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Has the law changed or does the state own the land a certain distance from the water line? Can anyone point me to the relevant state law?

My son and I were fishing the bank of a river shortly after the water receded after a flood. Some people came up to us and said we would have to pay because that area was a privately owned park. I pointed out they did not have a sign up to tell people that and they said it had washed away and they did not have a new one up. We ended up leaving without paying.

Can private property extend all the way to the water line now?

For the ocean it's the green line. I don't know about rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, bayous, marsh or puddles.

Trinitite wrote:For the ocean it's the green line. I don't know about rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, bayous, marsh or puddles.

Green line?????

I think he means the vegetation line. http://www.glo.state.tx.us/OC/Beach_Access/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If it is a creek or river you can legally fish it if you are standing in the water. However you can not cross private property to get to that point as that would be trespassing.

Thanks for the reply. I guess the law has changed. I remember when you could walk along the river bank without trespassing as long as you stayed within ten feet or so of the water. As a matter of fact there was a big issue with a county road that ended at the river in Three Rivers many years ago. The farmer that owned the land put a gate up and a no trespassing sign and the county made him take it down.

There were some people fishing at the river and the farmer ran them off with a shotgun. In the end people could fish there but the farmer was not very happy about it.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publication ... dary.phtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Gradient Boundary

Texas courts have adopted the “gradient boundary” as the usual dividing line between public ownership of a stream’s bed and lower bank area, and private ownership of the higher bank area and the uplands beyond. Thus, there is generally no question as to the public’s right to use the bank area up to the gradient boundary. Sometimes called the “mean” gradient boundary, it is located midway between the lower level of the flowing water that just reaches the so-called “cut bank,” and the higher level of the flowing water that just does not overtop the cut bank. The cut bank is located at the outer edge of a stream’s bed, separating the bed from the adjacent upland and confining the waters to a definite channel. Surveying the gradient boundary is a complex task performable only by specially trained persons.

I am still researching. This is confusing.