What happened to Lake McQueeney?

I haven't been able to get back in my favorite lake since i came back to Texas last Feb.

There's no public access anymore as far as I know.

You can always join the ski lodge.

You would think Parks & Wildlife would have a plan-

i moved away from mcqueeney so they decided to shut it down...

You would think so. I'm not really sure how they could allow the marina to close off public access... It is public water, has been stocked with taxpayers' fish... I'm pretty sure I even remember hearing that they dumped a bunch of ShareLunkers into the lake.

I wrote the GBRA and TPW and basically asked the "taxpayer" question. Specifically, "why did is taxpayer money being spent to maintain a lake that is now private?" The answer I got was as expected. They are no longer stocking the lake so any taxpayer money going towards maintenance is for flood control and water conservation only. Basically, they say "Deal With It!" Oh, and they have no plans to open public ramp access ever.

I bet the local's are loving it!!

i called the ski school and they would not even entertain the idea of letting fisherman pay to launch there. the skiers and wakeboarders have been wanting this for years, now its thier own private lake.

such a shame. it is a great little lake with quality fish in it.

I thought there was public acesss at a park that was on the north west side of the lake?

it was a marina/bar, be he sold to developers. now they are building condos there.

Has public access been shut off by state law or could someone build a marina and open a ramp for angler's?

There is access, but it is way up the river, about halfway between New Braunfels and McQueeney. Its a subdivision off of 725 that has a public ramp in a powerline right-of-way. The ramp is narrow and a little broken up, but it will work.

How dangerous is the run in the river? Is it stumpy?

rivers not bad. follow depth finder to stay in the channel.
once you get way up toward the bandit golf course it gets real shallow in a hurry, about 3 ft for a little ways then drops a little deeper.

I have contacted the local state representative Stuempel, GBRA, Texas Parks and wildlife, and Bass. Tim Cook responded but since then has not answered my Emails. The others were acknowledgements only. The statement was made that they would no longer use taxpayer money to stock McQueeney but I doubt that includes blocking fish from going downstream during a flood. FEMA has been and will be called upon to help these folks in a time of flood which is taxpayer money, and eventually money will be sent to maintain the infrastructure which will involve taxpayer money. All fishermen and water enthusiast should be concerned that a public waterway is turned into to private use only with no concern from public entities.I am not certain what can be done but we need more voices to be heard.

It's basically the same situation with the trout stocking in the Guadalupe river below canyon dam. 99% of the access to the river is controlled by private interests who either make a living from your desire to fish the river or don't want you on "their" river at all.

exactly what hook line and sinker said. private outfitters control almost all fishing areas for trout, so they double their money.
with a trout stocking the river is gauranteed to flow to keep the cold water going. that also makes for great tube rentals.

You can still get on Mcqueeney!! Last time I was back in Texas (sept) I used a ramp that worked just fine for a 21ft boat. On 725 from the Seguin side take a right on ridge creek dr., Follow & it will dead end at ridgecliff dr., take a left. Follow all the way until it ends at ridgeroad dr., look straight ahead & there is a dirt road along a powerline going down to the river w/ a ramp. The ramp looks so-so but it IS usuable. On the right side the concrete is a little broken up but i didnt have a problem. It is pretty shallow there & the ramp is at a weird angle where when my trailer had the boat on it, I have a crossmember that sits low that dragged the concrete. With 4hi I had no problem though. I talked to the owner of the house next to the ramp & he said it was a neighborhood ramp but he said they do not have a problem with ANYBODY using it. I would recommend having 4x4 in case your trailer sits low like mine though!

;Is it feasible to tube fish or kayak during the colder months when the skiers go away or is the ramp too far away from the lake?

Might be something someone with deep pockets might want to invest in! A public ramp and restaurant, what an idea!

It was always a pain in the rear to fish that lake even in the winter, those skiers would be out that at the crack of dawn in their wet suits.

Can't say I miss that lake all that much, and I never fished it anymore during the warmer months after almost getting swamped by the continuous boat traffic, and having to put up with the muddy water from the waves crashing the shorelines.

I actually got seasick from the constant rocking of the boat!

They acted like a fisherman didn't belong on their lake and now they can have it!

This i interesting. i happen to know people on Lake Diversion and the public water rights issue is pretty big with them.

Basically, all that water is in fact public, and if you can get on it without trespassing, you are fine. that goes for McQueeney and Diversion.

Diversion is difficult because the club that owns the land around the lake granted an easement on the only road crossing the lake (on the shallow end) under the assurance that the county would erect a barricade on either side of the bridge making it all but impossible to launch a boat.

people do get yaks in there, but in another flex of their political power, the share holders of the club managed to get all the roads around that bridge close to parking.

this means that you can get a ticket for parking, and if you are on the lake you will probably find an officer waiting for you when you are trying to leave and watching to make sure you dont set one food on private land.

(oh and i have a friend who prefers to kayak directly into the lake by way of white watering over the spillway during floods) ha

but i digress.

If one of McQueenie's landowners has in fact cut off public access to fishermen that is a problem, but since the land around the lake is all separate plots and not a single cooperative like Diversion i can't see it staying that way for long. (i could be wrong on this point though, i will try to have a look at the registry for the county to see what the situation there is)

just a quick look at the map shows any number of individuals who could easily find themselves talked into building a boat ramp and charging a individuals to launch. it sure would be hard for me to pass up if i had one of those less desirable plots on the south side near the dam.

incidentally, my friends on Diversion pretty laugh at McQueenie folk because they have to deal with so many wakeboarders, and the lake is constantly covered in traffic. Lake Diversion (this is the one under Medina Lake) has got to be the most exclusive chunk of land in Texas. they are very protective of it and the proof is in the pudding. its got to be one of the nicest stretches of water in the state. if you have a yack, i recommend paddling it, lots of stiper hybrids, and plenty of medium sized bass. just don't park illegally and don't trespass while you are there. though they probably wont press charges anyway because they have no desire to see anything go before a judge that could force them to open it up to more of the public.

but from the standpoint of the people on Lake McQueenie i guarantee you that they would rather shut down that ski lodge and open the lake to fishing then have what they have now. fishermen tend to be quite, respectful, and good stewards of the lake. (tend to anyway) i can't imagine anybody being excited about ski boats hauling a## through their back yard all day long.

You can always join the ski lodge.

I bet that lake is hot, the fish have not seen any lures for a while!

I remember there used to be a place on the downstream end of the lake called Hotshots or something like that. Funky old bar, restuarant, bait shop, etc. It was great piece of Texana. I think the last big flood took it out for good.

How much would joining something like that cost?

Someone needs to get smart and open a bass lodge, and cater stricktly to the bass fisherman on that lake.

Give it time! That lake is an accident waiting to happen, and maybe then they'll finally impose speed limits on that lake, and it won't be so appealing to the skiers, and someone can then open a bass lodge!

We can always hope!

How about a fishing lodge, and cater to more than just bass fisherman?

That would work! Seems like a ski lodge would be more of a seasonal thing and fishing is year round. Stock some lunkers like brood bass, and hybrid bluegills, and catfish, and you could draw people from all over the nation.

Wish I had deep pockets, cause that's what I'd invest in if I had it to invest.

Those ski lodge people got it all wrong especially when you've got a big beautiful lake like Canyon just up the road.

I remember Hotshots from when I was a kid. They had fish fry's every Friday or Saturday night. It was great. I was sorry to see it gone when I came back in 2005. But Then I saw the boat ramp just north of it was still open at the time. Now that I'm back from Japan five years later I see that even that boat ramp doesn't exist anymore. What the hell is going on here?

I am all for getting a ramp at McQueeney so I can get back on my favorite lake, however, I am tired of seeing these posts on here. Everytime I see one I get my hopes up and think somebody knows something I dont. LOL!!

wel I joined te forum just to throw in my two cents on Lake McQueeney.

I have been fishing the lake for over 20 years. I love this lake. at least when the wave makes are gone. I had the privilege of fishing the lake almost alone for a long time after the big flood. not many folks had canoes or kayaks at their disposal at the time. To me this is a lake that needs no stocking. bass, cats, crappie galore. it's a rare day that I get skunked. The best thing to do is just leave the lake alone, get rid of the wave makers, and stop trying to control it. When they added the herbicide to the lake to kill off the weed problem, they near killed it. luckily the lake has mostly recovered, and I think the locals would have a fit if they tried again.

And yes, I miss hotshots! loved that lilly pad patch next to it. went out there on an inflatable mattress one day, what an adventure. dang bass on my stringer kept popping holes in it.

hate fishing the canals.
Love the lilly patches.
Underwater lights are great for bass and cats at night.
bridge to the island for crappie.

And my Dad, love him and his house on treasure island that gives me access to the lake.

oh, and if you can sneak in, there is a ramp on spyglass road. most of the locals are cool with fisherman using it.

The problem is sneaking in, lol. I can launch my canoe by the GVEC ramp but it is too far to paddle back with that current.

I fished McQueeney in Feb of this year and caught my PB blue at 32lbs. That was awesome! We used the powerline boat ramp. The next time we went, we went to see if we could find crappie. It was too cold, and they didn't bite. We did find quite a few bass, though. Oh, we went light hopping, but some of those residents aren't too keen on that. We were about to set up and fish one dock light when two giant billion-candle powered spots turned on via motion sensors. It was HEAVILY annoying, so the owner's intention proved productive....for them. Talk about a high dollar deterent. It wasn't like we were going to tie up to the dock, but we actually trying to fish just outside the light from the middle of the river. I was astounded by that. Anyway, from the way things are are run there, I think I'll stay away from "Snootyville." I guess money CAN buy you a private lake, if you line the pockets of the people that have the power to keep it public.
Steven

I thought I would motivate ya'll into turning this whole private lake thing around. If enough people kick and scream through the right channels, maybe we could have better access to the lake. Here's my 32lb Blue on McQueeney that I caught this last winter. I owe this to my friend and Sensei Mr. Cliff Hill of Hillcountryfishin.com

Yeah, I know...I needed a shave and a haircut, but the heavens opened up and all the planets aligned, so it was fate that Cliff was available this day. Oh, and I don't have an ego, so I have no problem saying that this fish wore me out. Catch and release.
My Sensei is the coolest!
Steven

Man, you sure know how to rub it in! LOL Great picture and congratulations.

Lol!!! Thanks. I'd like to gloat, but this baby really wore me out. She put up a really good fight and it was cool to watch Cliff revive her and let her go. That was one of my best trips out with Cliff because we went out there with a laidback attitude. "Let's just get on the water and see what happens." "IT" happened!
Steven

Years ago when Randolph AFB closed their rec camp on McQueeny, it was a shame that it wasn't donated to the state, instead of selling it to a private party. That would have guaranteed public access in the future. I haven't fished it since.
Roger

It is a very simple solution. If the home owners of Lake McQueeney want their own private lake then they need to pay 100 percent of it's up keep and not use any public money at all. It is a shame that there is not a decent public boat ramp on that lake which has always been a public lake. May be a call to a state rep. should be in order. Just my two cents.

You didn't shave and get a haircut did you? That is like Sampson's hair or changing your socks on a win streak, LOL. That is one heck of a fish. I hope Cliff has one or two days left so I can go out there and learn the ropes.

that is a monster cat steven! mcqueeney has always been a bass/catfish factory. even the crappie fishing is not too bad. we used to go through dozens of minnows back in the day at the ski ramp.
i think its one of the oldest lakes in texas. someone correct me if i'm wrong.

Ha!! Sampson. If only I were that cool. So Tall Tale and I have hunkered down and decided that we are just going to focus on Canyon. I've heard good reports about crappie, but that's at the Crane's Mill pier. I've just come back from his house and we had ordered some LED strips (green). I'll post pics when we get them mounted on our boats. Can't wait!
Steven

This lake is one of a number of cases of betrayal of the public trust. Wheeler Branch Lake is another example. The trout stocking program is another. I have not decided whether TP&WL is hopelessly inept or just corrupt or both. Writing TP&WL will get you exactly nowhere. They just ignore you. How they can justify spending public money for private interests is beyond me.

The power line ramp is still open, as bad as it is, it works and the locals don't mind, so far. BUT, whose to say they won't start minding and your truck happens to be there when they do.

I have heard rumor that there is a ramp on the plans for under the bridge of the continuation loop from where 337 dead ends into 35 going around to 46. The bridge currently shows to go over the very top of McQueeney, up from the generator, below the Dunlap dam.

However, I have been told that this is about 10-20 years out and will probably be changed a dozen times before it gets built, probably ending up with out a ramp.

This topic again?? I thought we might have found an answer this time, but I guess not. Maybe next time!! But while we are on the topic, I miss those Friday night fish frys too. Used to take the bread from the fish plate and use it for catfish bait. Dont forget about the Marina to, back when Teeny used to run it. I drank many cokes there as a kid while my daddy was drinking adult beverages. And than there was the tree up river right around the biggest bend in the lake. Spent many hot days as a kid swinging off the rope making my grandaddy mad cause he said we were scaring the fish. Good Times!!

Got to be talking about Hot Shots. They had their Friday Night Fish Fry and that was hard to beat.

I used to see the lady that owned HotShots working in the Walmart in Seguin.

Any body know if the power line ramp is still open?

the ramp on 725 has private ramp signs posted around it now and i heard the sheriff office was there and writing tickets. If everyone banned together and we called it would make a difference but we wont

From what I understand, Koch Industries owns the land where the ramp is for a pipeline crossing, and the neighborhood is granted some sort of lease on the land.

As I understand it, from a friend that lives in the footprint of the home owners association that had control over the power line ramp, the home owners association went belly up and a local lawyer successfully petitioned for the ramp to be opened for public access. It's a quite a bit rundown, but people are launching from it.

Whats the story here?

Is it at all connected to this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPXMdt5gMoA

or this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amyb6tCWDpg

I have a friend with lake front property out there. Its a little scary on a yak so I tend to stick to fishing his dock.

A couple of years ago I had a friend get run over while swimming on the 4th. A boat came up the wrong side of the right of way going under the bridge and my friend had no where to go.

Anyway I know we do okay with catfish I had no idea there was share lunker strain bass in there!!!

Lets make some noise!!! The squeeky wheel gets the greese!!!

Hell I bet if my friend thought he could make some money he would put in a boat ramp on his property.

Maybe we should give life time passes for those that donate to build the thing!!!

I miss fishing McQueeney... PUBLIC RAMPS....PUBLIC RAMPS....PUBLIC RAMPS....

Went this weekend just for the drive. powerline ramp have posted signs that say private ramp. Talked to a guy in the neighborhood that said sheriff coming down and writing tickets. Talked to a lady that said she wanted to charge to use her ramp but HOA told her do what you want but wouldn't be surprised if HOA started picking on her for anything they could find.

*
Someone said it all belongs to the Aryan Nation.
Come to think of it, I might've been the first to say it.

I can get in then?

I've stayed off McQueeney for several years and that's because of all the crazy kids on that lake, and now that you can't get on it, and I've watched those videos posted above, I guess those crazy kids got older and are still there.

I say let them keep it! Looks like they are really enjoying themselves!....Sheeeeesh!

George needs to learn to fish....

There is a strong posibility that some time in the future the New Braunfels outer loop will be built and I'm thinking it's just a matter of time with the growth of the city, and the proposed route would take it south of lake Dunlap and accross the river channel that feeds Lake McQueeney. How cool would it be if the state put in a ramp similar to the one on I35 on Dunlap?

new braunfels need another loop pretty bad. its facing lots of opposition though. there are signs up that say things like "save our aquifer no outer loop"
if it takes half as long as it did to figure out what to do with walnut st then it may not get done in my lifetime!
i still say we should all meet at the powerline ramp. everyone brings a six pack and 2 bags of concrete and it'll be ship shape in no time.

They won't let you use that ramp anymore the one under powerline even if you fix it . Guess it will be dunlap only lol . Whoever makes nice ramp charge some fee to launch will make good money in that area .

What homeowners association do you refer to? There is no McQueeny Homeowners association. There is a Lake McQueeny Las Brisas homeowners assoc. That would be for property owners in Las Brisas. But after Las Brisas, there is no homeowners association downriver. There IS a Friends Of Lake McQueeny which does not require one to own property on the lake. It is for people, like me, who are concerned and care about the welfare of the lake. It is very much like PLDA Preserve Lake Dunlap Association which again does not require property ownership. And I think if you check property deeds you will find the powerline ramp is private property owned by an individual.

^^^^^^ +1

another +1

last time i was on there which was a while back, they sprayed the grass and put a ton of grass carp, the water was dirty to say the least.

there are a ton of homeowners assn. on mcqueeney. just depends on which neighborhood you live in. i can think of at least 4 ramps that are a "homeowner only" launch, including the powerline ramp. and don't be fooled by friends of lake mcqueeney. most are property owners which are happy with the way things are on their private lake.
i am sure there are some execptions, but not too many.

So I see there hasn't been any progress here?

Nothing like seeing a long dead topic raised from the dead!

I couldn't help myself. I was hoping something positive was in the works that someone could share.

Dan, I thought it was a good question, old thread or not. I too was wondering the same...

The problem is there is no property around the lake that isn't owned by private interest, and there is more value to the land for residential than there is for public access. Call it greed or whatever, but it's all about money and control.
I would not doubt that there is something written in their homeowners association contract that they can't open a launch to public access.