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Lake LBJ - Any home owners?


Asmodeus2112

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Hey ya'll. I'm beginning to research buying a second home, and Lake LBJ is one of my top targets. We'll go and rent a house or make a day trip or two soon, but was hoping to get some advice about what parts of the lake are most desirable, best value etc. Anyone own a house or townhouse there?

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Best water would probably be up the Colorado river. Plenty deep and lots of winding curves so that if the wind is blowing, and it usually is, you can still find

a decent stretch to ski or wakeboard on. I have a friend who has a place just about 2 miles below Inks Lake dam and he loves it up there. However, if you're

on the Colorado, flooding is a remote possibility. Most houses are built farther back and are probably not a big concern, but if your boat is on a lift down

at the water's edge, it, as well as the boathouse, could be susceptible. Lots of houses on both sides of the river up there to choose from and covering a

pretty broad range on pricing.

Another typically good place for decent water is the stretch between Kingsland and Granite Shoals. And, if you're that far up the lake, its not that much farther

to the lower end of the Colorado, so your odds of finding glass on any given morning are pretty good. There are quite a few houses, mostly on the north side,

along that stretch, and that is a really nice part of the lake.

I have a little place (condo) way down at the other end of the lake, at Horseshoe Bay. The lake is relatively wider down that far, and there is very little relief from

the wind when its blowing. The water is usually just fine down there, sometimes great, from about 30 minutes before sun-up until maybe 8AM. On weekends,

though, the water really turns to chop quickly once everyone else wakes up. I usually quit by 8:30 or so, and, unfortunately, there is almost never any decent

evening water down at that end of the lake. Scads of houses, condos, and townhomes in and around Horseshoe Bay, but the houses in particular are very

pricey. A lot of really nice open water views, though. Its a "desirable" area to be, but highly over-rated if you're into water sports IMHO.

The upside to being at my end of the lake is that it is closer to Austin [in my case, San Antonio] and it never floods down there. We had over 10 inches of rain

dumped on us once, in addition to the double digit rain that Kingsland had. I was in San Antonio and was a bit concerned, so I called a neighbor up there.

He told me that the lake was actually down 3 feet at the time as they let it pour on past the dam, in preparation for the coming surge. I think they have it down

to a science.

There are many many other areas, from Granite Shoals to Sunrise Beach to Blue Lake/ Deer Haven, Horseshoe Bay West, and on down towards the dam, but,

if I had to do it all over again, I'd look closer to Kingsland. Its a bit farther to go from either Austin or San Antonio, but, for me, better water is the trump card. YMMV.

Edited by srab
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Many thanks srab! Great overview. I agree that better water is the trump card, for us that's the whole point of owning a lake house. How is the swimming from shore/docks and any idea about the fishing?

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Swimming off the dock at LBJ is hit-and-miss. It depends on whether you're on "open water" or back off a narrow cove/inlet or canal. It also depends on

water depth off your dock.

Down at my place, swimming from the dock/shore is not good. This lake is really shallow in many places (less than 6 feet deep for over a hundred

yards or so out from my dock, and never more than 20 feet deep all the way across the open water cove that our condo looks out over). Plus, since they

haven't lowered the lake anytime recently, there is an abundance of Eurasian watermilfoil (similar to, but not as bad as, hydrilla) down around Horseshoe Bay.

So, if I jump off my dock, I'm waist to chest deep in the stuff. I've had it foul my WaveRunner on more than one occasion, and, when I feed my slalom rope

out, the handle invariably comes up wrapped in it. Hopefully, they'll lower the lake this year and we can burn the stuff back away from the dock.

On the other hand, another friend of mine has a townhouse there at Horseshoe Bay, on a different cove, with a dock and boat lift on the bottom floor, and

he has a 15-20 foot depth right off his dock. So, diving in and swimming from his place is great.

In general, up the Colorado river, the water is relatively deeper, and significantly cooler, coming from the bottom of Inks Lake. I haven't been swimming up

there recently, but my impression is that, with "open water" frontage, swimming right off the dock should be consistently good up that way.

Fishing is pretty good. They regularly have bass tournaments at LBJ, and largemouth are plentiful. Best bet is spring or fall, but I see the serious fishermen

out every morning all summer long. And, its not at all unusual to see several good-sized largemouth breaching the water's surface in the mornings as I'm

ripping along on my slalom.

There are also a good number of crappie and catfish. And, when they're spawning, you can get into the white bass if you'll follow them up the Colorado or the

Llano.

We have an underwater light right off our dock, as do many others, and can pretty regularly get some action in late evenings during the summer. Even

when they're not really biting, we can watch 'em circling in the light. Add a little cold beer to the equation and its all good.

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srab is right on the money. I live on the Colorado arm of Lake LBJ in Kingsland, used to come up as a weekender and now live and work here. My wife is a real estate agent and has a house on the Colorado arm that is on open water. If you take a boat ride when you visit you will probably see it if hasn't sold. Its not far past where the Colorado & Llano rivers split as your leaving Kingsland and before you get to Granite Shoals. Its dated but has great water for fishing and swimming. Good luck on your search, there's lots of great places out here.

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srab is right on the money. I live on the Colorado arm of Lake LBJ in Kingsland, used to come up as a weekender and now live and work here. My wife is a real estate agent and has a house on the Colorado arm that is on open water. If you take a boat ride when you visit you will probably see it if hasn't sold. Its not far past where the Colorado & Llano rivers split as your leaving Kingsland and before you get to Granite Shoals. Its dated but has great water for fishing and swimming. Good luck on your search, there's lots of great places out here.

Thanks tsp. My family and I went up and looked at a few places this last Sunday. Most on the Colorado in the Kingsland area. Looked to us like this was the best place to be if one likes boating. I'm pretty price concious, and we are intending to rent it out some to help cover the expense. Do you think the housing market is recovering there? Financially it would be better if I waited till next year, but I don't want to miss these prices and interest rates.

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