Wow, good thread! I'm also headed to Texas this spring to retire. My only requirement is being within an hour of Weatherford. So far Granbury looks pretty good. Any suggestions?

Cheers,

George

Hands down big sam Super lake no slot

This is a really difficult question. Fork is still a great lake and I love it like no other. However, we do have some of the best fishing in the country with many lakes that fit the bill. It really depends on what you want. If you want peace and quiet I don't think Fork is the lake for you. The trophy hunters start showing up in late January and it doesn't end until late November or early December. Then you have the endless barrage of tournaments throughout the year and many of these are HUGE. Good thing about it you are close Dallas and many other lakes. You may want to look at Palestine, Winnsboro or Lake Athens. All great fishing lakes and decent property values.

If you don't like tournaments then I wouldn't suggest Rayburn. Its really nice since its a corps lake with no docks or trash but it has more tournaments than any other lake.

No doubt, all species, huge and beautiful. I have acquired my lake front lot, hopefully will start to build next fall, not retiring there but plan on spending a lot of time there.

Especially the big lake(Grainger?) This is a great place for retirement living and is reasonable. We had a house on main lake on Fork for 15 years and loved it, but it's a road trip for a decent restaurant, shopping and quality health care.

olducker, Lake Fork and the areas surrounding it is one of the most secure you can find for the foreseeable future. I'm a Realtor who works in that area and would love the opportunity to talk to you about any more questions you might have concerning to possible move. Give me a call anytime or shoot me a PM!

(214)642-6921

Thanks to one and all for suggestions and thoughts. I have considered some of the other lake suggestions. I thought Athens a bit too small and property costs are high. I definitely want a dock and boat house. I do not wish to trailer and launch in my old age. That lets out some corp. lakes. I used to hunt on the Rodman ranch which is now Holly Lake. I think that the lakes are a bit small for me there as well. The "tournaments and crowds" warning are hitting home about Fork. Closer to Dallas is better as I have kids still here. Palestine might work. I do like the proximity to Tyler.
Wow what is a guy to do??? haha At my age I can not afford to be wrong haha

Give Toledo Bend some thought. Even though it's HUGE every creek and cove has several boat ramps. You don't have to run the big water to get to a ramp. You can trailer to the creek of your choice. It's a beautiful lake also. I retired and have been spending a lot of time there the last two years.. We are going to move out there when my wife retires. There are some very nice sub divisions that are safe,quiet and very reasonable. It's also crappie heaven. Good luck in your search. Rayburn is only about twenty five miles away.It's a lot more layed back than Fork. Far less traffic. Very good medical facilaties at Nacogdoches.

Fork. Its not as bad as people make out, and during the week it's almost a ghost town on the water, only a few guides. Absolutely fishes different during the week than on the weekends.It can get a few boats on it for the tournaments, mostly weekends though. Good luck what ever you do!

Might want to check out Cherokee. SW of Tyler I think.

My wife and I retired a year ago, after looking all across north Texas, we thought our best value was at Lake Fork. We love it here. I hardly notice tournaments, when you are retired, fish during the week. Pm me if you want insider information. I'm not a realtor.

I live on Cherokee - actually, it's just south of Longview. Private lake, about the same size as Murvaul. Fishing is pretty good - it's not Fork, but plenty of 5-7s and above average on other species. Love the private aspect of the lake, it's never crowded.

The website is http://www.cherokeewatercompany.com/. If you ever want a tour or to make a fishing trip to check it out, just let me know. I'm retired and the boat stays in the boat house.

Fork would be a great place to retire, even though some folks say it is on the decline it is still producing DD fish regularly and I still believe there is a new state record and possibly a new world record LMB swimming around in it some where. Fork also has some of the best blue cat fishing in the state, the crappie bite can be good at times, and then you have the white bass, and blue gill too.....
If I were planning on staying in Texas for my retirement I'd already at least own a lot there by now, but I plan to return to northeast Louisiana where I grew up when I retire and my destination will be Caney Lake near Jonesboro, Louisiana......The other Lake Fork......

I'm also looking for a waterfront retirement option. I've watched Fork property and followed TFF postings for the last couple of years, and got turned off to Fork due to the constant posts about crime and low water levels. The place wouldn't be occupied full time, and realizing that a boat on a lift that didn't have any water under it really soured me on Fork.
I would be buying a home soon, but would continue to work in Houston for a couple of years. I've always dreamed about living on Fork, but the negative news convinced me that it would be a bad plan. My kids and grand kids live in Shreveport and fork would be a pretty easy drive if it was safe and I could leave my boat in a lift.
With all the negative views about Fork, I've begun to consider Caddo, a lake I've loved to fish for the last 40 years. Then it seemed salvenia reports about Caddo indicated it would be unfishable these days. I'd love to get some real, unbiased information about both Fork and Caddo.