big_pond ,
The laws for public waters (rivers, etc) in Texas is that the land under the water is private, but that the water itself belongs to the public. So you can swim, boat, etc. but not set foot on the bottom. This applies more to rivers than creeks and the resulting ponds.
However, this property has fencing across the arms of the pond that follow the property line, so I believe that the fencing supercedes any perceived right to access.
Q: What is a public lake?
A: The typical public lake in Texas was created by building a dam on a navigable stream. When a navigable stream is dammed, the resulting lake is a public lake, and the public may boat and fish on all of the lake's waters, not just that part directly above the streambed. Therefore, a property owner may not fence off any portion of such a lake.7 For other lakes, the test is whether the lake is navigable. Typically, the small natural lakes in Texas are held to be non-navigable, and therefore subject to private ownership and control. Manmade stock tanks and flood control ponds are usually non-navigable as well. The public has no right to boat, fish, or hunt in or on the waters of private lakes,8 and hunting or fishing without landowner consent is a crime.9 In order to encourage outdoor recreation, the legislature has limited the liability of landowners who allow the public to use their property for recreational purposes.10
I'm still thinking about ways to control the fish population, and am considering some sort of natural barrier like rocks that would allow water to flow but would contain fish of a certain size.
From what we saw out of the fish that came out of the lake, the lake looks very healthy.
My offer was accepted, and now come the due diligence. I think for the price (under $100k), there's little risk should I want to sell within a few years. There's just not many private waters this size around...especially at this price...and with an established fish population like this one appears to have.
