We were fishing on Lake Conroe on a windy day not too long ago and came around a point to get out of the big wind. It was still blowing in this cove, so much so that it was difficult to fish with even the trolling motor. My anchor wouldn't hold either, so I saw this guy standing next to his dock and I asked him if he wouldn't mind if I tied up to his dock to fish. Without hesitation, he said NO WAY and he made it clear that I should get away from his property. Now I was there with my two boys and I was kind of shocked--we certainly were not a threat--should I have known better than to ask??

No problem in asking nicely.

nothing wrong with asking, a bit suprised by his answer.

Would you let someone park in your driveway and play horseshoes? I know it sounds bad but it's private property.

He has the right to tell you not to tie up to his dock, but he has no authority to tell you to get away from his property. You can get as close to his dock as you want as long as you are not contacting it. There are always landowners that think they have more rights than they do.

I was just embarrassed with my boys there. He was watching us try to stay in one place. Maybe its just all about the world we live in.

Dock owners often think they have more rights than they actually have but if he was standing in his boat instead of his dock would you ask to tie to his boat. I have people come by fishing when I am on a friends slip and try to fish right in top of me. They would never do that to another boat. The slip owners have alot of money tied up in their property just like we do in our boats.

With all the trigger happy lawyers and perceived wealth of lake front owners he was looking out for his i'm sure.

My parents just moved onto a lake and they wouldnt mind at all if you wouldve tied up to theirs if you were having trouble in the wind as long as you asked like you did... the guy u asked sounds like a DB!!!

One has to wonder if the wind was so bad that the troll motor and the anchor would not control the boat and the operator had young children in the boat, if perhaps, he should have even been in this situation. Perhaps he should have stayed at the ramp, or returned to the ramp when the wind got out of hand.

This doesn't excuse the unhospitable response of the dock owner, which was uncivil, but we all need to be responsible for our own actions.

I had an elderly lady invite me to fish on her boat slip. My dad and I were fishing from the boat and passed by her. She had it brushed out and told me to come on board and try my luck. So dad pulled up and I gave it a try.

Power Poles, my friend. If I were the dock owner, I would have said the same thing. With the wind that strong, it could have tore something up, either on your boat or on his dock. The guy had no right to be an azz about fishing close to his property, though....

HAHA! Some of the posts on this thread crack me up! I mean come on!!! I guess it has to do with what lake you were on. Probably some snob from Houston who thinks he's better than everyone else.

Are the docks in Texas private property? Yes it's a serious question. I just moved here from Oregon and in the Pacific Northwest you can own property up to the water line but anything that extends into said water way becomes public use. If they are private property how far can they extend into the lake? If I buy a chunk of land on a lake can I build a 200' dock out into the lake and call it mine? Curious. . . .
Joe

Yes they are private property, and the allowable length depends on the controlling authority on that particular lake