Can anybody tell me about fishing & house's or lots at either one or both of these lakes??

We have finally decided to leave Lake Texoma after 8 years as a weekender and 6 years full time and are looking for property close to or on a similar kind of lake & fishing oriented life style... only a tad further south to be close to the rest of our family's who are now scattered from east of La Grange to Wimberly.

So far we've been to Buchanan/Inks/LBJ and spent 2 very full 10 hour days looking at the area & getting an education on waterfront water view prices ... and I just THOUGHT Texoma prices were high!!!, then jumped past Austin and came home from a tour of Lake Bastrop...1060 miles in 2 1/2 days makes for tired puppies!!!

Gawd AMighty Buch looked bad...the CBS weekend Austin weather idjit sez it's only down 4 feet...but up around Tow it looked more like 14 feet low to me with all the boat house's out of sight of the water in some places... and the LCRA Board that is dominated by the rice farmers from the Coast is pushing to take another 10 acre feet out of the Highland Lake system this summer according to the Burnet newspaper. Hope they got lots and lots of this rain.

Black Rock Park on the Llano side of Buchanan was still able to launch boats but I did not see a usable launch public or private on the east side.

Then earlier this week we had a guided tour from a child hood friend in the Athens and the Cedar Creek/Lake Athens area who's family had lived at Star Harbor for the last 30 years. CC's down a bit but not nearly like the Hill Country lakes. The Temple Belton area is next on the short list while I got Miss Clairol's attention and interest.

Any other suggestions for a Striper 1st lake to look at? Mebbe Richland Chambers?? and live where ???

PM me if anybody is interested in my Texoma place as it is almost finished with the lazy cleanup I've been doing.

I am 1 1/2 blocks off Hwy 289, 7 miles north of Pottsboro & just south of the Little Mineral Marina in a 2-2 mfg'd house on a Corp's front & water view 75x100 lot with 18 40-70' tall oak trees in the front yard + a few more in the back yard, a 10x16 barn style shed that is wired for electricity & an all steel 16x30 covered boathouse with a 10'x24' single slip that was built when I bought the place in '97 that is just down the hill about 125-150 yards away.

Miss C's personal best's off the beach from her favorite rock next to the boathouse over the years all on a ChugBug are: the biggest Smallie I've ever seen from Texoma, a pair of 41/2+ lb blacks at the same time and a 7+ lb Striper when the shad are spawning in shallow water at the mouth of the tiny creek....but then she can beat the finish off a ChugBug in a heart beat too.
Thanks Ron

Found some lot's for sale on one of my real estate search engines but the map feature was not helpful...can anybody give me a hint how close LakeAire Blvd or Circle is to Lake Belton?
Thx Ron

Some of the lots are lake veiw at LA and its on the upper part of the lake. Not many lake veiw lots left on Belton

As old as these lakes are I did not expect to find many, if any lake front or even water view lots especially at a price I could afford or would be willing to spend.

What I am most interested in is a lot that is within "Golf Cart" range of water access, and/or a short few minute distance from a launch ramp...but everything is relative depending on land/housing prices.

Coming from Texoma, we are not opposed to running some distance to get to the fish ... but with gas prices today and continuing in the forseeable future ...fishing off the trolling motor closer from the launch site is for sure mo bettah! having said that, is one end of Belton better than another for fishing/avoiding jet & water skiers?

How large are Belton or SHH in acre's? Are either lake also good for sand bass, black or smallmouth's ? I understand SHH is a really rocky deep lake like the Texas side of Texoma east of Preston Peninsula... is Belton the same way? Any restrictions on Belton fishing in the arm that goes into the Ft Hood area?
What is the governing authority on Lake Belton?

I've been told that Stillhouse Hollow is an ACOE lake like Texoma is, and I understand how the Corps Rules are supposed to work.

After looking hard at the lakes up & down the Colorado River from Lake Fayetteville to Buchanan I've got a much better understanding of who controls the LCRA and what those problems are.

Better to know the politics at play on a given place before making a final commitment on where to live ... as this move decision will most likely be the very last one we make at our plus Medicare age and state of grace.

There is lots of TRUTH to the ancient adage that "getting Old takes lots of work, is not fun, and is NOT for the timid or faint of heart" ...BT and Doing That Right Now.
Thanks Ron

Just remember Belton is a flood control reservoir run by the COE. There is a flood demarcation line on all lakefront property and no improvements can be made below that line. No private docks on the lake.

We live on Lakeaire Circle, Belton Lake and love it. Belton is a COE lake which does mean that boat docks are not allowed (a good thing in my view) but the Lakeaire addition has its own boat ramp that is very convenient. We have lived here 8 years and the lake usually drops no more than 3-4 ft, though we have seen it as much as 8 ft. low. The water is among the cleanest of any Texas lakes, it has high limestone cliffs in some places that are very scenic. Fishing is not as good as some of the east tx lakes, but not bad for bass, hybrids, crappie. Great lake for other water sports. Prices have increased, but much more reasonable than the highland lake properties and the lake is not nearly as crowded. The lots across the street from waterfront lots are very reasonable.

Thanks for the insight guys, this is the kind of info I cannot get off the realtor sites.

This is my first time having a private boathouse, as I have here on Texoma for the last 14 years, and while it has it's pro's & con's ... by and large has been a very positive experience in taking midday breaks especially during the summer months and walking 5 minutes up the hill for lunch & a nap or long potty breaks as needed ... but these days we are planning ahead for hopefully a long term? older age with new physical limitations to consider ... like not buying another two story house with stairs I have to climb. Consequently I have no interest in owning another boathouse to maintain...but don't want to have travel any distance to reach a safe and secure launch site.

The "flood demarcation line" mentioned is common to all COE lakes... we call it the Corps property line...here it is 5 feet above spillway's 640' level at 645 feet above sea level. My Texoma lot fronts this COE property line and I have deeded access across it for my driveway. Since Texoma has only "flooded" over the spillway 3 times in history from the 1942 dam closure - 1948, 1991 & 2007 my access road has flooded only in '48 & '91, with the 2007 flood not reaching the Corps property line aka the flood demarcation line.

Belton being a COE lake is good to know from an expectation point of view. I am sure the COE up here would like to remove all the single owner docks as the only new dock construction I see are multi slip deals owned by subdivisions. My Permit was 1st granted sometime in 1965, and I am the 2nd holder of that Permit number that was transferred by the landowner I bought from...and there are no more to be granted in my area of Little Mineral....except possibly for the 2-300? slip marina being talked about in the back of LM cove couple miles south from me at the back of the cove. I doubt that will ever come to pass though. Besides, if I wanted the fish "catching" to be as good as "some" East Texas lakes...I'd prolly move to East Texas! LOL!
Ron

I'm not sure how far the Corps line is above pool level on Texoma but it is somewhere around forty feet at Belton. This will range anywhere from a sheer cliff to 200 yds of gentle slope.

"Normal" Pool level at Texoma is a seasonally adjusted number, expressed as "feet above sea level" because Texoma is also a hydroelectric lake and managed by the ACOE primarily without repect for any other activity except flood control.

EX: in the late winter Dec-Feb or March when we normally don't get much rain and in preparation for the spring rains...the power generation station will run 8-24 hours a day depending on outside temperatures...the colder it is the longer it generates power for the grid...the "average" normal pool level will be down around 610-612 feet above sea level. If the long term forecasts are for heavier than normal rainfall then the ACOE will also leave the flood gates open to keep the lake levels lower than average.

Average "Summer" pool is about 617-619 above sea level...and even with all the rain we've had in last month or so we are not yet at the 617 level...
these levels are only important if you remember that the spillway - ie uncontrolled release of high water - is at 640' feet above sea level or about 23+ feet above average Summer Pool levels...and the Corps property line is at 645' above sea level...or what I understand to be the Line of Flood Demarcation as you express it. My front property line adjacent to COE property is at the 645' line.

In the Floods of '48 & '91 the inflow overwhelmed all of the controlled release controls and went over the 640' & 645' levels and flooded the private property around the lake as well. My former neighbor used to tell of folks tied up to his patio's wrought iron fence and crappie fishing in his flowerbeds in '91.

In '07, the flood waters were held and not released from May thru October as I remember it, to allow the areas downstream from SWestern Arkansas thru Shreveport, Bossier City, Monroe and on down to include the Lower Mississippi to drain out enough from the same couple months worth series of rain patterns to receive and handle Texoma's 27-28' of flood waters over "Normal Pool"...and NOT create another "Katrina" event. Jeez the several hundred yards of new lake bottom stank for 6 months after the water was released and normal pool levels reestablished.

We had a GREAT year for fishing the following year in '08 despite lower than normal rainfall from all the lack of fishing pressure in summer '07 and super successful Striper and multiple shad spawns in the higher than normal waters...but in '09 when the rains hit again the Corps did not have to hold the excess water as the lower areas of the Red river were not affected by the rain and we lost the spring shad spawn when the water was released in a month or 6 weeks. Thankfully the flood waters of '09 never reached the heights that the '07 flood had but I lost access both times to reach my boathouse....and the Flood of '07 almost compromised my entry road to the house like the flood of '91 had. In both the '07 & '09 floods my boathouse was the only one in my creek to not sustain any damage or break loose due to it's new style design and construction ... several broke loose and had to be towed back into position and one partially sank.
Hope this helps.
Ron

Cheapest (didn't say cheap) lakeview property in central Texas is Lake Georgetown. Course, no stripers there. Limestone lake, clears up sometimes. Fairly constant level, except during droughts.