I am a marina owner on Eagle Mountain (Lakeview Marina) on the Northeast side. I get asked a ton about fishing, and right now only boat owners are allowed to fish on the docks which are locked. I am trying to get a feel for what the demand would be for a fishing area that you pay by the day to fish in. I am also trying to find out what the demand for year around fishing slips would be. If I were to rent out slips it would be on a limited basis and there would be a limited amount of people that could join together. In other words I am not going to let 10 people rent one slip and all be down there at the same time. Please give me your feedback so I can figure out how to make my location more fisherman friendly. Thanks everyone and God Bless.

Josh

I'd be interested in a "fishing area" that's brushed, with live bait (minners) available, similar to LL Barge or Weatherford crappie-house, and pay daily basis. I can go straight into 287, then Bonds Ranch Rd, then to 1220 (Boat Club) and go south in about 20 mins.

I'd be interested in how much a year you charge for a slip, and if you could bait it as well. Most folks can't afford real high costs for slip rental.

That's why like 8-10 folks want to go in together to to rent it out. If you wanted and it'd obviously be up to you, you could have a rule of no more than say 4 at one time fishing (meaning if you showed up and at least 4 other members were fishing...then you'd have to turn around and go home until some others left).

I'm interested to hear your costs and terms. Thanks for posting.

Eric,

I am not set on any terms yet, that is why I am posting. I want to see what the fisherman want, and then how I can fit that into what we have here. The one thing to keep in mind is that I have boat owners who are paying individually to keep their boats here so we have to make sure to take care fo their boats so we have to keep a close eye on who is on the docks. That is why I would want to limit the number of people in a slip so that there are not too many people coming and going that we do not know about. Our smallest slip is 20' and rents for $140 a month. I do not mind people putting bruch down as long as they can retrieve it. In the past people have tied rope to trees so they could pull them back up later. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am hoping to find a fit for both myself and the fisherman that fits both our needs.

God Bless

Josh

I am defenitely interested. How many people will you allow to rent a slip for fishing?

RMC,

I am trying to keep it reasonable as far as how many people are down on the docks. I would like to keep it to about 3 people per slip...does this soudn reasonable to you? You have to keep in mind that if my boat owners come down and there are a bunch of people all over the docks fishing they are going to be worried about their boats. Boat owners have to pay for slips individually so I am trying to make sure that they do not feel slighted becaus other people are able to join together to rent a slip for fishing, but I am keeping an open mind and wanting all of your feedback. Thanks.

Josh

Thanks, Josh and same to you. That's reasonable and as an owner, I understand you being cautious and courteous to those boat owners who own their own slips. Don't blame them a bit.

Rmc emailed me, and I'm sure I could gather up at least 2-4 more folks if needed that are trusthworthy. I'm a senior forecaster at the NWS office in Fort Worth. So if you need a forecast, I can assist.

I'll monitor the thread and respect your terms, rules, etc. I think that sounds pretty affordable. When you say 20', do you mean as in size of the slip, or depth of water. If I was to go in on a rental with some folks, I'd imagine we'd want it at least over 15' of water or possibly greater with water flucuation and such.

Nevertheless, thanks again for your openness and I for one appreciate your seeking interest. I also respect your rules and regs. Have a good night. The Mavs are on.

Little Minnow...One thing that I've noticed about people going in together on a slip is that typically you only have a few "die hard" fisherman that show up regularly during the rental anyways. Most will only show up 1-5 times. So limiting it to 5-8 people sounds more reasonable. You'll probably not have anymore than 4-5 at a time. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you arrange to have crappie fisherman lease slips. It adds to the customer base, and really helps with promoting your business if you treat people fairly. I know with the team that I rent with we're very conscious of the boat renters, and we respect their property, and their privacy. We also try to watch out for suspicous activity, and report it if we see/hear of anything. We value our privilege of being able to fish the slips, and we don't want thefts missing up the opporuntity that we have. Just my 2 cents worth. Hope it helps...

little minnow - you said "year around" in your first post and I think that's the way it normally goes. A lot of crappie people would probably prefer to have winter only or some other seasonal setup. If you can work that in I think you could fill some slips. Do you usually have more open slips in the winter? If so, then this might work out great for you.

Good luck

One other question - if you do go for a full year, do you allow people to sub out the slip to someone else in the summer?

Thanks

I would be interested in spring/early summer and fall/winter months. I was thinking 5 per slip, since most likely all 5 will not show up at once.

$1680 a year, which ain't bad and is similar to Weatherford. Other lakes or marinas I hear are $2K-3K a year. Even so, if you have to pay up front, I'm with hub_cap that you need at least 5, if not up to 7 or 8 to make it affordable if payment is expected "up front", which most cases it is, becaue $300 is even something I'd have to talk my wife into and with Christmas ahead and with kids, that'd be some convincing I'd have to do.

Like hub said, I don't like folks who abuse privaleges or tinker with other people's property. They have slips by the RR fishing area at their marina, and many folks and I watch them like a hawk, if weird characters are meandering around, don't look like they belong there, or are not fishing or look suspicious, we report it immediately to the office.

Glad this thread has life. Look forward to seeing what becomes of it.

Guys...thanks for the feedback. Any input on a fishing area that you pay by the day to fish in? I am getting a lot of response from people and I want to try to work something out to give people an opportunity to fish.

Josh

I to am interested in a slip lease. i was in on one about 2 years ago. with some fine folks like hub cap and mr.jigum mathew ,larry and a few more so let me know if there is a opening.thanks for your time

Either renting a slip for a year, OR pay-by-day I'd be interested in minnow, as long as there is a way to get live bait nearby and it's brushed.

gregd,

I do usually have a few empty slips during the winter, but not a ton since I am a small marina. I only have 64 slips total, and most everyone is on a 12 month lease so they are here all year.