Here we are the 3rd of July already. The town filled up last night and many more are coming today. Traffic is congested and everything is very busy. Launching ramps are crowded with limited parking and jet skis and big boats are everywhere. I thought Lake of the Ozarks had all the big boats but some are now migrating to Norfork. It is like they are playing tag with no wake buoys and seem to see how far back in the creeks they can go and how many docks they can wake. Everyone seems to have a lot of money and are willing to pay the high gas prices, at least for the first day until they remember how much it costs to fill up and then there will be a lot of them tied up together in the creeks with the music playing battle of the bands. Looks like fun to me but I am too old and will stick to just fishing and surrender the holidays. The lake level is 571.64 and has dropped about 1-1/4 inches in the last 24-hours with generation about 60% of the time. They are doing a great job of holding the White River at Newport to 12-ft. and keeping the area lakes as high as possible for as long as possible. Campgrounds are very limited with water over most of them. It is best to stay at a place where you can launch your boat and keep it in a dock stall until ready to leave or rent one that comes with a stall. The weather looks to be great with light winds and temperatures in the low to mid 80's and sunny. I hope everyone has a good time and stays safe. We will see what Monday brings. If you are in a fishing boat and see a big boat with steep sides and a tower on top turn and get away from it as soon as possible. They will swamp you. They make big wakes. Things are changing here at Mountain Home and Norfork Lake. I hope it is for the best. Business is good but that is not everything.
