Boating Lakes in El Paso? (Del Rio, Pecos: rentals, houses, to buy)

[Chief K]

Hello all,

Moving to El Paso here in a few weeks. Been contemplating for a while about purchasing a boat. After a little research I have come up with information stating that there are 54 lakes in El Paso.

My question is how many of these lakes are you actually capable of landing a boat in for fishing and/or skiing.

The lakes listed in El Paso are at the following url: El Paso County, Texas Fishing Lakes | Fishing Works

I have been told that Ascarante Lake for certain is capable of fishing and/or boating. Some of these look like they may be listed as lakes but might not necessarily qualify.

Can anyone verify how many decent locations there are for boating in El Paso (or even relatively close in NM)?

Thanks in advance

[Ms Kitty 98]

Originally Posted by Chief K

Hello all,

Moving to El Paso here in a few weeks. Been contemplating for a while about purchasing a boat. After a little research I have come up with information stating that there are 54 lakes in El Paso.

My question is how many of these lakes are you actually capable of landing a boat in for fishing and/or skiing.

The lakes listed in El Paso are at the following url: El Paso County, Texas Fishing Lakes | Fishing Works

I have been told that Ascarante Lake for certain is capable of fishing and/or boating. Some of these look like they may be listed as lakes but might not necessarily qualify.

Can anyone verify how many decent locations there are for boating in El Paso (or even relatively close in NM)?

Thanks in advance

One lake inside the city where you can land a boat, fish and I don't know if they still ski in it, Ascarate Lake, the other two more larger lakes are in New Mexico about 125 miles north of El Paso is Caballo Lake and 150 miles north is Elephant Butte. Two big lakes pretty close to each other. There are some private lakes or more like large ponds over at Cattlemans and another lake down in the valley called Hideaway Lakes. Mountain Shadow Lake is off limits and the rest of what you might call lakes are probably nothing more than storm drain reservoirs scattered around the city.Another couple of lakes in New Mexico that were destroyed during forest fires recently are Bonito Lake and Silver Lake in Cloudcroft and Ruidoso, were good for fishing only. There's not much water in these parts here, very dry including the Rio Grande.

[Chief K]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Do you know if there are decently priced boat rentals at these places?

I may just hold off on purchase during this stay until I am near more water.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by Chief K

I may just hold off on purchase during this stay until I am near more water.

Anyone coming from a boating area would be wise to sell their rig BEFORE moving to El Paso. The only nearby "reservoir" worth its salt is Elephant Butte, and that is a two hour drive north of El Paso in New Mexico.

IOWs - El Paso is the last place one should move to if they love boating! Even Death Valley has better boating opportunities than El Paso.

[malamute]

You had to have read wrong about 54 lakes here in El Paso.

Everyone is right, this is not where you come if you like boating and lakes.

[malamute]

Well I checked the link -- it does say 54 but they sure wouldn't be lakes to people who have seen lakes.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by malamute

Well I checked the link -- it does say 54 but they sure wouldn't be lakes to people who have seen lakes.

LOL Notice that the majority of the "bodies of water" are listed as "tanks." Tank indicates a CATTLE TANK designed to either catch rain runoff or to be filled with windmill pumped water. While some cattle tanks MAY be stocked by the rancher with fish (catfish, usually), many others are dry holes much of the time.

Also listed are retention "reservoirs" designed to hold back flash flood waters in major drainages during heavy thunderstorms. None of these hold water long - some none at all as the drainage is too rocky and porous. Retention dams were only required after developers chose to build in the historic drainages and people were foolish enough to buy houses built there.

Some of the water holes listed are sloughs or bogs along the Rio Grande that, once upon a time, did hold some water and were great spots for duck and dove hunters. But since the Rio Grande quit flowing past El Paso years ago, most of those bogs have long ago dried up.

None of the above mentioned would ever have been some place to go boating - unless one is talking about a flat-bottomed rowboat needed to retrieve downed ducks!

PS The only "lake" in the immediate El Paso area, that was once a place for diehards to go water skiing, is Ascarate Lake. I recall when a large float plane made an emergency landing on the "lake," but had to use jet-assists in order to take off again, and even then barely made it into the air before running out of lake length. Most people from other places where "lakes" are worthy of the name would think of Ascarate Lake as a large pond!

[hellpaso]

LOL--you do realize that El Paso's in the desert, don't you!? Elephant Butte & Caballo are the only places within a couple hundred miles with water. Sometimes the maps also show salt lakes, which are dry lake beds. Ascarate's not an option for real boats--I've been gone for a few years, but when I was in El Paso, people only used jet-skis there.

[atrabilius]

Originally Posted by Chief K

Thanks for the quick reply.

Do you know if there are decently priced boat rentals at these places?

I may just hold off on purchase during this stay until I am near more water.

You could buy a boat, but you wouldn't be able to use it anywhere reasonably close to El Paso except at Elephant Butte and maybe Caballo. My father and some of his friends were into sailing once and hauled their boats around on trailers, parking them either in their driveways or at a marina at Elephant Butte. They also sailed sometimes at Amistad Lake, which is even further away, much farther, on the Mexican border near Del Rio/Ciudad Acu~na. Then there's Red Bluff Lake on the Pecos River near Mentone (between Pecos and Carlsbad on the New Mexico state line). I don't know about how the sailing is there. There have been rafting events on the Rio Grande upstream from El Paso, well away from the Mexican border, in the past. I don't know if they still have them.

Bottom line: Boating (as opposed to rafting) when you live in the El Paso area entails long drives, either hauling your boat on a trailer or keeping it at a distant marina, and consequently it would probably be an unusual thing for someone living in El Paso to do.

[katzpaw]

Water levels are way down at Elephant Butte (drought) and some boat ramps are closed.