Lake Fork...

You obviously know nothing about Fork.

https://www.wired2fish.com/crappie-fishing/top-25-crappie-fishing-destinations-in-america/#slide_3

Too bad it getting alot of press now of days.

We used to fish brush piles years ago and just slay the big crappies, Yes it a very good crappie lake.

Not my first choice, but my first choice would be Ray Hubbard. Once my son is out of High School, then I can pretty much go anywhere. For now, I am kinda stuck in the Lavon/Ray Hubbard area.

We chose Cedar Creek for many reasons, but you have to know your neighborhoods. The lake is 18 miles long with 330 miles of shoreline so there is the "good, bad and ugly." If you have big bucks, there are homes for sale today at $7 to $8 million, then there is us in the cheap seats. (We paid $300K in 2018)

I walk 150' to my boat dock, hit the down button on the lift and she's in the water and the motor is started in 60 seconds. It's like backing my truck out of the garage, so I often go out on the lake for coffee and attitude adjustment at daybreak before work. Every month of the year has at least a few clear/sunny/warm days for boating.

Is Cedar Creek Lake a constant level lake?

I’ve fished 6 out of the top 10. I think Palestine should have easily made that list.

No, it is at the mercy of rainfall. The top of the floodgates is at 325' elevation, so you cannot build below that level. Our slab is at 329' elevation. The normal full level is 322' and the highest that we have seen is 8" over that.

It seems that the average is about a 24" drop during long periods without much rain. Historically, the lake did get down by 8' during an extreme multi-year drought.

Life in the cheap seats! (Our dock and private launching ramp in center)

I grew up going to cedar Creek every weekend. I remember one time that it got really low. If it wasn't 8' low, it was really close. However, most years it was very close to constant level. 24" and less drop is pretty dang close to constant level in my book.

Lake Dunlap

Which lake has the least scum sucking bottom feeders living around it - I would vote that one in...

looks like the east side across from the spillway

PK but only during the fall and winter. That place is too crowded in the summertime.

We are way down at the southeast corner, up the Caney Creek arm of the lake. Past Log Cabin.

You can see the 198 bridge at Caney City in the background. It's a bit over 2 miles from my dock.

reeltexan thinks he’s an expert at identifying lake spots.

I built on lake Palestine in 1998, never regretted it. Probably could not afford it today.

MO

agree ... not to mention the costs to be waterfront, holy moley!!! This is my wife and I dream of retirement on the water but the way the market has kept the price going up so fast, I seriously doubt that will ever be in our future unless we hit the lotto (guess I would need to play to hit though). Reason being it is constant level (unless the Llano gets on a rampage).

I know Cedar Creek pretty well, especially under water.

At one time several years ago, the Log Cabin ramp was the only working ramp on the lake. And that ramp was dicey. Bad drought......and then one day it rained.

But you are right, our neighborhood does look like the section across from the spillway. Lot's of large old trees.

Man that is nice............I have a dock. Wonder what it would cost to put a house and lift in it like yours.


Again, that is a really nice place.

Caddo Lake. There's not a close second for me.

I like the larger lakes - but I really love the smaller lakes. Hawkins (too crowded these days though), Nacogdoches, or Naconiche for me.

House on the lake that I can walk out on my dock and drown minnows is my life long dream. I'm retiring at the end of the year and with Covid and the Cali invaders looks like it isn't happening.

Jimbo1,

We made the decision to head for a lake in 2017 when we could see property values starting to climb after being stagnant for 10 years. Our first decision was to avoid a Corps of Engineers lake because we really wanted a boat dock in our yard. The second decision was to find an area with lower property taxes for the long haul.

So we sold out fast and rented an apartment to give us cash in the bank and time to find the right deal. Henderson County is on the low side with taxes and Eustace ISD automatically takes 25% off of the appraised value before fixing the rate. At the suggestion of the tax assessor, we shopped hard to find a place in a good location that needed work, so that I could lock in low property taxes when I hit 65 - then go to work on it after the taxes were locked. We found a "diamond in the rough" for a much lower price than than the surrounding homes and jumped in.

I'm not a wealthy man so my weekends are often occupied with upgrades, repairs, woodwork, paint, etc. It's not a modern fancy place and I'm sure that it's not up to the standards of lots of folks here, but there is peace in watching the sun come up and go down with a water view from your living room. It is an ever changing pallet even in winter.



Then of course there was February of this year!



Lake living is great - even on a budget!


Marc

Great looking place and view, looks like you scored big time