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View Full Version : Texas Lakes... where to go?



Pound
06-14-2016, 09:37 AM
I'm pretty well convinced that all the rain we've gotten in Texas is my fault. It started happening right after we bought our new boat :confused:

We live in the NW corner of Houston and our goto lake is Belton in the Temple area but they've been hammered and I think most, if not all ramps are still closed. Somerville is closest to us and also inaccessible. Conroe may be open but too much traffic on the weekends. Livingston is a crapshoot as to whether it's rideable or not and I hear also has a lot of debris. The Trinity River could be doable, but I hear it was still rising as of late last week. I saw a news report that Lake Travis and adjacent LCRA lakes were completely closed to all recreational boat traffic, but I think they've been re-opened. But doesn't Travis get crazy busy on weekends? We haven't been there in over 14 yrs.

We don't mind about a 3 hr drive to get to decent water. Where the heck can we go!!!!???

cpropes2005
06-14-2016, 02:02 PM
The Trinity would be first recommendation but like you said I am sure it is still high and full of debris. My uncle has a house on Richland Chambers near Corsicana and the few times I have been out there it was not crowded at all and really smooth even on a Saturday afternoon. I really enjoyed it but we just stayed around his house and there are some stumpy areas so you might have to do some research on where to go for public ramps. I also have a buddy who raves about Sam Rayburn but it is a huge lake and he is more of a fisherman so I am not sure how it would be for boarding. Not sure on the current conditions of either one of those with all of the recent rain.

Broke Pilot
06-14-2016, 07:09 PM
Conroe hasnt been too bad lately. When I drive by it there's plenty of people but it hasn't been as choppy since on the few nice days we get there's not a lot of wind. Nice thing about Conroe is there are a few nice coves to go get some runs in for a bit no matter which way the wind is blowing

DatTexasBoy
06-15-2016, 10:29 AM
Lake Tyler or Palestine but they can be crowded and rough too


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Pound
06-15-2016, 02:55 PM
Well, we've booked a room in Marble Falls for Friday night to hit one of the LRCA lakes. We're deciding between Marble Falls itself (which looks more like a river than a lake), or Lake LBJ. Anyone have any recommendation either way? Where to put in?

aggietb
06-15-2016, 05:23 PM
I thought Marble Falls and LBJ were closed right now?? maybe they've re opened? We will be up at Buchanan this weekend!

Pound
06-16-2016, 07:35 AM
According to the LCRA website all but 2 or 3 ramps/parks have re-opened for all of the lakes they manage. I'll call today to verify though.

Pound
06-17-2016, 10:09 AM
yeah, looks like we're good to go on LBJ/Marble Falls. Hopefully we'll have some pics to post in the June Pics thread after this weekend. ;-)

but again, i'm not familiar w/these lakes... any tips on where to go and where to put in?

rca
06-21-2016, 11:29 PM
Just saw this, sorry I'm late to respond.

We used to live in SW Houston. We regularly rode on the San Bernard river because it was close and accessible. We rode Sommerville and the Trinity River too, but usually stayed away from Conroe. Lake Austin was one of our favorites. Our top choice was Canyon Lake near New Braunfels though. We moved out here last year and are on Canyon usually a couple of times a week. Lake Marble Falls is also nice.

rdlangston13
06-22-2016, 08:27 AM
Been on the colorado river portion of LBJ north of kingsland and it was pretty nice. When traffic is low you can get some good wakeboarding sets in but if there get to be too many boats running it turns into a mini wave pool with all the bulk heads. Half the fun up there was looking at all the ridiculous houses!

Pound
06-22-2016, 10:19 AM
David, that's exactly where we were this past weekend. And it was indeed crowded. I'm sure partly due to the combination of good weather, Father's Day weekend, and the closure of other lakes. Or it could have been normal traffic for that lake on a nice weekend.
We had a good time regardless. We met up w/another family that my wife knows thru work and they suggested to hit up that part of the lake for wakeboarding. I'd describe it as having the shape/size of the Trinity River, but with the traffic of Conroe. i.e. not ideal (unless you're lucky enough to have one of those monster homes).
However, we were certainly grateful to be able to get the boat out for a full day finally, but I'd have to say my general impression of LBJ is that it's way over developed. It was pretty difficult to find a spot to hang out where you didn't feel like you were right in someone's back yard. And I didn't find anywhere that looked beachable. We did find a shallow spot to anchor on and we hung out w/both boats for a while. Our best sets were down by the dam right before sunset when a lot of the traffic had cleared.
There were tons of wake surfers though. That sport has absolutely exploded.

rdlangston13
06-22-2016, 10:44 AM
David, that's exactly where we were this past weekend. And it was indeed crowded. I'm sure partly due to the combination of good weather, Father's Day weekend, and the closure of other lakes. Or it could have been normal traffic for that lake on a nice weekend.
We had a good time regardless. We met up w/another family that my wife knows thru work and they suggested to hit up that part of the lake for wakeboarding. I'd describe it as having the shape/size of the Trinity River, but with the traffic of Conroe. i.e. not ideal (unless you're lucky enough to have one of those monster homes).
However, we were certainly grateful to be able to get the boat out for a full day finally, but I'd have to say my general impression of LBJ is that it's way over developed. It was pretty difficult to find a spot to hang out where you didn't feel like you were right in someone's back yard. And I didn't find anywhere that looked beachable. We did find a shallow spot to anchor on and we hung out w/both boats for a while. Our best sets were down by the dam right before sunset when a lot of the traffic had cleared.
There were tons of wake surfers though. That sport has absolutely exploded.

yeah were there in late august after school had started so friday we actually found some good riding but saturday was a wash if you wanted to wake board. We surfed a little and then cruised. We went on a night stroll which was pretty fun, wish I could do that more often. We stayed at log country cove which was pretty amazing but the boat ramp and access to the lake from the boat ramp was extremely sketchy passing by some huge shallow water rock hazards.

Ya'll should come up to the T for the Jam. I am thinking as long as Dallas can avoid a monsoon the water level should be pretty good by then, may not be green yet but hopefully it wont be flowing 2+ mph either.

Pound
06-22-2016, 12:31 PM
We may really consider it.
I love Bethy Creek. We haven't been in a LONG time. We stayed out there for a GCWA event back in 2004'ish? Holy crap that was a long time ago.