Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

So my wife and I are talking about pulling my barge south over Spring Break the week of March 25th......I would be pulling it from Columbia, Mo.

You southern tooners (southern to me)....Is Arkansas...Oklahoma..Kentucky.. warm enough that time of year or do I need to go farther south? I saw an intriguing looking lake when researching this by the name of Lake Ouachita in Arkansas....anyone been there?

I'm mainly looking to chillax and get on the water and explore a new lake. Thoughts?

Or should I take a flight and forget the toon for another month?

Snowman, I live at Lake of the Ozarks and this year we were on the water the last week of March. On March 31st, 2012, the air temp was 83 and the water temp was 65, compared to the year previous when the air and water temp were the same: 41!
Ouachita in Arkansas is near Hot Springs, I believe. It could be a bit warmer than Columbia, but I don't know if I'd want to pull a toon on US 65 in Arkansas. Lots of hills & curves.
You might be better off driving down and renting something.
Good luck!

Go Tigers! Straight, fast highways all the way to KY Lake. If you don't have stealth radar detector, be careful thru Illinois. We'll be in the water in March.

There are many lakes south of you that'd be nice, like Bull Shoals and Norfolk which are on either side of Mountain Home, AR. Table Rock's also no slouch over by Branson, MO. Staying around the MO/AR state line lakes would be more pleasurable driving than going south into Arkansas because there are no good roads going south through Arkansas.

But Ouachita Lake is west of Hot Springs, and it's a nice lake. I especially like Greers Ferry @ Heber Springs, AR which is NE of North Little Rock.

You'd have to go pretty far south to find warm temperatures at the end of March. Some days are warm, and some are cool. The worst problem that time of year is the wind, and anywhere in the southeast the wind can be a problem.

Kentucky and Barkley Lakes are east of Paducah, and they'd be good alternatives. Both lakes have really good state parks and hotels to stay in.

And if you ever go into Illinois pulling any trailer, the State Troopers radar every tow vehicle looking for any going over their slow 55 mph speed limit on Interstates.

Lake Ouachita in Arkansas is a beautiful lake and I think that you would enjoy a trip there. We used to vacation there years ago.

We are planning on being on the water in February here. It is suppose to be in the low 60's next week.

Quachita is a beautiful lake and there is a lot to do in Hot Springs. And it is even a little farther south than we are.

If you go west on I44 at Springfield and come down on US 71 you miss the twisting of HWY 65. Once you get to I40 you go back east. It would add about 2 hrs maybe but it's all intersate and the best way to get over the Ozark Mountains. I drive to Springfield from Ft. Smith, AR almost every other week and it is the way I go.

Just a thought....

Lake Cumberland in Kentucky is a beautiful lake also....but late March is a crap shoot

Bamaman wrote: And if you ever go into Illinois pulling any trailer, the State Troopers radar every tow vehicle looking for any going over their slow 55 mph speed limit on Interstates.

Been awhile since you were in Illinois has it? That stupid 55 mile an hour trailer thing was killed several years ago. Now the only ones that have to deal with a 55 limit are trucks entering Cook or the 5 collar counties around Chy town., and possibly around St. Louis.

KY/Barkley Lakes are 2' below full pool, and the lowest they've seen in the last year is 5' below normal a couple of days. With the Mississippi River being dangerously low, they need all the water they can get out of the tributaries which requires their keeping The Biggest Lake almost full.

Some of the TVA mountain lakes are dropped dramatically in winter. Nottley outside Blairsville, GA has been dropped by TVA 13.5' . Fontana Lake is up 10' in the last month, but is still 45' lower than last Summer's high level. Douglas Lake is up 8' in the last month, but is still 31' below full summer pool.

We're 2 lakes up the Tennessee River from KY Lake, and complaining because we're 2' below full pool--the lowest level of the year. I guess we need to keep our mouths shut. I assume they're doing some construction on seawalls and boat ramps at this time of the year.

This has been a strange year for Kentucky Lake.

Flanker wrote:Lake Cumberland in Kentucky is a beautiful lake also....but late March is a crap shoot

Agreed, still likely to be a bit chilly in March. Even with the dam still not fixed and the water down a bit, it's deep and huge. Some decent fishing in areas.

Most Oklahoma lakes are down currently. Hopefully by March, the levels would be up. If they are still down then, I would not recommend any lake except Tenkiller or Grand Lake. And I wouldn't recommend Grand Lake if you don't have at least a 22' with a 150hp due to the size of waves on that lake from all the big go-fast boats. Eufaula is a beautiful lake but when it is down, it can be a scary place to navigate if you aren't familiar with the channels (which aren't clearly marked on much of the lake).

Bannaman, where are you on Tenn River?

We're at Muscle Shoals, AL on Lake Wilson. It's nice going to the lake and still having malls, restaurants and city amenities.

It's nice having Pickwick Lake 5 miles away and Wheeler Lake 10 miles up river. A lot of fish are caught below our two dams when the powerhouses are running.