Cooley's Lake Red River

[mck310]

I'm not sure if this has been addressed on here or not? I did a search and found no results.

Does anyone know if Cooley's Lake on the Red River is private property?

[Mike Cork]

That's a long story. Yes it's privately owned but anything navigable from the river is public water. Over the years the levee has fallen (sunk) and there are several places you can easily float a boat over it.

I know that doesn't answer your question. Tournament Directors put coolies off limits during duck season. The private owner uses it mainly for duck hunting and may even lease it? Don't know for sure on that one.

[FishinSteelersFan]

All inquiries related to Cooley Lake, and other private property along the Red River, should be directed to the Red River Waterway Commission at (318) 352-7446.

[FishinSteelersFan]

All inquiries related to Cooley Lake, and other private property along the Red River, should be directed to the Red River Waterway Commission at (318) 352-7446.

[mck310]

Thanks for the info.  I think I will stay away from there.  I am taking a friend fishing Saturday and he mentioned fishing Cooley's, but after looking at the map, I noticed it said Private.  He of course brought up the waterway thing, but I think I will trust y'alls input and we will be fishing elsewhere.

[Kyle Kennington]

U are ok to fish coolies as long as its not duck season. Lots of good fish in there this time of year. It's usually only off limits to really large traveling circuits. Most local tournaments have big bags come out of there.

[duckhuntmcnutt]

I just fished it last saturday night.  If i don't want to make a long run out of red river south marina i fish right there, actually pulled a couple 3's and a 4 out of it this past february.  right now the lillies are grown over it though.

[beast96z]

Thanks for the info.  I think I will stay away from there.  I am taking a friend fishing Saturday and he mentioned fishing Cooley's, but after looking at the map, I noticed it said Private.  He of course brought up the waterway thing, but I think I will trust y'alls input and we will be fishing elsewhere.

As stated, they really don't want anyone in there around duck season. Other than that, you should be fine. This coming Sat. you wouldn't be the only person in there. There will be at least 3 tournaments running and I'm sure there will be quite a few in there.

[Shorthaired]

Fish it if you want people to come drive their pickup tricks on your lawn. Otherwise respect other people's property as you would want them to treat yours.
As I appreciate it that lake is private land which was overflowed as a result of the lock and dam. The land separating the public lake from private water was obscured by new water way. The general principle that if it is navigable it is public is trumped when the area becomes navigable by acts of man.
I'm not trying to flame this post - but I think folks should show courtesies to others and not force the owners to constantly be out there policing the area to keep folks off.

[Fisher of Men]

Some of our very good family friends, the Dominick's own 1,000's of acres in Gilliam Louisiana.  Farm land and just personal land.  A famous "oxbow" of the river called the Horseshoe has been their property for 40+years...  With them We have fished it, duck hunted and deer hunted on and around this water because it was theirs.  Recently within the past 3-4yrs the river has eroded the "separation" (for lack of a better term) from horseshoe and the river.  Now it is fully accessible from the main river channel and by law it is now a public waterway.  Not the actual land but the water is fully accessible to the public.  However, most people do not use it because it has been the Dominick's for many decades.  They don't mind if people fish it, but deer and duck hunting is a different story.  By law if it is reachable by the river, it is legal; however thats your judgment call to make...

[Shorthaired]

By law if it is reachable by the river, it is legal; however thats your judgment call to make...

If your friends in Gilliam would like a different attorney to provide them with a second opinion I'd be happy to discuss the issue with them.  Send me a private message and I'll give you my phone number

[FishinSteelersFan]

By law if it is reachable by the river, it is legal;

All inquiries related to Cooley Lake, and other private property along the Red River, should be directed to the Red River Waterway Commission at (318) 352-7446.

[boudreaux 23]

If you were arrested in cooleys for trespassing there would be about 27 other boats going to jail with you any given Saturday. Just saying respect it yea, but until it's enforced, if it is 'trespassing', I'll continue to fish it.

[PD Fisher]

Be careful on the river. If its trespassing then mcdade, whitehouse, bee hive, caspiana are off limits since you have to cross the same type rock jetty to get to them as well. I do wonder tho. Who installed the jetty around Cooleys

Please do not use Outdoor Hub Mobile, Please find and use TapaTalk for your phone

[Justin P]

Where are the rock jetties going into coolys?

[Broskee]

I think he is talkin about the earthin damn that used to be there, and there maybe some remnents of it left. It used to be all closed up from what I have heard. It has been weathered away over the years, erosion as well and has made access to this area. I really don't know how long ago this was though.

[Lawguy513]

In 1993, the Waterway Commission, at the request for the Corps of Engineers, acquired acreage through expropriation (government taking) for the purpose of the lock and dam for inundation related to the dam.  The Coolies land was not purchased by the government, and was private, just as the other tracts which were expropriated, were.  The Corps and the Waterway Commission did not intend to make the Coolies land public, otherwise they would have been required to purchase it through expropriation.  The land is, definitively, pursuant to the courts, private, even though it is now accessible.  Fish at your own risk.  Both sides make valid points - it is private and you could be prosecuted for tresspassing, but the owners apparently have been lenient, allowing fishing except for during duck season.  If you are comfortable with that, by all means, enjoy because there are nice fish in there.  If not, there are plenty of other places to find fish on the river. 

[sport188]

Is this the are just to the north of Red River South?

[Mike Cork]

Yep

[sport188]

Thanks Mike

[Shorthaired]

In 1993, the Waterway Commission, at the request for the Corps of Engineers, acquired acreage through expropriation (government taking) for the purpose of the lock and dam for inundation related to the dam.  The Coolies land was not purchased by the government, and was private, just as the other tracts which were expropriated, were.  The Corps and the Waterway Commission did not intend to make the Coolies land public, otherwise they would have been required to purchase it through expropriation.  The land is, definitively, pursuant to the courts, private, even though it is now accessible.  Fish at your own risk.  Both sides make valid points - it is private and you could be prosecuted for tresspassing, but the owners apparently have been lenient, allowing fishing except for during duck season.  If you are comfortable with that, by all means, enjoy because there are nice fish in there.  If not, there are plenty of other places to find fish on the river.

Well said.  I often have to caution my clients not to let the rumors and "rules of thumb" they hear from the community determine their actions. 

[Fisher of Men]

This statement is inaccurate, read the case law!

How is that possible?  The river channel is a public waterway as well as thousands of oxbows off of it.  But just because someone owns land that borders the river means you cant travel from the "public" river down a creek that is still the "river" into an oxbow that is apart of the public "river"  Even they know that if someone rode their boat fromthe main river into the horse shoe theres nothing they can do.  Its public water...  Granted i don't know the law word by word but that's what Ive always been told/taught.  If you can reach it from the main public waterway its public water. 

[Shorthaired]

Fisher - The best way to understand this is to understand there is not just the one rule you keep reciting.  If the natural course of nature caused a river to eat away at a bank and thus make the river larger, then normally the expanded area where the river now runs becomes public.That was the normal erosion, alluvion, dereliction cycles of the river over hundreds of years.

However the locks and dam were put in place in an attempt to try to keep the river at a steady stage and to try to keep it from meandering all over the state. 

At the time the locks and dams were constructed, the corp of engineers went out and measured the average water depth down the entire Red River and came up with tables which showed at certain points on the river, what elevation the water table mark would be which would delineate ownership between the state and the individual land owner.  If the land owner lost land, then the state had to pay him for the land he lost due to higher water.  In those cases, the state OWNS the former land.  From that mark to a higher mark, the state paid landowners for servitudes understanding that periodically, the river would flow higher than average.

It has been 5-10 years since I researched the Cooley's thing - but the issue is well settled.  They own that lake like you own the land your house sits on.  The higher land which has now eroded separate public ownership from private ownership.  Since an act of man created the locks and dams and it was not a natural course of nature, the owner of that property forever owns up to the Corp of Engineer's mark as was in place at the time the locks were created.  Subsequent erosion/deteriation of the high ground does not all of the sudden expand the state's ownership. 

I'm not saying anybody is going to jail for trespassing (however, if a sign was placed on the property then that would clearly change the circumstances).  But I do think that individuals should be very careful about coming onto a public message board and stating that private land is public land.  How would you feel if you had a private lake that you stocked and took care of for years - then the state put the locks and dams in - then your levee breaks open and the public starts pouring in - and then somebody gets on an internet board and starts telling people you don't own it any more.

[FishinSteelersFan]

All inquiries related to Cooley Lake, and other private property along the Red River, should be directed to the Red River Waterway Commission at (318) 352-7446.

[518]

Thanks for that explanation shorthair.  What you say makes sense because I can remember when there was much more of a levee at Coolies than there is now.  How would this situation apply to the owner(s) of the Haven? Would the lake there be considered private now since it was private land at the time the lock was completed?