LOTO for the first time
 

We are heading down the 4th and staying till the 13th. This is my first time down there, I've been doing some research but what are the lastest do's and dont's?

what bars do we need to stop at?

what other coves are there if I don't feel like putting up with some of the shenanigans in party cove.

any tips on fishing down there? any species, as its going to be hot i'll take what i can get.

Biggest dont's:

- Drink and drive your boat (MSWP will be thick and possible checkpoints)
- Drink and drive on land (road blocks)
- Not sure what boat you have since you mentioned fishing but do not allow passengers to ride on
sunpad at any speed
- Obey all No Wake areas

Do's will depend on what MM on what arm you are staying at.

Yep on all above
Might not be the best time to fish unless you are fishing from dock,should be a busy week I am leaving today staying at the ledge's 19mm

Thumbs up to the Don'ts listed above. Be sure to not drink while you are driving the limit is .08 and they will enforce it. Any of the bars are good to go to they are all great. Also if you want to fish or cove out go to another cove down in the state park by party cove they are all nice and some dont hardly have anyone in them even during the 4th. Depending on the size of boat you have will determine how much fun you have in my experiences down there. With a smaller boat you will get tossed around so just know that its going to happen. But other than that hope you enjoy the lake its one of the best man made lakes in the country in my opinion.

Lake has walleye (hardly anyone fishes them), bass, Crappie, pan fish and several species of Cats. The guys fishing in my cove are catching very little due to the heat. Son and I fished off the dock a week ago and caught zip and usually we can catch at least small blue gills (son is 4) off the dock anytime we want.

Surface water temp is going to be around the mid 80s right now. As for where to go and what to do depends on where you are staying and if by water the size of boat you have. Tell us where you are staying and someone will be along with a list of locations.

Oh and a +1 on the advice given above. WP has a ZERO tollerence for BUI and riding on the sunpad is a great way to meet them!

definately won't be drinking and driving anything. besides the law enforcement I value the lives of my passangers pretty highly and don't wana be the cause of an accidenct and also wana be clear headed enough to be able to avoid them.

Wednesday through Sunday we will be staying on the north end of the lake by the damn at MM3

Monday through Saturday we will be staying at MM7.

We are bringing our 26 ft express crusier.

feel free to say hi if you see us out.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8145/7...36cd4dd32b.jpg
boat&coes by tzw84, on Flickr

Our last name is Coe

My advice is if you want to go anywhere south of where your at on the 4th-8th is to get up fairly early (hit the water at 9) and get to wherever and stay there til late then cruise back in the evening. During the following week you will be very surprised on how quiet the lake is so you should be fine to go anywhere during your stay at MM7. Just be sure to stay out of the middle of the lake during those first 4 days there and you will have a much more enjoyable time. Party cove is great to see but personally I think the live music and bar scene is much more enjoyable. Love the lake I wouldnt think of boating on any other lake after being there for so long but I find that if you can be there during the week when its a little calmer for your first trip it makes it just that much better. Once you go your going to want a place down there and a bigger boat instantly.

You wouldn't happen to be staying at Point Randall the first part of the trip would you?

[QUOTE= Once you go your going to want a place down there and a bigger boat instantly.[/QUOTE]

thats the dead honest truth!!

You're going to heave on earth, enjoy the lake and all it has to offer

We will be just a little west of Point Randall, almost straight south of the the island.

The island is at the 4mm. We are in the cove south of it that goes back to The Cove golf course. Several people tie up in that cove so it is a good place anchor for an afternoon. There is a large new house being built at the end of the cove next to the golf course. We are straight across from the new house and will be floating off the dock.

Bars/Restaurants to go to by boat:

Frankie and Louie's Not sure which cove. It's near 10
MM area. They are all the way at the back. I used my phone and found them.

Backwater Jack's. Slow service sometimes but a lot of fun.

Captain Ron's around 34 MM. If you keep going to MM 47, you can go to Big Dick's and do minnow shots. Nice scenic ride. Go during the week.

If you go by car, find Wobbly Boots on Rt 54 on r/s 1/2 mile or so west of the outlet mall. Best food on land.

You will have a great time there !!!

Smitty

Larrys on the Lake is great, and their dock girls are not only easy on the eyes...they are good at what they do.

Dog Days is also a lot of fun.

From the 3mm & 7mm -
Try: Docknockers @ the 4mm
Schmitty's @ the 3mm
H Toads & Shady Gators @ the 7mm

Leave the main channel @ the 6mm,,,,head up the Gravios
Bumps Barefoot @ the 3 mm Gravios Arm
Jolly Rogers @ the 4mm Gravios Arm

LOTS of Coves up the Gravios too and LOTS of places I didn't mention. We'll be heading to that end of the lake on Sunday the July 8th...Brunch at Jolly Rogers and probably coving in Sabra Cove(cove with the inflatable floating Iceberg) at the 2 1/2mm Gravios arm. Look for the "No Life Like It" 38 Power Play.

Frankie & Louies is at the 10mm
Big Dicks is the 47mm
Plain Janes @ the 52mm

You can bar hope all the way to Truman Dan. I've made it Possum Hollar at the 63mm....There are bars every few miles. I'd guess there are close to 100 bar/restaurants by water.

JMS

Thanks for the corrections !!!!!!

Smitty

Your welcome, but IMO....I prefer Half Sauced to Wobbly Boots BBQ... And BEST food on land :confused: I ate at Dominicos Saturday Night.... Damn good Prime Rib, but there are some good restaurants at the lake....depends what you want to spend. Sorry about :hijack:

J Brunners just the other side of GG bridge smokes Dominicos. I enjoy going to Wobbly Boots but the food is pretty average. If you are out the HH arm try Ruthie Ds. Great food there too.

J Brunners is one of our Favs too, Patrick and his staff do a great job... Dominicos is always solid for us though too, just your classic old Italian steak house. I think of J Brunners as a notch or two above them. But, you would be surprised of the number of people that think Golden Coral or any chain steak house is fine dining. Like I said too many good places to eat at the lake. Need to be able to still fit in my swim trunks..

Dominicos baked mostaccioli and house salad!!

Our favorite off water is Bentleys, It is set up like an English pub and the steaks, seafood and best of all: service is top notch. Favorite on water: Shorty Pants, best BBQ: Half Sauced, best bar/restaurant for value and fun: TireBiters

Jeez I could write our own "critics corner" article...

+10000

J. Bruners has the best sitdown dinner at the lake.

What we have noticed throughout the years is there is a place for everyone and what is the best for one person is not for another.

With 100+ places to go and see, you will not be disappointed. It is easier to ask the places to stay away from than what is best. That second list is short!

Take a day trip up to HaHaTonka state park on a weekday.
Picnic, couple mile round trip hike to the top of bluff to check out a 1900's mansion and estate, jump in cold water spring.

Plan on burning some fuel :)

We will be making that run from the 4 MM. Most likely on Tuesday the 10th.

Ah, Tirebiters. Haven't been there in a couple of years. Is the one chick still working there? If you are a regular you know who I am talking about. My memory sucks anymore but I want to say her name is Kim.

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Oh yea, she's still there along with the other girls!

They all work hard and do a great job. Mon and Wed is steak night, Fillet, salad and choice of side, $9.95... how can you go wrong? My other favorite is the smoked wings, they are full size not the little nubby type, an appetizer that is enough for a meal.

Smoked wings, good indeed! Kellogg's needs to come out with a, "Smoked Wings" cereal:evilb::drink:

I was just there last week. Awesome place. I can not concur enough with the comments about traffic on a holliday/weekend. TONS of 40+ft cruisers running around and the lake gets rough. Before 9am and after 7 is best time to travel the main channel. Like others have said, once you go you will want a bigger boat haha. TONS of bars and places to eat. We tried something different every day. All the ones mentioned are great fun. Check schedules for bands and themes and specials. My wife and I had a blast.

Only comment I have is for some reason I was rejected from joining a boat chain in party cove :( guess he didn't like Stingrays haha. Cause several boats were added as the day went on. Oh well. Still had a blast.

Enjoy!

Went to Tirebiters last night for a beer and some peanuts. They no longer have peanuts! She said that the owner cut them out several months ago and they hear many complaints. Might have been a bad decision. The gals are as nice as always.

If this is your first time to LOTO there is a couple things worth mentioning. The mile markers are counted from Bagnell Dam (0) to Truman Dam (90 whatever) on the main (osage) channel, the other arms number from where they leave main channel to there ends of navigable water. These MM are marked on shore by a green or orange sign stating the mile and arm of lake, for example the sign nearest my house reads 50 OSAGE , and a sign on the Niangua might show 4 NIANGUA. These signs are on both sides of the channel every mile. Observe the no wake zones, have PFD's and all the safety stuff in order, a sober captain, plenty of fenders if you want to raft up or for GAS/ bar/restaurant stops. The state park off 54 just a mile or 2 west of Grand Glaize bridge has the best ramp and parking for the biggest boats that are trailer launched. There are so many great places to eat it is hard to say whats best, but places that stay open year after year that don't have a gimmick about duck pirate dick's dirty sanchez liquer must be doing the other stuff right. My Best burger and fries so far this year has been at a little place on the end of Red Oak Resort dock called I think Cafe 32 (32 MM) kind of west of Bulldogs a 100 yds or so. Also The Red Fox at the 50 has been very good with a loyal local following (self included). Also have had EXCELLENT Fried Gulf Shrimp at Shrimpdaddies on hwy 5 Sunrise Beach area.

There are very few, if any MM signs on the main Osage arm, at least in the 0-38mm range. It is pretty easy to tell what MM you are at if you have a small lake map.

Griff, I've definitely seen a few, they just make them d*mn difficult to see.

I really meant to mention that the signs are small and hard to spot, they are only about 2 feet square or so so they are not really any bigger than the ameren required dock signs. I agree that even a free placemat map can get you to most of the places you want to go, and until you are familiar with the lake you don't want to be without one. The first time I went out on LOTO I had rented a house and knew the MM and what it looked like but don't have GPS ##s , Anyway I had always heard things referred to by MM and had the mistaken idea that I would be able easily spot a promenent sign and got lost as a bastard because I didn't see any signs at all. Later I was able to figure out were they were and only 1 on each side not at all easy to find, That was what I was trying to say, but it got lost in a void between my keyboard and Budweiser addled brain.

Might of been waiting for some friends to tie up first. Only time we do that is when the boat is "tin" of full of water ballon launching, beer bong guys and we know we could be looking at problems in a few hours.

Kathy and I like Baxters on land for sit down.

My boat may have also been a little small to tie up next to him as well. My boat sits pretty low on the water. I know a little better what to look for now.

Baha- we think alike. Surprised I dont run into you guys more often at these places.

Yep- Kim still there and she still has her twins. :) every booth has a tv in it and no more peanuts. :(