As quietly as possible you load your tackle box and gear into the boat. There are no other sounds as you walk from your cabin down to the dock. The chirps of a cardinal off in the trees or the sounds of ducks landing on the water don’t disturb your silence. Far removed from your usual hectic morning routine, it would take more than these sweet sounds to break your concentration. There are bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish cruising beneath the dock and along the nearby shoreline. You’ll want to fish your way out of the cove!

Branson, Missouri, is one of the most popular fishing destinations in the country. Table Rock Lake and Lake Taneycomo offer fishermen not only great angling but also some magnificent scenery and an extraordinary variety of accommodations. From a basic cabin or regular motel room to luxury lodging, Branson has it all, with more than 100 resorts adjacent to its pristine lakes.

A fishing vacation to Branson has everything fishermen and women want. There are secluded places to fish, but you are close to all the other things you like when you are away from home: a comfortable place to stay, good food, fun, shopping and entertainment. And remember: What happens in Branson . . . becomes a treasured memory – whether it is the new fly rod you bought, the photos in your album, or a trophy fish on your wall.

Lake Taneycomo flows through historic downtown Branson and right by the new Branson Landing. The Powersite Dam on the White River created Lake Taneycomo. And with the completion of Table Rock Dam in 1958, which turned Taneycomo into a coldwater lake, it has become one of the best trout fishing areas in the United States. Nearly one million trout are released each year from the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery into Lake Taneycomo.

This narrow lake winds through the hills and hollows of the Ozarks in Branson; and water coming from Table Rock Dam creates a current, making it seem more like a river than a lake. Fishermen go for record rainbow and brown trout, using bait as well as artificial lures. The upper portion of Lake Taneycomo is favored by fly-fishermen and waders.

River Run Outfitters, owned and operated by Stan and Carolyn Parker, is located on Highway 165, just about one-half mile north of Table Rock Dam. In the spring of 2007 Orvis awarded River Run Outfitters with the 2006 Orvis Endorsed Outfitter of the Year. The presentation was made at a rendezvous of Orvis guides and outfitters held in Cody, Wyoming. The Parkers have fished rivers and lakes in this Ozarks area for more than 30 years. Their shop offers fly-fishing equipment for men and women, as well as everything for every angler’s fly-tying needs. For a unique experience in the Ozarks, they offer guided fly fishing trips in western-style drift boats.

Lake Taneycomo is lined with resort motels and cabins, cottages, as well as bed and breakfast inns, with accommodations for every taste. If you are staying at or near Branson Landing, you’ll be close to the new Bass Pro Shops. It is a paradise for fishermen and has absolutely everything you need for fishing on Lake Taneycomo or Table Rock Lake, from bobbers ‘n’ bait to boats.

Table Rock Lake is more than 52,000 acres of clear water, with more than 800 miles of shoreline. Table Rock was designed, built and is still controlled by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Any building along the shoreline is restricted. This means fishermen and boaters on the lake enjoy unspoiled views of Ozarks wildlife, rock bluffs and hundreds of varieties of trees. You might share your cove with a family of raccoons having a bite to eat along the water’s edge or maybe spot deer swimming across the water ahead of you.

Table Rock Lake is famous for its bass fishing and plays host to many fishing tournaments each year. Largemouth, smallmouth, white bass and Kentucky spotted bass can make a fisherman’s dreams come true. And some anglers also love fishing for crappie, bluegill, catfish and paddlefish. The submerged timber makes a wonderful environment for the fish. Table Rock State Park Marina and other commercial boat docks provide fuel, supplies, and boat and equipment rentals. Along with advice about “what they’re bitin’ on this week.” Guide services are available, too, on both lakes.

If your fishing trip to Branson includes some non-fishermen (but who doesn’t like to fish?!), there are plenty of activities to keep them happy, from morning ’til night. Table Rock Lake temperatures range from an average of 42°-47° in the winter to 85°-90° in the summer. Boating, swimming, skiing, parasailing, scuba diving and snorkeling are popular water sports here. Back on land, the shopping, shows, theme parks, family attractions and dining will entertain all of you.

The Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Drama and Silver Dollar City have attracted visitors to Branson for more than forty years. Celebration City is the newest theme park. They all offer daytime and evening fun for “kids of all ages.”

The Live Music Capital of the World offers visitors more than 100 shows. Tap your toe to your favorite style of music or laugh it up with a great comedian, Branson has entertainment for everyone. And you certainly won’t go hungry! Enjoy cuisine from fine dining to all-you-can-eat buffets and everything in between.

Branson resorts have a wide range of amenities and services. Big Cedar Lodge on Table Rock Lake offers guests rustic elegance, with accommodations that include log cabins and Adirondack-style lodges, a spa, several restaurants, boat dock and marina, as well as horseback riding, special activities for children, and more.

Indian Point on Table Rock Lake is another popular spot for fishermen and other visitors to Branson. Resorts, motels, campgrounds, RV hookups, marinas, cruises, restaurants and shops are all available. Many of the accommodations on Indian Point, and other lodging around Branson, include kitchens so that you can enjoy a meal out on your deck – before heading out again to fish!

It was in 1907, 100 years ago, that Harold Bell Wright’s The Shepherd of the Hills was published. People started traveling to Branson to see the beautiful Ozarks country he wrote about in his best-selling novel. Many things have changed over the years, but the wonderful hospitality of the people that live here is still the same!

Great fishing, naturally beautiful scenery, wonderful accommodations, family attractions and Ozarks hospitality . . . Branson has it all!

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Family entertainment and fun are an important part of the Branson tradition. The Baldknobbers Jamboree, now in their 48th year, started that tradition, in 1959 when the four Mabe brothers began entertaining visitors on the Branson lake front. Today, the family legacy spanning six decades and four generations continues. The highly successful Baldknobbers Jamboree, owned by The Mabe Family, is the longest continuous running show in Branson, Missouri.

Today’s Baldknobbers Show is a musical powerhouse featuring a talented cast of dynamic singers, musicians, comedians and entertainers as they perform your favorite country classics, hot new country hits, toe tappin’ gospel and lots side-spitting comedy.

Tim Mabe, comedian, the show’s producer and son of Jim and Katie Mabe, says, “Family comedy has been a central part of the show. We truly believe that healing through laughter is important and there is not much in life you can’t laugh at and with a family as big as ours, there is always lots to laugh about!”

Brent Mabe, son of Lyle and Betty Mabe, plays guitar and serves as the Band Director. “My earliest memories go way back. I grew up around the show and that was all I knew. When I was a baby my mom and dad would put me in a guitar case to sleep during the show,” said Brent, who started playing the guitar at the young age of 10 and joined the show in 1985. “This is a great job. I was able to work in the past with my dad, uncles and cousins. And today, we carry on the same principals of great family entertainment that our fathers created 48 years ago,” said Brent.

Other family members on stage are Patty Mabe, Tim’s wife and their son Brandon and his son Broden Mabe. Denton and Garrett Mabe, son of Renee and late Dennis Mabe and grandsons of the late Bill Mabe, plus Joy Bilyeu, granddaughter of the late Bill Mabe.

“There is nothing better than family harmony and combined with our fast paced show, there is something for people of all ages,” said, Patty Mabe.

“Almost every night someone comes through the autograph line at intermission and tells me, that they came with their parents as a kid and now they’re back with their children, I am very proud to be a part of my family’s tradition of great country music and comedy that has lasted for generations!” says, Brandon Mabe.

The family tradition at The Baldknobbers Jamboree is destined to continue for many years to come as the mantle is handed down from generation to generation. “I believe Grandma and Grandpa Mabe would be happy to see how they instilled a love of music and the strong family
ties we all share today,” said Brent Mabe. “If we could talk to our grandparents today, I think they would say good job, well done.”

The Baldknobbers Jamboree Show, “The Show That Started It All” is located on the famed 76 Country Music Boulevard in Branson, Missouri, with performances Monday through Saturday at 8 PM.

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Just two weeks before this year’s Tour de France, America’s newest elite cycling race—the Tour of Missouri—today announced the participation of the World’s No. 1-ranked team, the American-based Discovery Channel team for the inaugural race.

The event is scheduled for September 11-16, 2007, starting in Kansas City and finishing six days later in St. Louis. It is the season-ending finale for many of the top teams and promises to be one of North America’s top events.

“We’re extremely proud to announce the Discovery Channel team as the first team participant of the inaugural Tour of Missouri,” said race director Jim Birrell. “Our goal is to attract top European and North American-based professional teams to this world-class race, and this is a great start.”

Added Missouri’s Lt. Governor Peter Kinder: “Missourians are in for quite a spectacle from both the festival-like atmosphere to world-class athletes that this event will showcase. What not a better way to start out than having one of the world’s top-ranked teams participate in the event.”

“Our Team has always had great success racing in the U.S., and we are looking forward to another solid performance in Missouri,” said Sports Director Johan Bruyneel. “Our success started with Lance and has continued on with guys like Tom (Danielson), Levi (Leipheimer) and more recently (Janez) Brajkovic at the Tour de Georgia. I don’t know who will make up our roster just yet, but it will definitely be strong and have some of the Americans.”

The Discovery Channel team features a multi-national squad, led by top Americans Levi Leipheimer, a podium contender in this year’s Tour de France, 2006 U.S. National Champion George Hincapie, and 2005 Tour de Georgia winner Tom Danielson. The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team has established itself as one of the best in the world and is the only American team to have won each of the sports’ premier events: the Tour de France, Tour of Spain and Tour of Italy, including Lance Armstrong’s historic seven consecutive victories at the Tour de France. Team Discovery Channel has accumulated 19 victories in 2007.

Discovery Channel’s 19 wins in 2007:
Tour of California (3 wins): 2 stages and Leipheimer GC
Valencia (1): Contador stage win
Paris-Nice (4): 3 stages and Contador GC
Castilla y Leon (2): 1 stage and Contador GC
Three Days of DePanne (1): Devolder TT victory
Tour de Georgia (4): Meersman, (2) Leipheimer stage wins and Brajkovic GC
Vuelta Catalunya (1): Davis stage win
Tour of Belgium (2): Gusev Time Trial stage and GC win
Switzerland (1): Gusev stage win

About Tour of Missouri
The Tour of Missouri is a 600-mile, six-day world-class bicycle race patterned after the Tour de Georgia and Amgen Tour of California. It is a race that features point-to-point racing. The race starts in Kansas City, September 11 and concludes September 16 in St. Louis, including legs to Clinton, Springfield, Branson, Lebanon, Columbia, Jefferson City, and St. Charles. The race will feature teams of eight from 15 of the world’s top professional cycling teams.

The race is sanctioned by the UCI, the international governing body for cycling, and USA Cycling, the national governing body for cycling. It is ranked as a 2.1, second in ranking to only the Tour de Georgia and Amgen Tour of California in North American cycling. The event’s management group is Medalist Sports of Tyrone, Ga., the organizers of both the California and Georgia races. KOM Sports Marketing of Colorado Springs, Colo., is the event’s marketing agency.

EVENT SCHEDULE
September 11 – Kansas City to Kansas City, road race (out and back)
September 12 – Clinton to Springfield, road race
September 13 – Branson, individual time trial
September 14 – Lebanon to Columbia, road race
September 15 – Jefferson City to St. Charles, road race
September 16 – St. Louis, circuit race

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Visitors who remember Branson, Missouri, in the early 1990s might have a hard time believing they are in the same tourism town today.

The town that used to be synonymous with traffic jams now confidently promotes its new roads and new routes. Its most famous roadway, the Highway 76 “Strip,” appears much as it did when national and international news media discovered Branson’s unmatched entertainment industry about 15 years ago. As they have for years, the Strip’s three lanes carry visitors to the dozens of entertainment venues, theme parks, lakes, golf courses, family attractions, shopping areas and a vast array of restaurants and hotels.

The difference is the speed and convenience of traveling from point A to point B. The legendary Branson traffic jams are really a thing of the past. Traffic that used to proceed at a crawl now flows quickly enough to plan a time of arrival, yet slowly enough to enjoy the sights.

A network of side roads, most just over the hill from the Strip, provides convenient access to locations on and off the main drag.

“Over the past 15 or so years, the City of Branson has invested more than $40 million to build or rebuild about 18 miles of roads,” said Ross Summers, president of the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau. “These roads are in addition to the improvements made by the Missouri Department of Transportation. When our tourism industry was launched from regional to national status, improving traffic flow became the top priority. The new roads allowed us to designate ‘colored routes’ to make it easier for visitors to reach specific destinations on and off Highway 76. It’s been one of our most successful promotions.”
“Colored routes” lead the way to attractions

The colored routes were created by the Chamber/CVB’s Transportation Committee from a program that began as the “Branson Roads Scholar” promotion. An advisory group of local and regional professionals representing business and government volunteered their time and imaginations to help visitors to find their way more easily around Branson.

The Blue Route begins at Highway 76 and Roark Valley Road and parallels Highway 76 just to the north. It meets Gretna Road and takes motorists westward to Highway 76 at Highway 165.

The Red Route is designated from North Business Highway 65 in downtown Branson. North Business 65 becomes Highway 248 and then turns westward on the Shepherd of the Hills Expressway, ending at the intersection with the Highway 76 “Strip.” The Red Route roughly parallels Highway 76 slightly further north than the Blue Route.

The Yellow Route begins on Fall Creek Road off Highway 76 and parallels 76 to the south. From Fall Creek Road, the Yellow Route turns north briefly on Wildwood Drive, then west on Green Mountain Drive. It ends at Highway 376 just off Highway 76.

New signage is being designed for the colored routes, and maps are available at many locations in Branson.
Branson attracts cars like a magnet

It’s no surprise that a tourism community that attracts motorists like a magnet should also attract collections of cars. In the past several years, Branson has become the site of several major automobile-oriented events.

New this season, the Hemmings Branson Vintage Car Rally will be held June 11-15. Dozens of vehicles, none more recent than 1948 models, will compete for $60,000 in prizes in a five-day, 200-mile rally that demands precise attention to time, speed and distance. Each day, the rally sends drivers and their antique vehicles in a different direction with “checkpoints” along the way. The goal is to reach each checkpoint at the “perfect” time.

Residents in a large portion of the Ozarks will have an opportunity to see the rally participants. “Lunch with the Cars” stops are planned in

* Rogers, Ark. on June 11 with stops in Cassville, Mo., and Eureka Springs, Ark.;
* Clinton, Mo., on June 12 with stops in Bolivar, Collins and Wheatland, Mo.;
* Springfield, Mo., on June 13 with stops in Aurora and Crane, Mo.;
* Lebanon, Mo., on June 14 with two stops in Marshfield; and
* Harrison, Ark., on June 15 with stops in Green Forest and Yellville, Ark.

The rally begins and ends each day at the host hotel, the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing.

The Branson Vintage Car Rally is sponsored by the Vintage Car Rally Association (VCRA) and Hemmings Motor News magazine. VCRA events benefit an organization called Unlocking Autism for research and treatment of autistic children.

The Vintage Car Rally comes to Branson through one of its members, Jim Cox. A longtime resident of Branson, Cox hosts large collector car auctions each spring and fall in Branson.

Branson is also the home of the Super Summer Cruise, which holds its eleventh annual event Aug. 9-11. Hosted by the Shepherd of the Hills Homestead and Outdoor Theatre, the cruise draws more than 500 vehicles for the “Show and Shine” judging, awards, entertainment and the famous “Midnight Cruise.” Jim Grady, special events coordinator for Shepherd of the Hills Homestead, said the crowd lining the cruise’s route is estimated at 50,000 to 70,000 spectators. Entries in the Super Summer Cruise range from vintage and collector cars to street rods and “special interest” vehicles.

“The special interest vehicles include ‘kit’ cars and those that are made from scratch,” Grady said. “For instance, for the last three years, a car with two front ends and two steering wheels has been entered. It can be driven from either end.”

Grady said the Super Summer Cruise participants don’t seem to worry about Branson’s traffic flow. “When they are driving their cars around Branson, they don’t care about how fast or slow they drive. Actually, they like to drive slowly and ‘bask in the glory’ of their cars,” he said.
Auto collection, oddities are Branson attractions

Classic and collector cars are part of the Branson entertainment experience at all times of the year. At the Dick Clark American Bandstand Theater, “‘57 Heaven” features a pristine collection of 1957 automobiles in an interactive museum designed as a 1957 American community. The collection includes every major American car manufacturer including the DeSoto, Nash, Studebaker, Packard and Hudson as well as the Buick, Chevrolet, Ford and Cadillac.

The collection is owned by Glenn Patch, a media entrepreneur with several business interests in the Branson area.

Another unusual vehicle is on permanent display at Ripley’s Believe It or Not!® Museum in Branson. A Cadillac stretch limousine built in 1982 features a heart-shaped Jacuzzi tub with room for four people. It also features a television and electric bar.

What may be the most instantly recognizable vehicle in American pop culture is also at home in the Branson area. The rusty old truck driven by “The Beverly Hillbillies” in the immensely popular 1960s television series is part of the permanent display at The College of the Ozarks’ Ralph Foster Museum. The museum is located on The College’s campus at Point Lookout, only two miles from downtown Branson.
Traffic improvements completed, more are underway

Branson’s visitors this season will see improvements just completed and some roadwork in progress as they move about the town. Most visitors arrive in Branson via U.S. Highway 65, and its intersection with Highway 76 (the “Strip) has been widened. The intersection of Highway 76 and Roark Valley Road has also been improved to ease the east-west traffic flow. Forsythe Street, which connects Roark Valley Road with West 76, is undergoing major improvements at private expense. A developer is rearranging the street to decrease its steep slope and adding a connection for access to Tanger Outlet Center, according to City of Branson Engineer David Miller.

Miller also said a connector road is being built between Roark Valley Road and West 76 at Fall Creek Road. Several buildings have been removed from the West 76-Fall Creek Road intersection to make room for the realigned intersection.

Miller, who became Branson’s city engineer in 1990, remembers the state of traffic at the time. Most of the roads that now make up the network of alternate “colored routes” didn’t exist.

“There was no Wildwood or Green Mountain Drive,” he said. “Gretna Road didn’t really connect to any other road. And the Shepherd of the Hills Expressway had been privately built only a few years before and the road had to be closed when Roark Creek rose with the rains.”

“There weren’t a lot of options for motorists at that time,” he said. “Visitors who remember driving in Branson at that time will certainly see the difference.”

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