Lake of the Ozarks

We began planning our Lake of the Ozarks vacation. Airline tickets have been purchased, A lakeside condo has been rented for the week - Saturday to Saturday. Lisa and I both ordered travel guides. We are looking forward to the trip. 

https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p469873vb

The Bat Boat was there for the races.

Alex and Ani, initially awarded the first place trophy and prize money, actually placed second in a photo finish, and had to relinquish the prize. I have to wonder if they would have done so well without the duct (or duck) tape.

Monday - Woke up to a pea soup fog, observing the shoreline across the cove.

These fishermen tried their luck in the thinning fog. We didn't see them catch anything, though others did, fishing the same area.

After the rain this turtle was cruising the docks. The fog lifted at about 8:30, revealing a warm sunny day. Went to St. Patrick’s Mothers’ Shrine on the way to Deanna’s lake cabin. Went to the cabin, to show Lisa the area and looking for changes and to see what had and hadn’t changed. Had BBQ on Hwy 5 then headed home for the afternoon. Narrowly missed hitting a ground hog crossing the road, and saw another deer. I did a little fishing this evening. Saw fish jumping but no bites.

Tuesday - Got up and went fishing . Caught (5) 10” or so bass and one that was about 15”. Catch and release after photographic evidence was taken. Had hamburgers for a late lunch and skipped dinner. Lisa and I went to Osage Beach for ice cream around 8:15pm. We counted 42 deer driving there and back. My day of fishing netted about 15 or so bass. While fishing, Lisa and I saw a large gar jump vertically out of the water. We saw 18-20 inches of the fish out of the water and are guessing that to be about half of the length of the fish.

Wednesday

Woke up at 3:45 and headed down to the dock just before sunrise. Caught 5 bass. Lisa came down to

the dock and we saw a bald eagle fly over as he made his way down the shoreline. A mamma duck brought her six babies over to the dock to show them off to us. It looked like they spent quite a bit of time on someone's jet ski lift, judging by the mess.

While standing on the end of the dock fishing, a gar, about 30-36 inches long swam by just below the surface. I cleaned 2 of the bass I caught and let the others go. Later, we went out for lunch, and I asked the waitress if I could buy a few pats of butter and a little garlic for the fish. She came back with some scampi butter, which I smeared on the outside and in the cavity of the fish, then baked it for 30 minutes. Yum!! The meat was firm, moist,  and flavorful. Late afternoon fishing yielded 7 more bass, returning to the condo at 5:30.

Thursday

Woke up at 3:30am, rigged up a piece of hot dog on a treble hook, and went down to the dock. I dropped the line with a drop shot setup off the edge of the dock, laid the pole on the fish cleaning station and secured it with my stringer. Went back to the condo and back to bed. Got up at 7:30 and checked my line. The weight was there, but the hook was gone. Some unlucky bad cat got breakfast with a bonus. Back to the dock at 8:30 and caught 2 more small bass. A big gar, about 3 feet longish, swam the length of the breakwater dock. We also saw several turtles on this day.

We went to JB Hooks, http://jbhooks.com for lunch on the patio, overlooking the Community Bridge at the 14 ½ mile mark of the main channel.  We started with a shared shrimp cocktail. Lisa followed that with a reuben sandwich, and I had fried catfish with jalapeño hushpuppies.

At 5:45 it’s back to the dock. Fished for an hour and a half without even a nibble. I give up.

Friday

2:00am – woke up and decided to try feeding the catfish a piece of hot dog with a treble hook bonus. Dropped a 1-inch piece of dog over the front of the dock and returned to the condo. Back to bed. Got up at 6:30 and checked the line. The hot dog had a good night – still where I left it and undamaged. Started throwing Powerworms and the fish are hitting better this morning.

Fishing around 11:30am while Lisa showered. Caught a 23” bass. Pictures were taken and the fish released for a later catch.

Went to Golden Corral for lunch and back home by 3:00. We both ate too much. About 9:30pm security / sheriff’s officer stopped by to say goodbye. He came in and chatted for about 15 minutes, talking about disorderly conduct and arrests at another complex, and the effects of the full moon. Looking down the main channel, the full moon is casting a bright white shimmer across the surface of the lake.