Our family stayed at Fairfield Bay for a week in June 2013. It was our 2nd vacation to the Ozarks. We had such a good time and its very different element for us that we are going back, this time staying at Table Rock Lake by Branson with our boat.
I didn't have a boat then so we rented a ski boat 19' Larson which included a tube toy to pull. The boat was clean and in good condition, especially considering it was a rental. Marina fuel was about average prices from what I've seen. The ski boats aren't allowed to be fished in as it messes up the boats. If you wanted to fish they had small aluminum boats with tiller engines for rental. The water was clean and warm, no plastic trash or junk was seen around the Fairfield marina or lake, very clean which was nice. Lots of big carp begging for food at the floating marina store, which my kids liked.
The rental boats aren't allowed to explore the entire lake, we were restricted how far we could go by a bridge on one side and some landmark on the other, but it was ok for 6 hours.
One thing different from our boating in Colorado/Utah is Greer's Ferry Lake stays almost the same elevation year round, we out west see 15'+ of lake elevation change throughout the year. It rained a lot that year and a marina employee said they might cancel the 4th Fireworks due to excessive rain. I had never heard of that, in the west our 4th of July gets cancelled due to drought and the fire danger. I learned the fireworks launch dock out in the lake is fixed, not floating and was almost underwater.
Hope that helps a little....
