour ago, dblades said:

I really think getting the politicians involved is a waste of time. Guys it's PUBLIC water, they aren't going to outlaw any type of boat and it's a proven fact that you can't legislate common sense. Might as well just man up and learn to live with the popularity of our chosen waters.

they mandated a 30 mph night time speed limit right????  besides it is the law that you are responsible for your wake.  they just need to start enforcing it.

 

bo

1 hour ago, dblades said:

I really think getting the politicians involved is a waste of time. Guys it's PUBLIC water, they aren't going to outlaw any type of boat and it's a proven fact that you can't legislate common sense. Might as well just man up and learn to live with the popularity of our chosen waters.

I agree with you  dblades, nothing you can do about it, move on.

36 minutes ago, merc1997 said:

they mandated a 30 mph night time speed limit right????  besides it is the law that you are responsible for your wake.  they just need to start enforcing it.

 

bo

On the money and Absolutely right Bo.  Rolling over and taking it isn't manning up.  You've been on TR for a lot of years also (43 years for me) and can remember what the lake used to be like before the 40'ers, surf boats and wake board boats. Things can be done legislatively if everyone voices their concerns.  If that wasn't the case, two separate Corps reps wouldn't have basically begged me to contact my reps and let my friends know to do the same.  The Corps knows they have problems, but need us to help them. 

As an example of power in numbers...... I've been fighting the Water Patrol removing No Wake buoys for nearly 2 years now via Facebook, Twitter, OA, letters and phone calls.  When I spoke with the Corps at the Reeds Spring meeting I mentioned to the Corps rep about the Water Patrol removing the buoys...... the Corps rep said they rec'd a call from WP Captain Matt Waltz asking "what in the world the Corps was telling people" about the buoy removal.  According to the Corps rep...Waltz said they have received so many complaints via phone calls and letters about the removal and that the WP was upset with the Corps for basically stirring people up.  I requested the names and contact information for those with buoys nearly 3 weeks ago, was told it would take 2-3 days, then told 5-6 days and there would be charge for the information, 3 weeks later and still waiting. There is a reason for the delay and I will explain later (it's a good thing).

Contacting and letting them hear from us makes a difference.   Until they figure out how to put a 400# thrust trolling motor on a 40' cruiser, our summer fishing will be negatively affected until they enforce or legislate some sanity.  There's always "we can't" and they usually reap the benefits from "we can". Never an easy task, but can be worth the while. We left fish biting yesterday and from my 12 year old boys perspective "this sucks" (that we couldn't stand up in the boat and had to leave).

17 hours ago, rps said:

Hello, my name is Randy and I am a fishing addict.

Despite all the reasons NOT to go out this morning, I went out of HI at 10 AM. I will have kids in the Classroom on Monday, and I had the urge to fish before then.

My Lund is a very safe boat, but it is only 16.5 feet long and made of aluminum. By 1:00 PM it was no longer safe to be amongst the tube towers, the wakeboarders, and the slow cruisers not quite on plane.

Be safe everyone!

 

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"I will have kids in the Classroom on Monday" God bless and thank you.  No where close to an easy job, thankless most times, but kids are our future and you can and will make a difference in their lives.  My wife and I are very involved in our two kids school and believe that we are obligated to stay engaged in their education, providing the foundation, confidence and responsibility.    Now..... you need to figure out a way to get them on the water fishing during "class time" this fall, winter and spring.  The outdoors has so much to offer in learning. Thank you again RPS. 

1 hour ago, merc1997 said:

they mandated a 30 mph night time speed limit right????  besides it is the law that you are responsible for your wake.  they just need to start enforcing it.

 

bo

I apologize for contradicting you but one of the OA members who posts on the Lake of the Ozarks Forum has posted about a large, Commercial Dock owner on LOZ who knows that one particular boat that comes by his dock will create expensive structural damages from to the dock from its wake every time the boat passes by. 

The dock owner went to the extent of making a HD video of the passing vessel clearly showing the State registration numbers on the vessel's bow and following the wake that was created hitting his dock and doing a claimed $1500 in damages to the poles.  The owner took the video to the Water Patrol where they viewed it and said they were sorry but there was nothing they could do due to a lack of enforceable State Law about wake damage. 

That is why I have posted that it's important to also communicate with your State Legislators about this issue.  Our local State Senator and State Representative in the TR area both sit on committees concerned with Tourism and should be addressing this. 

Isn't there a zero tolerance for alcohol for the boat operator on the lakes and waterways ?  im not a consumer of alcoholic beverages so never paid attention that's why i asked...

 

One another note, i have never seen water patrol anywhere from Campbell point to eagle rock either.

I used to see the WP quite a bit around Big M, but have not seen them so far this year.  And guys say they've never seen a game warden on TR, but I have been checked twice in the last 3 years by the GW, once on the water and once at the dock. 

49 minutes ago, 176champion said:

Isn't there a zero tolerance for alcohol for the boat operator on the lakes and waterways ?  im not a consumer of alcoholic beverages so never paid attention that's why i asked...

 

One another note, i have never seen water patrol anywhere from Campbell point to eagle rock either.

They tried that on Beaver a few years ago and got so many complaints that it only lasted one summer.