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Branson News
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| • Branson History • Branson Profiles • Branson News ____ Branson News Index • All Aboard The Red Head Express • Fiddle Festival Returns to Downtown Branson • Hunting & Fishing In The Branson Area |
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By Kathryn Buckstaff
Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce (February 15, 2008)
Any day of the year, a person can catch fish on Branson’s lakes, says fishing enthusiast Jim Slagter.
And you don’t have to be an expert or even have the gear to experience the thrill of landing a lunker, he says.
Slagter, who’s 28, said his parents started bringing their children to Branson from Iowa for vacations when they were young. They’d take a pontoon boat out and catch dinner.
A decade ago, Slagter—who works for Branson’s Vacation Channel—and his brother, Andy Slagter, moved to Branson “because of the fishing,”
Slagter said. “There are very few places I know of that you can go and bass fish and catch trout the same day. The year-round trout fishing here is incredible,” Slagter said.
Table Rock Dam, completed in 1958, created Table Rock Lake where bass thrive.
At the base of the dam, Lake Taneycomo has colder water coming from the bottom of Table Rock, creating a perfect environment for trout.
More than 750,000 10-to-12-inch rainbow and brown trout are stocked into the lake each year by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Many Missouri record trout have come out of Lake Taneycomo.
In downtown Branson, visitors may rent equipment and fish along the Taneycomo lakeshore at public docks near Branson Landing. There’s also a Bass Pro Shops store there.
“For a woman to go shopping, and a guy to rent a boat down there, it’s perfect,” Slagter said.
That’s where Scotty’s Trout Dock comes in. Lamar Patton and his wife, Kerrie, liked the downtown lakefront so much when they vacationed in Branson that they bought Scotty’s Trout Dock in October from longtime owners Rich and Joannie Milstead.
“It’s a vibrant trout fishery,” Patton says of the lake. “Whatever kind of fishing you do at home with night-crawlers, you can catch trout that way here.”
The marina has boats and equipment for rent, sells bait and can arrange a U.S. Coast Guide-licensed guide. More than half of the guided trips include children, and the guide helps the kids right down to baiting hooks, he said.
“That way, the adults will actually get to fish,” Patton said. “People want to go catching, not fishing,” he said.
For hunters, the Branson area has strong populations of deer, turkey, rabbit, squirrel and waterfowl, said Shawn Pingleton of Empire District Electric Company.
There are firearms and bow hunting opportunities in nearby conservation areas including portions of Mark Twain National Forest and U.S. Corps of Engineers property around Bull Shoals and Table Rock lakes.
(continued above right)
| Above, traditional fishing lures on display at the Ralph Foster Museum at College of the Ozarks. 01/12/08 Photo Credit: J. Heston _______ ...in partnership with the Branson Chamber of Commerce — I'm so pleased to have a partnership with the Branson Chamber of Commerce and here's why: StateoftheOzarks is more than a dusty archive and proof of that is this partnership. There will be many more topical articles such as the one at left, each one working to bring you up to date on what's happening in Branson. The City of Branson has accomplished the impossible. With a municipal population of less than 8,000, you do realize it's impossible to attract 8 million visitors a year, don't you? Well, nobody told Branson, because that's exactly what happens. And despite those numbers, the water is clean, the air smog-free and the people extraordinarily friendly in that unpretentious sort of way that helps you realize they really mean it (and not that they're just hoping you'll buy something). Branson truly is a beautiful, fun place to visit. And if you haven't been there before, I recommend you make plans soon. The people will, as Louis Darby said, "just hold you in their hearts for a long time." For specific information, visit (www) Explore Branson (.com). — Joshua Heston |
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The state’s deer population is estimated at about 1 million. Public meetings have been held recently to re-work deer seasons to provide more time to hunt and attract more out-of-state hunters, said Francis Skalicky, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Hunters need to bring their own equipment and obtain the needed licenses.
A good source of information is the conservation department’s website at www.mdc.mo.gov.
There are plenty of opportunities for the hunter to enjoy the sport without taking time from family activities, Pingleton said.
“I’ll get up and go waterfowl hunting, and I’ll be back by 10 a.m.,” Pingleton said. “I’ve been off hunting, and they’re just getting up, and I didn’t even use up any wife points.
I save those for my longer trips.”
February 24, 2008
Article provided by the Branson Chamber of Commerce. Photography credits: J. Heston ©2008.