Broken Bow lake, OK

[djetok]

We decided to go to broken bow this year. From Pics it looks a lot like ouachita lake that @Bruce goes too a lot. Its not very far from there, so that would make sense.

Any recommendations?

 

[Mike & Lilly]

Wow beautiful lake

 

[PEARCE]

We love that lake! Haven't been in a few years. We usually stay in the lodge and launch and retrieve daily and not rent a slip. Best ramp is at the marina, however there is one at the lodge without a dock. We usually explore till we find a houseboat mooring and tie up to it since the lake is so deep and rock bottom then trying to use our own anchor. The best place to eat is the Greatful Head for pizza and craft beer. If you stream your music you might want to download some before you leave home. The lake is in a national forest so you're in the boonies!

 

[djetok]

We love that lake! Haven't been in a few years. We usually stay in the lodge and launch and retrieve daily and not rent a slip. Best ramp is at the marina, however there is one at the lodge without a dock. We usually explore till we find a houseboat mooring and tie up to it since the lake is so deep and rock bottom then trying to use our own anchor. The best place to eat is the Greatful Head for pizza and craft beer. If you stream your music you might want to download some before you leave home. The lake is in a national forest so you're in the boonies!

Good to know about the music, thanks. The cabin we got is right outside of the marina by a 1/2 mile. We plan to launch retrieve every day. Growing up in NE Oklahoma, i really didnt need to travel to lakes. We decided this year we are going to see some different lakes, as our home lake is just getting too overcrowded. Arcadia is a 3 sq mile lake and everyone owns a surf boat here, so it has become very difficult to find a calm cove. There is only 2 of them, one of them used to be a no wake cove, until the city did not repair the buoys because of all the waves. Now people have been trying to surf in a cove where a lot of people are floating.

 

[djetok]

We are here

 

[B0at1n]

If you are interested in a fishing guide look up my buddy’s brother. He is always getting some huge fish, I think he personally holds the record for the first or second largest bass caught on the lake.

https://m.facebook.com/BigFoot-Bass-Guide-on-Broken-Bow-Lake-1713058792319430/

 

[djetok]

Beautiful lake

 

[djetok]

So after spending a weekend at Broken Bow, it's a pretty awesome lake. Great amenities all around, the cabin rental (which wouldn't say cabin) is as nice as my home. The lake is just beautiful. My digger anchor work perfect here in the rock bottom. Super relaxing weekend. We just got off the lake right before a downpour of rain. We got in the hot tub in perfect time for the cool down.

Everywhere we ate was awesome. Especially Roma's Italian north of Idabel. We had two ny Italians with us and they raved about the authenticity of the food.

We had Ribeyes at the hochatown Saloon and they were very very good steaks.

Walmart in Broken Bow does not have a lot of groceries , they milk and beer but no meats. Pruitt's foods had a great selection of meats for a small town lake community.

We are sad to leave tomorrow , it was a very relaxing weekend.

 

[Scottintexas]

I missed the update on this,
can you give us the link to the cabin you stayed at,

interested in finally getting to go there,

.

 

[djetok]

I missed the update on this,
can you give us the link to the cabin you stayed at,

interested in finally getting to go there,

.

2 Master Suites W/king Beds. Hot tub, and Fireplace A Luxury Cabin - Hochatown

Embrace The Moment - $276 avg/night - Hochatown - Amenities include: Internet, Air conditioning, Hot tub, Pets welcome, Fireplace, TV, Satellite or cable, Washer & dryer, Parking, No smoking, Heater ✓ Bedrooms: 2 ✓ Sleeps: 6 ✓ Pet friendly ✓ Minimum stay from 2 night(s) ✓ Bookable directly...

www.vrbo.com

There are a ton of cabins of a lot different tastes. We choose this one because it had two master suites. We put in at beavers bend state park
196 Marina Ln
Broken Bow, OK 74728 Beavers Bend Marina | Broken Bow Lake . We took it really easy and usually got to the lake about 10. Both times we had to park in the overflow parking lot. Parking is super tight! When we go back, we will be renting a slip. We would have this time but with the error codes popping up. I wanted to mess with the boat at the cabin. Also of note, We were not 1/2 mile from the ramp, maybe as the crow flies. It was probably 4 miles. Next time I will definitely get a slip.

The town itself , reminded me of a less developed Branson, with go karts, mini golf and stores in Hochatown. There were lots of restaurants and very good ones too. We had one that was familiar with the area, because she has offices in the area. We ventured off to just north of Idabel and ate at Roma's Italian. Very worth the drive as the food was incredible. Broken Bow Walmart is not a place to buy cold food, they don't have a meat department, you can get dry good staples, milk and such. Pruitts grocery store has a nice selection, although they did not have Mountain View sausages. I thought I was going to be able to stock up, since we were decently close to Stillwell, where Mountain View is at. We stayed north of Beavers Bend State park and did not go into the park once, by land.

Super peaceful location and remind me a lot of @Bruce pics of Ouachita in Arkansas. They are in similar terrain.

Oh yeah I think I heard bigfoot calls about 4 am. Could have been Bigfoot or people hunting bigfoot. There is a lot of reference to Bigfoot there and all kinds of souvenirs with bigfoot references. Sadly we did not get a t shirt. So we have to go back!

Bigfoot is Scaring Up Stories and Tourism Dollars in Southeastern Oklahoma | StateImpact Oklahoma

Charles Benton says he knows what he saw five years ago a few miles north of Broken Bow, deep in the woods near Hochatown.

stateimpact.npr.org

Oh yeah @PEARCE warned me of little to no internet signal to stream music. We could not stream on the lake, we could do a very slow internet search and cell signal was sporadic at best. It was actually nice though. We will put together a play list next time, as the radio stations were a little scratchy without a mast antennae to receive on the radio.

@Scottintexas Link fixed

 

[Shuck Water]

@djetok Any areas of the lake you would recommend or avoid? I'm going to be headed out there in two weeks for my first time. Appreciate the heads up on streaming music!

 

[djetok]

@djetok Any areas of the lake you would recommend or avoid? I'm going to be headed out there in two weeks for my first time. Appreciate the heads up on streaming music!

We did not see any at all. If your afraid of deer, stay off the mini golf courses. We thought they were statues until they moved!!! Lol. Its deep so find a place that you have enough anchor line. We found a island almost directly across the entire lake from the marina. It was 60 feet deep and about the most shallow water we anchored at. The parking is what I will avoid the most super tight. So much so that we saw broken tail lights on trailers all over the overflow lot. If you go to the overflow there is a courtesy dock to be picked up at. I had to walk the first day, because my wife had my phone on the boat already

 

[PEARCE]

The parking is what I will avoid the most super tight. So much so that we saw broken tail lights on trailers all over the overflow lot.

The last time, or maybe the time before, our trailer got hit. My wife actually saw it happen because she was still in our truck. One of my BoatBuckles got destroyed and put a scratch on the trailer. My wife got her info. My wife said that the lady was an idiot and had no idea what she was doing. Had no business in a large vehicle, much less one with a trailer attached. Since we were staying at the lodge we decided to launch and retrieve from their ramp after that. Even though someone would be going swimming each time in order to do that since they don't have a dock. It was a little easier parking situation with a lot shorter walk. The only drawback, other then no dock, is that it's a LONG back down to the ramp so your trailer jockey has to have some skills.? In my case it's my better half! She rocks it!

 

[djetok]

The last time, or maybe the time before, our trailer got hit. My wife actually saw it happen because she was still in our truck. One of my BoatBuckles got destroyed and put a scratch on the trailer. My wife got her info. My wife said that the lady was an idiot and had no idea what she was doing. Had no business in a large vehicle, much less one with a trailer attached. Since we were staying at the lodge we decided to launch and retrieve from their ramp after that. Even though someone would be going swimming each time in order to do that since they don't have a dock. It was a little easier parking situation with a lot shorter walk. The only drawback, other then no dock, is that it's a LONG back down to the ramp so your trailer jockey has to have some skills.? In my case it's my better half! She rocks it!

Long and steep. I was sure glad I had my trailer guides to be able to see the trailer. Every time we launched someone started backing down the ramp on top of us. You simply cannot see down the ramp until your truck is backing down the ramp.

 

[Shuck Water]

Oh joy! For someone like me, who trailers their boat once every 2 to 3 years, is going to have a blast!!

 

[djetok]

Oh joy! For someone like me, who trailers their boat once every 2 to 3 years, is going to have a blast!!

Nah just get a slip

 

[Shuck Water]

Wow, what an incredible lake! @djetok Took your advice and got a slip and it was the best decision I made the whole weekend. Thank you for that.

It definitely was hot this past weekend, and I was surprised that the water was so warm (90 degrees). We stayed at a large, but very crowded cabin and the boat was the main source of entertainment. Took a lot of kids tubing.

I did get an overheat code after about an hour and a half tubing when I started up for another tubing run on the port engine. Of course, I immediately shut down and did the usual check for blockages etc., but didn't see anything. Fired back up after 20 minutes and was good for the rest of the day. The issue never repeated for the remainder of the weekend. Wonder if all the stress of pulling tubers combined with high exterior and water temps were enough to make the engine overheat.

Anyways, beautiful lake and I cannot wait to go back!

 

[djetok]

Wow, what an incredible lake! @djetok Took your advice and got a slip and it was the best decision I made the whole weekend. Thank you for that.

It definitely was hot this past weekend, and I was surprised that the water was so warm (90 degrees). We stayed at a large, but very crowded cabin and the boat was the main source of entertainment. Took a lot of kids tubing.

I did get an overheat code after about an hour and a half tubing when I started up for another tubing run on the port engine. Of course, I immediately shut down and did the usual check for blockages etc., but didn't see anything. Fired back up after 20 minutes and was good for the rest of the day. The issue never repeated for the remainder of the weekend. Wonder if all the stress of pulling tubers combined with high exterior and water temps were enough to make the engine overheat.

Anyways, beautiful lake and I cannot wait to go back!

View attachment 102854

View attachment 102855

View attachment 102856

View attachment 102857

That cabin was in our same hood across the street
.glad you enjoyed. Super clear water and it is a gorgeous lake. I'm glad the slip worked out for you. The parking is bad. What do you expect though there are very few flat pieces of ground there.

 

[swatski]

Wow, what an incredible lake! @djetok Took your advice and got a slip and it was the best decision I made the whole weekend. Thank you for that.

It definitely was hot this past weekend, and I was surprised that the water was so warm (90 degrees). We stayed at a large, but very crowded cabin and the boat was the main source of entertainment. Took a lot of kids tubing.

I did get an overheat code after about an hour and a half tubing when I started up for another tubing run on the port engine. Of course, I immediately shut down and did the usual check for blockages etc., but didn't see anything. Fired back up after 20 minutes and was good for the rest of the day. The issue never repeated for the remainder of the weekend. Wonder if all the stress of pulling tubers combined with high exterior and water temps were enough to make the engine overheat.

Anyways, beautiful lake and I cannot wait to go back!

View attachment 102854

View attachment 102855

View attachment 102856

View attachment 102857

Cabin??? That's not a cabin...
Looks more like Le Lake Chateau.

Gorgeous.

__
Re: overheat, I think it maybe related to hard starts we experience while surfing. Always port side. I think I have it finally mapped out, thanks to @SamCF mostly.
Basically, the main cue here is - it is always the port side engine. For us, it's also the surf side so I (erroneously?) assumed my hard starts have to do with back pressure etc. etc. I think not.

The port side fuel lines are very close to strbd engine exhaust manifold. If you run the boat hard and then stop or slow down to low idle where cooling is crap (low water pressure) - that strbd exhaust cooks the fuel lines of the port engine - creating overheat or "vapor lock" conditions etc. (hot weather does not help either).

I find the blower ON when stopped helps and running in high idle helps to cool the engines before turning them off.

--

 

[PEARCE]

Glad y'all enjoyed your trip to Broken Bow @Shuck Water . It's a beautiful and special place! We used to go at least once a year when my mom lived between Paris and the Red River. We could make it a long day trip from her house and she could dog sit for us. Now when we go we have to find a place to stay and usually have the board the dog. That all makes it more expensive. Plus, since we have the big boat and dock there's been less desire to venture elsewhere. We do plan to make it out there this October for some Fall boating. It ought to be a little cooler and the water should still be warm enough to swim in. If we're lucky the trees may be changing for a little extra color in the landscape.