I realize that, but the thought should still be in the back of your head. I agree there should be some kind of marker out there. Better safe then sorry (In this case to the tune of $355)
Fish the deeper weed edges 10-20ft, you'll have no problems finding pike.
I put one in the boat last weekend around 36inches. No monster by any means but a nice fish for that lake.
If you're fishing around Sept 1, you won't be fishing in the rivers, you'll be fishing the river mouths. They'll still be out in the lake staging for the most part. Guys do really well off the piers.
That's exactly what I was fishing this weekend. Breaks from 8-10ft down to 14-20ft.. In order to get the baits down on the weekend, I had to slow roll them like crazy, would have liked to speed things up a bit and still keep my depth consistent. I've seen those bottom dwellers, I'll have to grab a few of them.