Anyone buy a house on the lake? Fish more?

[Junk Fisherman]

The sweet spot for a second home is a place around 2 hours away.  My FIL had a place on the water and 2 hours is about as far as you want to drive if you are staying for just a day.  Numerous times I would wake up around 3 AM, get there by daylight, fish the morning bite, spend time with the family throughout the day, fish the dusk bite and then be home around 11 PM and off to work the next day.  It was also a perfect distance for spending the weekend.  Get there Friday night and leave after dinner on Sunday and be home in time to relax before getting ready for the upcoming workweek.  In terms of fishing, he fished less since he was always doing maintenance and upkeep around his property.  I used to think I would never want to own a 2nd home since when I get there I don't want to cut grass and do all the other homeowner tasks but rather I just want to fish.

 

My wife and I have thought hard about buying a home in northern Michigan where we take a couple week-long vacations every summer.  But that is 5 hours away and way too far to go up for a weekend.  I've decided to wait till I get near retirement (10 years from now) before I consider buying.  But I fully expect to fish a tremendous amount then since there are multiple excellent fisheries within a 50 mile radius.   As long as I am physically able, I will always trailer.  There are just too many places I want to fish.  

[Dwight Hottle]

Regarding the maintenance issue with lake front properties it doesn't have to be a fight between fishing or cutting the grass, etc. If you can afford a vacation home or 2nd house you can probably afford to pay someone else to do the maintenance. Just saying. 

[BassNJake]

I dont live on the lake and I dont have a water view.

I do live less than a mile from the lake.

 

I go fishing all the time(3-4 times a week), I didn't have to pay waterfront or water view prices

My wife and I watch the sunset a couple times a week all summer from the water

 

My father in law lives right on the water, has a dock and he kinda likes bass fishing

enough to own a bass boat, have a dozen rods and fish a few local tournaments a year

outside of those few tournaments he said he didn't have the bass boat in the water last year

 

I think if you're a bass head, you'll find a way to go out

 

 

 

[geo g]

I would much rather buy a house in close proximity to a bunch of lakes then own one right on one lake.  If on a lake I would want a dock and boat lift and would almost guarantee I would seldom if ever load it and move off to another lake.  Boredom would soon set in and I would fish less.  Even when bank fishing, I seldom fish the same lake two days in a row.  I don’t need the inflated cost of lake front property, I just need variety of where I’m fishing today, and I get more house and a big out building for all the toys!

[softwateronly]

On 3/23/2022 at 7:11 AM, Dwight Hottle said:

Regarding the maintenance issue with lake front properties it doesn't have to be a fight between fishing or cutting the grass, etc. If you can afford a vacation home or 2nd house you can probably afford to pay someone else to do the maintenance. Just saying. 

 

You're generally correct, but there is still some relatively inexpensive properties in the midwest fyi.  Sub $300k but not getting cheaper, so some stretch, I know I did 14 years ago.  And you're definitely fortunate if you can find competent, reliable workers for small jobs.

 

scott

[Miabucman]

My wife and I took the plunge a couple of years ago, right before Covid shut everything down.  We still own our house and our lake place is ~2 hours away.  We have not regretted it at all.  Especially when everything was locked down, we would head out and work around the place to make it our own.  

 

I might be crazy but I like to mow the lawn and having a second place to mow isn't a hassle for me.  There has been some smaller projects that I had to tackle but the experience has been great.  I keep the bass boat on a lift and I wake up early on Saturday and Sunday and get to fish for a few hours by myself (or with my son).  Once the boat traffic starts heating up, I head back and can do what is needed.  Swim, pontoon rides, fixing a few things or fire up the grill.

 

It has been awesome to walk down to the boat with my poles and launch right away.  There are bi-weekly tourneys that I get to fish also.  Just makes for a late night but it gives something on the calendar to ensure that I can fish. If I want to fish somewhere else, the boat ramp is five minutes away and easy to pull out.

 

It was the right time for us and the prices are not going down.  A place a couple of houses down was recently ~$400k and just sold for $600k. 

 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

I’m staying at the lake this weekend! My wife is photographing a mountain bike race near there so this cuts about 45 minutes off her drive. Only problem is I think I’ve got to take the dogs 45 minutes in the cab of my truck. Bluh. My little hound is like pigpen from Charlie Brown, he Has his own dust cloud 

[Deephaven]

I could add.  I grew up living in lake front...and fished ALL the time.

[Sphynx]

I think it's very highly dependent upon the individual in question...fishing for bass is a non-productive use of time in terms of economic benefit for probably like 99.9% of everyone everywhere, so those with the fever and the means/luxury/privilege/insert preferred term here to spend more time pursuing it will probably get more out of it than someone just barely able to afford to live there, if your in a place where you can comfortably afford the expense, the value equation is correct, and you still feel like you have both the time and the energy to take advantage of it, then let the good times roll man.

[TnRiver46]

It helps with maintenance if you make everything simple in shape! (There are woodpecker hole patches all over the sides and back I conveniently left out of the photo) 

 

we’ve got the oldest smallest house on the block but everything is somewhat manageable for repair . My dad drew up the blueprints with low maintenance in mind

[CrashVector]

My dream house:

 

 

[Bird]

21 minutes ago, CrashVector said:

My dream house:

 

 

Beautiful !!!

[TnRiver46]

5 hours ago, CrashVector said:

My dream house:

 

 

That might be in danger when it rains a lot haha. Cool spot!!!

[gim]

On 3/25/2022 at 1:45 PM, geo g said:

I would much rather buy a house in close proximity to a bunch of lakes then own one right on one lake.

X2 and that’s what the deal is here living in the land of 10,000 lakes plus many miles of river.

[blongfishing]

I lived on the lake for a little bit. Personally I think it was great. I could go out the back door and fish whenever I wanted to. That was in my teen years so I didn’t own the house and lived with someone else but I personally loved it. Now I no longer live on the lake but I am surrounded by a bunch of lakes within an hour drive. I am working to one day build on the same lake especially because I work on that lake now (dock repair). One thing that I would recommend and hope to do myself based off of many bass fisherman that I know that live on the lake, is to have another boat always in the water. I don’t know your situation but I am a tournament angler much like the other folks I know. Having one boat to fish tournaments and go other places and having another boat to keep at the dock (my choice would be an older aluminum boat) is the most ideal and easiest if you can afford it and it makes sense for you. Overall, I’d say go for it. It’s what I hope to do someday.

 

 

ps: I see you have Clemson in your username. If you are from the Clemson University area then you’re probably thinking Hartwell or Keowee. That’s where I am from and where I work. If you are from the area hit me up when you need a dock and boat lift when you move into that lake house ;)

[TnRiver46]

Chillin lakeside 

[Boomstick]

I would fish every day when it's not frozen over if I lived on a lake! My location affords me access to many great fishing spots, but most of them are a decent drive from my house and working 9+ hour days gives me very little free time to spend an hour in the car.

[DaubsNU1]

My parents, uncle/aunt, and grandparents shared a "cabin" on a river...had a lake on the property where I fished a lot growing up.

 

Cabin had electricity, well water, no AC, and finally got in-door plumbing in the late 1970's. Loved it as a kid!

 

 

After us kids got through high school, my parents cashed out...It was always work going to the cabin...was only 30 minutes away, but something was always needing fixed, occasional flooding from river. 

 

[Skunkmaster-k]

On 3/26/2022 at 8:27 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Chillin lakeside 

Another good picture 

[Alex from GA]

I don't live on a lake but I have a boat in a dock 3 minutes from my door.  All I bring is an ice chest with food and beer.  I do have another old boat that I can take anywhere I want to fish along with a kayak for places I can't launch a boat.  We have a vacation trailer in FL als that is less than 30 minutes from several lakes, rivers and the gulf.  I fish almost every day all year even though I'm over 80, but usually not all day.

[IneedAnewScreenName-98161861]

Cause of covid my fiancee and I lost our jobs so unfortunately we had to move in with her mother. Oh did I mention she has an enormous house on a lake? ?

 

I've never lived on water before and yes it's alot of work to upkeep and living that close to water does add some unwanted issues with dampness/bugs etc... But being able to walk out on the dock every morning and evening to throw a line for 5 mins or 2 hours is unbelievable.