How is the Boating in Dallas?
 

I am thinking of moving to a warmer climate so I can do more boating. Sorry about asking all these questions but I am having trouble finding any websites that give me any answers. I figured this would be the best place to ask people. Like How is the boating in dallas? What kinda boating is in dallas area? Are there any go fast boating on the lakes? Are there bars on the lake to stop in and hang out?

Thanks for any help you can give me!!

Another good site to research boating in the DFW metroplex is www.lakepirates.com

Boating is great in north texas, which includes dallas, fort worth, arlington, plano, mansfield, richardson, richland hills, north richland hills, euless, bedford, grapevine, carrollton, lewisville, mckinney, hurst, rowlett and I'm sure a ton of other suburbs I can't remember.

There are many lakes you can boat in that are within an hour of dallas. Lake Texoma, Eagle Mountain Lake, Lake Lewisville, Lake Ray Hubbard, Lake Worth, Joe Pool Lake, Lake Bridgeport, etc. The premier north texas boating lake is Lake Texoma, located on the TX/OK border, just one hour north of dallas. Its the 12th biggest lake in the country and the biggest lake in TX. It the premier lake because it has the best striper fishing in the country, it has all natural sand beaches with islands, and it has wide open spans. If you want to see some good lake pics of Texoma you should go thru the Texoma BS thread and buy a membership so you can see all the pics. Second to Texoma is Lake Lewisville, which is located in Dallas. They both have atleast 2-3 bars on the lake. Lake Grapevine probobly has some of the best waterfront bars, but its a tiny lake. There are so many options, you can do any kind of boating you want. Texoma is bigger and out of the city so its the best for a go-fast. It also has the premier north texas high performance boating shop (derebery marine). Lake lewisville is in the city so its has a little better party scene.

You can boat from april (sometimes march) through october in any open boat. I can boat year around with my fleet of boats.

There are also many other great boating destinations around TX, OK, and Arkansas. There is more coastline in OK than the entire state of california. I think it also has the farthest inland port. OK is really a beautiful state.

4hours north is Grand Lake, home of some pretty fast stuff!

We have quite a few commuters from the Dallas area..

For comparison, where would you be moving from.....never mind that doesn't matter. :) j/k

Further south you have all of the LCRA lakes + Travis!

Texas is one of the best all around states, it would be very very hard for me to move from here.

Texoma is Okay I Guess

Thanks For all the Feed back!!! Its going to be hard to let this area because I have had a ton of fun and a lot of good people just need a longer boating season!! Are there any good boating clubs to join?

http://www.blarneyisland.com/

http://www.funonthefox.com/gallery/index.php?cat=10

How far is Texoma from the Dallas area?

70 Miles north

Way to be modest. :lolhit:

There is a fort worth performance boat club, not sure what its called......Cowtown something. They usually have a membership drive early spring at their Eagle Mountain lake poker run. They travel to a lot of different poker runs.

There is also a club on Texoma, I think its called the Texoma Powerboater Association.

There is the "Tex,E-1,Txhouse,VV" club but it is dwindling down anymore :lolhit: :party-smiley-004:

X2! Good night life, lots of boat up bars and restaurants.

Since we have knowledgeable folks on the Dallas area, what about Lake Whitney? I've heard it's one of the nicer lakes in Texas and the area where the Brazos comes in yields sandbars and places to set up chairs and the like. I'm looking for a place where we have enough lake to cover some ground, 25' Rage, and places to beach the boat so the kids can get out and play/swim. Thanks for your thoughts.

[QUOTE=TexomaPowerboater;3333884] The premier north texas boating lake is Lake Texoma, located on the TX/OK border, just one hour north of dallas. Its the 12th biggest lake in the country and the biggest lake in TX. /QUOTE]

I think you mean its the 12th largest reservoir lake in the country. I know its not even in the top 25 for all lakes.

Cedar Creek Lake isn't bad 33,000 acres and you can own waterfront property w/ private docks 65 miles fom Dallas. There is also a performance boat club. cedarcreekpa.org

[QUOTE=Powerquest_Baby!!;3344603]Lake Texoma is one of the largest reservoirs in the United States, the 12th largest Corps of Engineers (USACE) lake

any poker run on texoma

Lake Whitney is nice, but smaller than Lewisville, Hubbard, and Texoma. Those lakes have bars and restaurants on the lake, Whitney, Roberts, and Bridgeport don't. But those lakes are less crowded, Texoma is so big that it's only crowded at the marinas.

Party Lake is Lewisville, without a doubt, Party cove I would guess averages around 300-400 boats a weekend.

Family lake is Roberts, not crowded at all and nice.

Take the boat and go for a long run, Texoma. The water in Texoma can change from 1' chop to 4' in 30 minutes though. You get every kind of boat made on Texoma due to it's size.

Travis is nice, clear, but crowded, narrow, and a lot of wakes.
Just North of the TX/OK border by 15 miles is Lake Murray, crystal clear, not too crowded, and some decent power boats.

I put in April and pull my boat in late October. So that's 6 months of boating. Each of the Lakes I mentioned are no more that 1.5hrs from the other. That's what's cool about it, you're not stuck with the same crowd on the same lake.

Texoma is really the Grand Daddy of the Lakes, everything you could want, the only thing I think that is against the Texoma is once you get off the lake, there's not a whole lot to do like there is in Dallas.

Texamo sounds like it is a lot of Fun!! Thanks for the info!

We had a few last year. We had a 3 year dry spell after the Flash Gordon accident.

Yeah, Denison is the closest "city." The indian casinos are only 15 minutes away from the Dam side of the lake. Of course there is a plus to not being in the city. Most of the real boaters go to Texoma, the amateurs stay closer to Dallas.

Joe Pool Lake is 10 minutes from my house in Mansfield. Go to the boat ramp parking lot at the parks and it will look like a Mexican carnival. They won't pay for campsites, they just use the parking lot instead. Their out there sunbathing in the parking lot cooking mexican food, no chit. Most of them can't swim either.

Stand off to the side for a few hours and watch the fights too!

Yea, Texoma is not bad at all. . . that`s why I live there. Lol.

Real estate is actually more affordable than you would think.

It is really a great lake.

What marinas would you Lake Texoma guys recommend? I'm planning a couple weekends there this summer, but haven't been before. I'd be coming from Dallas. Thank you in advance!

You will probably like Highport the best. They have the biggest marina on the lake with a restaurant and night club. It also neighbors to Tanglewood Resort which is the premier place to stay on the lake and they have a golf course. Its also the closest marina to the islands.

Really kind of depends on what your preferences are. I slip at Eisenhower Yacht Club because its the closest to my family's lakehouse and they have the best service on the lake IMO. They also have good security because it sits inside a state park, but slips are a little dated.

Texoma Marina is the newest marina and seems to attract a lot of houseboats.

Cedar mills is also pretty cool. Its mostly sailboats slips, but they also have the best restaurant on the lake and an airstrip within walking distance to the lake. They have lots of shows and festivities there year around.

I concur with Andy, I would definitely use Highport first, you have everything there and it's big. I would use that as a base to explore the others each subsequent trip, they are each on different parts of the lake.

Thank you for the information TP & bert!

I live on Lk Lewisville but got to Texoma a few times each summer. Much more room to stretch the legs of bigger boats on Texoma. lots more places to pull into for lunch/dinner drinks. both have good party spots. I like the old party cove on Lewisville from 15 yr ago better than the new area. I'm pretty much out on Lewisville every Sat & Sun. Looking fwd to getting back out there with my new 32'. Jay

I will appologize to all the TX guys here first, not trying to hijack your thread here just saw he is from my old stomping grounds!:drink:

We just moved down south to GA after being in Northern IL all our life and I can tell you this, as much fun as Blarney Island was for alot of years, we have had an absolute blast down on Lake Lanier in GA and will never move back north again!
You will love the milder winters and longer boating seasons down south!

Your boat will thank you too! Cleaner, deeper water to run in unlike the Chain O Lakes!

Good luck with the move!

Hate to bag on Texoma, but just got back from there this weekend. I just moved up here from Austin, so please excuse my spoiled ass....but to me, Texoma SERIOUSLY sucked on Saturday, and I'm not talking about the tie up. That was awesome! But getting home after the wind kicked up? That was pretty sketchy. Holy crap, I was with a 25 Outlaw, and in my Baja 252, and between the island and our rented marina (Lakeshore or Lakeway I believe?) at idle, it took us almost 2 hours to get back because of the 5-6 foot rollers. What's F'd up about it, is that it wasn't from traffic, it was all wind generated. So that means that you can go out on a nice Saturday morning, have a few drinks, and end up "deadliest-Catch-ing" it home at night. Except you won't have any crabs when you get there, unless you hook up with the wrong gal on the island.
And I must preface this next paragraph and say that the Okie state troopers that we met were extremely friendly, and very hands of considering the holiday weekend. Being a Texas bot, that really pains me, but wait for the rest of the story. We get back to the marina, after 2 hours of idling back in 6 foot seas. Everyone in the boat was by now, exhausted, pissed off, coming off an adrenaline rush, and exceptionally sober. Well guess what? Our marina was on the TX side of things, and yes, I was tired as hell, and the wind was blowing AT least 25 MPH. YES, I had trouble stuffing my boat in the slip, and there were 2 Tx Game wardens that sat not 2 feet in front of my boat and didn't lift a finger to help, then proceeded to drag me off to take a field sobriety test ( I passed, or I wouldn't be out of the clink yet). The next morning, I got up, and took a look, and holy crap, that's where they have a dock too. I realize that I was sober, and passed, ect. But it just gave me a real bad taste about that lake. Sorry Texoma guys, please correct me if I'm sorta wrong. I really don't want to get into a pissing contest about it, but it seems to me that if the wind kicks up to much more than a breeze, it gets too rough to get out on much less than a 30 footer.

I hardly think you can make a final decision about a lake based on mother nature. I was out on lake Lewisville all weekend and it was the exact same here. In fact, after this being my home lake for the past 20 yrs, I have never seen this lake as rough as it was this past weekend. my 32' had a tough time! Texoma is very nice. You should try it again in July/Aug when there isn't as much as a small breeze and it's 104 outside.

txtraveller2002...if last weekend was the 1st and only time I'd been on Texoma I would be thinking the same as you. However, you happened to try it on one of the windy-est days (week-ends, weeks, Springs) I've wittnessed in over 15 years of boating on Texoma. Don't write-off Lake Texoma yet or you'll miss out on some really good times. :drink::drink::drink:

Cops are bad on every lake during Memorial day weekend. They aren't as bad on the OK side.

Yes, it can get very rough on Texoma. That is why I have a 28 Apache :coolcowboy:

Sam Rayburn Reservour, South East of Dallas, was very rough. Cops were busting people at the boat launch. Nevertheless, the boat lauch is in a protective cove and away from the waves. I wonder if Louisiana has any good lakes, as they are known to be a little less anal and give people a little more freedom than the rest of the states. Tickfaw 200 next year!

If you find a good lake in Louisiana let me know, lol. I am tired of our mucky dirty boring lakes.

In fact, I am reading this thread so I can find where the good lakes are in Dallas as I am only 3 hours away.

[QUOTE=bert4332;3346769]

......The water in Texoma can change from 1' chop to 4' in 30 minutes though..... /QUOTE]

Did you think I was BSing you? lol Lewisville was about 2-3' with an occasional 4' last weekend, I had a BLAST, except getting the boat on the trailer, 25-30mph winds were kicking my a$$, if I didn't have 2 of my buddies with me I don't know what I would have done. I'm making two trailer guide-ons this week, I won't have that happen again.

Lewisville being that rough is rare, Texoma, you never know, you gotta pay attention to the radar on weather.com on your phone all day long. Sometimes you can head off bad weather before it hits. Seriously DON'T give up on that lake, it's the best of everything, you just got caught, we all do once in a while.

Bert4332 - how did your laveycraft do in rough water? Did it feel as solid as my apache you rode in? Just curious cause I like the model.

It handled AWESOME, just different than your boat. The Lavey cuts right though and it has a really different feel than most any other boat I've been on. Albeit we didn't really have any decent size water when I was on yours, but yours felt more of a power thing, and the Lavey feels more like a finesse type. Friday night I was in the center of Lewisville, myself and the big Tri-Maran you rent for parties at 121 were the only two boats out, I was doing about 50mph and never once landed hard going into another wave. What was weird was we didn't launch very much, my buds kept on saying they couldn't believe how fast we were going and not getting beat up.

PK too
 

Possum Kingdom lake too!:kiss: