Anyone buy a house on the lake? Fish more?

[clemsondds]

Looking at buying a vacation home on the water. Just curious if any of you live on the lake. I’m surprised how few bass boats I see on ppl’s docks…mostly ski and pontoon boats. I’m wondering if it will be awesome or will I miss out on going to other lakes? Just trying to think ahead and make sure it’s not a grass is greener thing…. Obviously there’s lots of other benefits/problems with having a lake house…but just thinking strictly bass fishing…did yours improve or decrease? Thanks 

[Jig Man]

I don’t live on a lake but a couple of my friends do.  They started out doing lots of fishing but started cutting back looking for the most productive times.  It got to be early morning and late evenings.  Then it had to be cloudy and/or breezy.  They fished less and less.

 

Personally, I have 5 good lakes within 100 miles of me and I don’t want to be tied to any of them.

[Darth-Baiter]

I initially thought it would awesome.  go out the back dock, and launch.  need lunch?  call Alexa to start the rice cooker, beach the kayak to go poop., etc.  

 

but I am not sure I want my life to orbit around fishing that much.  I like various bodies of water for their nuances, and would hate to get logistically tied  to one.  I am too lazy, I wouldn't venture anymore.  plus I think it would benefit friends more.  they would hound me.  haha.  I do however WANT a friend  with a lake house.  

 

I would rather live near the other things, like good places to eat.   I'll drive a bit to fish.  

[Scott F]

I knew a guy who bought a vacation home on a lake. He complained to me that he seldom got to fish when he was there. He spent so much of his vacation doing maintenance on the house, cleaning, painting, cutting grass, yard work, and fixing stuff, that it left little time or energy to fish. Even when he did take the time to go fishing, he felt guilty about avoiding the work that needed to be done. I’m sure a lot depends on how good a shape the house is in and how much time you get to spend there.

[padlin]

I've heard that about vacation homes in general, more work, little play. Living in one as an only home would be different.

[gim]

22 minutes ago, Scott F said:

He spent so much of his vacation doing maintenance on the house, cleaning, painting, cutting grass, yard work, and fixing stuff, that it left little time or energy to fish.

This is the primary reason that my parents never bought a cabin on a lake.  They told me that they considered it many times over the years, but my Father always said "I really have no interest in heading up to a second property to mow the lawn there."

 

Now, if it was your only residence, it might be different.  Then you're living there anyways and taking care of it.  If I lived on a lake, I'd probably do more fishing right off the dock than anything.

[Bird]

The wife and I go through Airbnb a couple times a year and rent someone else's house on a lake......non stop fishing.

[clemsondds]

I appreciate all the responses but really just looking for feedback from those that actually have/had houses on the lake. 

[12poundbass]

The wife and I just sold our house on a lake (not a vacation home) this past fall. We were for the most part the only ones bass fishing. It was fun living on the lake and being able to walk out the back door and go fishing but we decided to cash out and build a house so we could have a basement and be able to expand. The lakes around here don’t leave you room to expand. 
 

My mom and stepdad had property on Big Bay de noc in Michigan’s UP when I was growing up. They sold because it seemed to be more work than anything. You go up there 6 or so hour drive, mow the lawn, clean up, get things set up, unpack, then you have a couple days to fish, then pack up, clean, close things up for a few months, and so on. Just not worth it in my eyes. 
 

I’d much rather get a hotel or an Airbnb and explore different lakes and scenery. That’s just me though. 

[Luke Barnes]

1 minute ago, Bird said:

The wife and I go through Airbnb a couple times a year and rent someone else's house on a lake......non stop fishing.

Exactly. I cant afford a vacation home but an Airbnb is a different story. Then we can switch lakes or rivers. However I have thought it would be nice to have A towable RV that I could park at different lakes throughout the year depending on where we want to fish and hang out. But that is a long ways off financially. Right now I'm struggling to pay for and maintain one house with a wife and three kids. So we will stick to Airbnb. 

3 minutes ago, clemsondds said:

I appreciate all the responses but really just looking for feedback from those that actually have/had houses on the lake. 

To this, I have a close friend with a single wide trailer on a lake and he doesn't fish. So I guess he chose it for the scenery and maybe swimming. But even he says its alot of upkeep besides the normal house just to go hang out. 

[roadwarrior]

Living on a lake is like owning a piece of heaven. It does not require any more maintenance 

than any other home. I prefer keeping my boat in the water rather than putting in every time

I want to go out.  

[clemsondds]

31 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Living on a lake is like owning a piece of heaven. It does not require any more maintenance 

than any other home. I prefer keeping my boat in the water rather than putting in every time

I want to go out.  

Thank you! 

[Bird]

30 minutes ago, clemsondds said:

I appreciate all the responses but really just looking for feedback from those that actually have/had houses on the lake. 

I can offer this.

Wife's sister " retired " lived on a lake in Alabama.

My 1st cousin " retired " lives on lake Anna.

My neighbor has a vacation home on Smith mountain lake.

I've never heard a single complaint from any of them.

I see way more pros then cons and i myself would be living on a lake if wife wasn't married to her business. 

 

[Maggiesmaster]

We bought a ‘vacation home’ on a lake about 25 years ago, and moved here when we retired.  Best thing we ever did.  I walk about 100 yards to my boat, which has all my fishing equipment except rods & reels. Don’t usually fish all day, because I can always go tomorrow. Our lake is a small one, about 600 acres, but is an excellent bass & bream lake. I finally sold my bigger boat, because it was never used. One thing; don’t buy one if it’s too far away to use often.  If you don’t go often, as other posters have indicated, you’ll spend all your time on ‘honey do’s’ and less on fishing!

[Basseditor]

Good topic. I've been weighing pros and cons too. I just retired and sold our house, so we are sitting on little cash. I want a place on a lake but I can't afford any near where we lived. That means 3-5 hours away from the grandkids, which is a no go with my wife. 

 

I may rent something on a lake for 6 months to see if we would like being far away.

[long island basser]

We love lake life living . We built our home two years ago so no major upkeep or maintenance .

We love being retired and not working.

And I fish more than I ever did and love that also.

We feel very fortunate and blessed.

[Captain Phil]

My wife sold Florida lakefront homes and lots of over twenty years.  I worked along side her numerous times. She sold over 250 properties from $30K canal lots to $4 million estates.  At one time, it was possible to  buy a small fixer home on a Harris Chain canal with a boat dock for $150K.  Now that same home is $400K if you can find one.  A lakefront cabin is something that never existed in Florida.  Our websites were always inundated with emails from Northerners looking for such properties.  Environmental restrictions have kept many lakefront lots off the market.  Florida is very strict about protecting what few wetlands we have left.  This makes true lakefront homes very rare. Demand far outstrips supply driving the price ever higher.

 

Unless you have really big money, living on a lake in Florida is going to be out of the question.  Fortunately, our area has literally thousands of lakes with homes nearby.  Many of them have public boat ramps. It is far more cost effective to buy a home near a lake than to own a home on the lake proper.  Our home overlooks Lake Eustis, one of the Harris Chain lakes.  The City boat ramp is at the end of our block.  Looking out our living room window is three miles of open water.  Bald Eagles nest no more than 100 yards from our driveway.  Owning a home on a lake means I am stuck with fishing that lake.  Owning a home near 1,000 lakes gives me more options.  Rodman is 45 minutes away, the Kissimmee chain is less than an hour and the St. Johns River is a 30 minute drive.  If you are dead set on owning a lakefront home in Florida, start saving your money now and hope your Bitcoins grow to over $1M each.  ?

[ironbjorn]

No, I'm just trying to afford food and lures, dude.

 

I suspect that most people live on a lake for the beautiful pleasure of it, and not for the bass fishing. I think most bass anglers are travellers. Hence the jet skis and pontoons.

[gim]

15 minutes ago, ironbjorn said:

I suspect that most people live on a lake for the beautiful pleasure of it, and not for the bass fishing. I think most bass anglers are travellers. Hence the jet skis and pontoons.

Several of the smaller lakes I bass fish have nothing but pontoons, wake boats, and jet skis on their docks. Literally none of them have bass or even fishing boats. I think you are absolutely correct, the majority of lakeshore owners don’t give a rip about bass fishing, or really even fishing in general.

[N Florida Mike]

I’ve lived on a small lake for almost 15 years now. Ive fished the lake since I was 14 though, having grown up just down the road from the other end of the lake.

I have no complaints. I fish more overall, because it saves time walking 35 feet from the back door to the dock and boats, instead of trailering a boat 1-2 hours away , esp. with gas prices like they are.

We paid 283,000 for it, and it has amenities , a pool, a big open shed on a slab, the lake of course, house was added to before and after we moved in, and the most important thing- my wife loved it! And it’s not far from conveniences. ( which I would gladly give up to live further out )

The house is old though, and has a lot of needs, which I can’t afford to fix anyway- which gives me time for more fishing.?

It hasnt completely stopped me from fishing other areas but the fishing has traditionally been so good in my lake It’s easier just to fish there.

I did probably 95% of all the fishing on the lake until 3 years ago. Now there’s more people fishing than ever, so the fishing has declined some…

But still the large majority of those living on the lake never use it.

I dont understand that…

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

Several of the smaller lakes I bass fish have nothing but pontoons, wake boats, and jet skis on their docks. Literally none of them have bass or even fishing boats. I think you are absolutely correct, the majority of lakeshore owners don’t give a rip about bass fishing, or really even fishing in general.

I agree with that. But I don’t understand it…

[TnRiver46]

Caught one off my dock Friday evening, it’s a wonderful feeling . The mud was crazy, the main channel was blue water like Hawaii. I also got a pic of where the mud met the clear water

luckily my dad drew up the blueprints to our place and intentionally made everything fairly low/easy maintenance. Nice plain house, everything is easy to reach. Grass won’t grow at all in the shade, I just have to walk up and down the yard (cliff) with a weed eater about 5 times a year . Below is a view of the “yard”…………….. I did get slightly jealous the other day when I was trying to do some Chimney repair and 3 boats were crappie fishing around my dock (one in the picture) 

 

Wednesday I scrubbed a bunch of moss off the boathouse, still gotta hit that one more time

[WRB]

Big difference between living full time on a lake and a part time vacation home on a lake.

I was raised on a lake and the maintenance of painting every spring and general yard work was spread out between my brothers, the big things my dad did. I loved living on the water and miss it greatly.

When I retired we saved for a home on the lake to live. Then I realized It was me who would be doing all the maintenance, it snows and the lake freezes. Getting anyone to do maintenance is nearly impossible and the drive to town for everything needed during weekends is a traffic jam.

So we passed and used the savings to travel or rent a home on the water whenever and wherever we choose.

Tom

 

 

[Smokinal]

My wife and I are looking at lakefront homes now actually. Although I'd have a dock, I wouldn't keep my boat there. There's too much good water in Maine to be pinned to just one. We just love water and want to wake up looking at it.

[throttleplate]

if i lived on a lake and more and more people bought houses on it and had kids i probably wouldnt like that.

The thought of jet skis and loud music all day woud drive me batty and make me an angry neighbor.

 

[TnRiver46]

3 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

if i lived on a lake and more and more people bought houses on it and had kids i probably wouldnt like that.

The thought of jet skis and loud music all day woud drive me batty and make me an angry neighbor.

 

That’s exactly what happened at our place haha, just gotta roll with it. They bought the land and built a house just like we did, can’t really blame them

 

12 minutes ago, Smokinal said:

My wife and I are looking at lakefront homes now actually. Although I'd have a dock, I wouldn't keep my boat there. There's too much good water in Maine to be pinned to just one. We just love water and want to wake up looking at it.

i keep cheap kayaks on the dock. We used to keep a boat there but it got beaten to death by waves. Some people will drive around the island 50-60 times in a row pulling wake board or tube