Hey guys, gonna fish the Fishing for Freedom for veterans tourney Oct 1. Only been on Belton a few times and never fished the "west" arm of the lake. Not asking for fishing info, just safety of driving up in that end of the lake. I know there's a few islands. Lake looks to be at or near full pool. Any hidden islands or trees to worry about on that west arm?

Why do they insist on having this event on deer season, they would have even better turnout if the moved it a little or even a lot.

Not sure about that. I know they've got over 200 teams signed up, so I don't think they're hurting for turnout. Any idea about running the west side?

I generally stay to the right side of center when running up the west arm towards Cowhouse Creek. There is one shallow hump you should avoid out in the middle just before you get to Taylor Branch, particularly if the lake drops a couple of feet. It is easy to spot on your chart. Hug the right side of Cowhouse Creek until it makes a hard left. After that just watch your chart and stay in the creek channel and you can pretty much run through there with no problem. There are a few places where it gets really shallow really fast if you get out of the creek channel though, so just watch your drift.

Pretty much what this guy said is spot on , Pretty good fishing up there but you got to be careful because sometime tournament directors make that off limits due to military training. Sure is alot of shooting going on but i think they are shooting blanks but not really sure but ,those boys blast it up the few times i have been up there.

Thanks guys.

There were signs designating where the Impact Area (Live Fire) begins and that is always off limits to boats. Its been so long since I went that far up the Cowhouse arm I'm not sure if they're still there. Basically if you stay below the bridge where East Range Road crosses the Cowhouse, you're good.

Thanks Texan. We may not even go that way. Just never been on that side of the lake and won't be able to prefish ahead of time so trying to be safe. I guess my soldier ought to know if they're gonna fire on us or not. Probably ought to ask him! LOL!

The signs are still there and there is a cable strung across the water with signs hanging from it as well. Its also usually too shallow right at the bridge to get much of a boat any further upstream anyways.

Thanks Moose!

Might watch the MLF Cup show that they had on it if you are new to that lake. Surprised me on some lure selections and also the size of fish in that lake. Good luck and thanks for supporting those guys.