LAKE BOB SANDLIN / LAKE MONTICELLO

Thank you for requesting information on the Lake Bob Sandlin/Lake Monticello area. These two lakes are easily accessed from I-30 at Mt. Pleasant or from U.S. Hwy. 271 at either Mt. Pleasant or Pittsburg. Lake Monticello, located about 12 miles southeast of Mt. Pleasant, is a power plant lake that is wholly owned by TU Electric, and offers year-round action for black bass. While the lake is open to fishermen, residential construction is not allowed on Monticello. A bass caught on the lake in 1979 held the state record for awhile until that record was broken by a fish taken from Lake Fork. Boats access the lake from the ramp located at Monticello County Park off of FM 127 southeast of Mt. Pleasant.

Construction on the Fort Sherman Dam for 9,400-acre Lake Bob Sandlin began in 1974 and was completed by about 1977. The lake filled in 1980, achieving a level of 337.5 feet above mean sea level (MSL). The Titus County Fresh Water Supply District, the regulatory authority for the lake, maintains an easement 100 feet outside the 337.5 MSL waterfront contour or to 342 feet MSL, whichever is greater.

Lake Bob Sandlin backs water up to the base of the Lake Cypress Springs dam, with a distance of about ten miles between the dams of the two lakes. The long axis of the lake is east and west, with a total distance of about twelve miles from the Fort Sherman Dam to the tailwater at the extreme southwestern tip of the lake.

During its construction, several areas of trees were left in Lake Bob Sandlin, especially in the western third of the lake and in several coves. This natural cover has provided excellent cover for black bass, crappie, and catfish, resulting in some of the consistently best fishing to be found in Texas. While there are areas of the lake that contain considerable trees and stumps, there are also areas that afford great expanses of clear, open water. Most water sports on the lake take place east of the FM 21 bridge, an area about seven miles long and over a mile wide in some places.

Bob Sandlin State Park is located on the north shore of the lake, and is accessed from FM 21. This 640-acre park offers picnic areas, screened shelters, camping, RV hook-ups, a boat ramp, and a fishing pier. In addition to Bob Sandlin State Park, there are two full-service marinas on the lake. Cherokee Junction Marina is located on the south shore of the lake, directly across from the state park. Barefoot Bay Marina is also located on the south shore of the lake, east of the railroad trestle, about five miles north of Pittsburg. Waterfront property ownership on Lake Bob Sandlin is fee simple, the highest level of ownership available for real estate. There are several residential subdivisions around the lake, with homes ranging in price from considerably less than $100,000 to several hundred thousand dollars. While the Titus County Fresh Water Supply District itself does not impose residential restrictions, outside of those dealing with septic systems, the individual subdivisions have deed restrictions in place. It is possible to locate small-to-medium sized waterfront acreage tracts on Sandlin which do not have building restrictions. Drinking water in residential subdivisions around Lake Bob Sandlin is generally supplied from either a shared well or from a state-approved community water system using treated lake water. In most areas around the lake outside of a subdivision, drinking water must be supplied from private wells.

Generally considered a constant-level lake, Lake Bob Sandlin has water level changes of about 2-3 feet during the typical year, thus eliminating the need for floating docks or boathouses. Piers on the lake are permitted to be as far as 150 feet out from the shoreline.


Permits from the Titus County Fresh Water Supply District are required to install septic systems, or to build retainer walls, piers, or boathouses. The water district charges property owners a nominal fee of $0.15/sf/yr for improvements built over the water.