Want to take a late season trek with the boat down to Lake of the Ozarks

[Rugburn]

Up here in Wisconsin our season wraps up quickly. I want to extend the season by at least one long weekend and trailer down to Lake of the Ozarks.

Question I have for folks that have been on that lake:

Is it completely taken over by big Baja style boats?

Too big of lake for wakeboard boat as far as waves/rollers?

Is it worth the trip in late september?

Chime in with your experiences on the lake with other boaters, finding good places to wakeboard/ski, etc.

Im also open to suggestions of another large southern lake that has restaurants/bars on it.

Thanks!

[moomba156]

Let me know I'm from Burlington wi thinking about the same idea. Also in rhinelander quite often


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[wolff supra21v]

I would say if you were going during the week it would be okay. but weekend I would not take my Supra down there. We ran a 24' at bro-stock the last couple years on the weekend but there was very little riding. You have to get up early and get lucky on the right spots, if you do not know the lake well to get good water.
We like going to bull shoals and Norfork lakes but that is further down. Also in IL there is a power station Lake in Clinton IL 2 to 3 hour south of Chicago. This lake use to be warm late in the season not real big and wind affected it a little bit (I do not know if the nuclear power station is still running in Clinton that was the reason the water was so warm). This lake use to be good early season and late season but I have not been there in over 6 years.
Also no restaurants or cabins on lake that I know of. we would stay at the holiday in in Clinton and trailer the boat each day.

[c h r i s]

If you're willing to road trip that far, drive the extra 1.5 hours and hit Tablerock.

[Rugburn]

If you're willing to road trip that far, drive the extra 1.5 hours and hit Tablerock.

I've heard a little about that lake. Better for our kind of boating?


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[c h r i s]

I stand corrected, more like 2.5 hours...but still worth it. Much Better water likely fewer bars depending on where you're headed.

[c h r i s]

I've heard a little about that lake. Better for our kind of boating?


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I think so. I don't do bars on the lake so if that's a pre-req you may be disappointed depending on where you head. Much like the Ozarks it's a long and winding lake. some sections have more commercial development and heavier traffic than others.

I believe rdlangston just made a trip there, may have some good 3rd party insights for you.

[GregInKS]

Def head down to table rock.

[moombadaze]

funny thing about the boating season-seems the same down south as up north. was on lake Martin in Alabama last week and the local schools had allready started, the lake was pretty empty during the week. I would imagine the weekends will be pretty calm now with school sports starting up

[Crane man]

Clinton is still up and running. You can find calm water past the discharge is the (creek). We will boat there till mid october as long as air temp can be 70.

[Jason05216]

We've got a house on the lake and are on this lake almost every weekend. We are back in a cove at the 8 mile marker on the main channel. During the summer if you want to wakeboard you have to get up and get going early in the morning before the PWCs and tubers get going. You will find that the main channel of the lake is too rough for a wakeboard boat most any weekend. But, after Labor Day and especially on Mizzou football weekends, there are not nearly as many people on the lake. If you get away from the main channel of the lake and get up into one of the arms of the lake you can find some good water. In the Gravois Arm if you get towards the end of the arm the water is good. There are also a couple of large coves in the Gravois that should have good water. In the Gravois Arm there are several bars and restaurants on the water including Coconuts and Jolly Rogers. Breakfast brunch at Jolly Rogers on Sunday is awesome. You could also go into the Grand Glaize Arm. Most of the land that surrounding that arm is a state park so there isn't as much development as the rest of the lake. Party cove is at the 2 mile marker in this arm but once you get past that it really thins out. This arm of the lake is pretty long, 12-13 miles if I remember correctly, and usually has some good water, especially in Sept. Kirby's School of Wake uses the area around Public Beach #1 for their training. Kirby moved there this year to get better water. I'm not familiar with any bars in the Grand Glaize Arm but there a few right around the corner on the main channel. Two that I like are Shorty Pants and Redheads. Both of these are in the same cove off of the main channel 1 mile or so from the Grand Glaize. Dog Days is right in the mouth of the Grand Glaize but I have never been there. Another arm would be the Niangua. It's quite a ways up the lake from where I am at so I'm not too familiar with it. I've been up there a few times when we took the kids to Ha Ha Tonka park and Bridal Cave. That arm gets pretty narrow the farther you go but is really neat. We went in the fall of the year and I recall the water being really good. There are bars in this area also, though not as many as there are closer to the area I'm in. Captain Ron's is about 2 miles from this arm. That's the bar where they used to have BroStock. It's right on the main channel so it was always pretty rough for the event but it won't be anything like that in late Sept.

Do you know where you might be staying if you come? If so I can maybe give you a little more specific advice.