Being Told Not To Fish Here 2024
bigbill reply :
Ok in fishing a swamp near the road surrounded by private land. On a low bridge and not on there land.
I was told that no one owns the water and if you can access it without being on there land then you can fish it. The local state DEP guys say I'm right but it can cause problems. So what's a person with disabilities suppose to do?
The land owner says to leave. But I'm not on his land.
The state DEP guys say I can fish there but it's not worth fighting for?
I been fishing there for over a decade before I was told to leave. I caught many smaller bass but never seen a big one yet. I did catch a 30" pickerel there. There has to be big gals there.
Is it worth fighting for?
Revival reply :
Why after a decade, only recently you were asked to leave? What kind of "problems" were the DEP referring to?...Were they talking about the land owner?
Jrob78 reply :
If your safety is at risk, it isn't worth fishing there.
bigbill reply :
The DEP doesn't want any trouble with the land owner I think. But I never seen any land owners there in a decade. Till I got asked to leave.
Maybe it's another lost fishing spot . One more lost fishing spot means more to follow. I wonder if some nice fresh steaks would seal the deal?
Brian Needham reply :
I found the key words "low bridge" .........are you fishing from the bridge? if so, many times that is illegal.
if you don't mind me asking, what are your disabilities? I ask because, is it possible to move down the creek, further away from the ticked land owner? and more towards public land?
aquaholic reply :
You gotta fight for your right to fish! If you are 100% in the right call up dnr and have them come out.
POPRG reply :
Call his bluff and fish on!..there is no "gray" area,its either legal for public,or its private...if DEP says its legal,but you have a powertrip homeowner,well,too bad for him.Tell him to call the cops.
The only problem which i dont know yet is how are you gaining access to the site? Legal parking?
tomustang reply :
If DEP says its public and legal, go fish there, if the guy complains again tell him to call the cops or you will.
I've been though this before and called the cops on ignorant fools harassing disabled folks. They get knocked off their high horse when the law comes around.
jimmykm21 reply :
Is this the small bridge on Ashland pond?
jtharris3 reply :
Tell the guy to **** off and fish on! If he continues the harass you call the cops.
SirSnookalot reply :
If I hadn't caught anything decent in a decade I most likely would have given up on that spot long ago. But be disabled it may be one of the few places you can access to fish, so I'd stand my ground and let the owner call the police, if harassed or threatened you call them. The real question is not where your body is but if the owner owns the water, I'm guessing he does not.
Downeaster2010 reply :
In Maine, we have laws against anyone harassing sportsman in legal pursuit of fish or game. If they do so
than they can be charged with a crime.
AK-Jax86 reply :
If there are big fish in there then it's worth fighting for!
tate reply :
If it is legal I would respectfully inform the owner that you checked with environmental police and they said it is legal. I would then recommend the landowner can call and have them verify for him or you can call the police now.
roadwarrior reply :
If you want to fish there, talk with local law enforcement and ask them to make a "courtesy"
visit to the land owner. On the otherhand, why do you continue to fish dead water? A few
visits over a couple of years during various seasons would be enough for me. It sounds
like a waste of time.
kylek reply :
Have you ever sat down with the landowner and explained your side of the story? Maybe if you sat down with them and asked for their blessing then you wouldn't have to worry about getting the law involved.
bigbill reply :
I know there are bigger bass there because where do all the baby bass come from? This place gets the spring run off from a larger body of water too.
I hate losing ground in places that are accessible to handicap fishing. We do not have many places were I can fish from the back of the car.
This is a very wide bridge on a dead end road. I can actually park and fish from the rear of the car using a chair. It's an old stone bridge were the water flows under it.It's small like a covered culvert.
I'm going to push the issue soon.
I like it to practice my presentations when I can see what the lure is doing.
Plus the fishing is decent.
Surveyor reply :
From a different perspective, I own a lake that has a bridge and road crossing it, and there is a liability issue involved. About 30 years ago someone trespassing, drinking and fishing fell and cut his hand. My family had to pay several thousand dollars plus legal fees.
I never allow anyone to fish there even tho technically the county ownes the road and bridge. I would probably allow a disabled individual fish somewhere else if they asked first, but as it is now its not safe to fish from the bridge. I would even assist a DV.
If you or anyone else just showed up and started fishing I would run you off.
It may be there is a new owner and he deserves the respect of knowledge of your fishing and his ability to give permission.
Let me also say that in many cases the agent that informed you that you don't need permission doesn't know WTH hes talking about.
derekxec reply :
i have had to deal with many of these people...i have even had someone tell me that his sprinkler pipe in the water for his sprinklers costed him a million dollars to put in to try to scare me away (i used to be a sprinkler man lol)...even had some people that were fishing in a canal behind some ladies house and she threw all her patio furniture in the water trying to get them to leave lol
stand your ground tell them where you are is legal and not their property and if they dont like it its not your problem
Bassguytom reply :
On 7/21/2013 at 11:08 PM, kylek said:Have you ever sat down with the landowner and explained your side of the story? Maybe if you sat down with them and asked for their blessing then you wouldn't have to worry about getting the law involved.
I would try this. He might think you are keeping fish and not know you are disabled.
derekxec reply :
you could also just ignore them lol or say ok and smile a bunch of times lol that should get them yelling for a min till they get tired and go back inside 
The Rooster reply :
On 7/22/2013 at 9:46 AM, derekxec said:you could also just ignore them lol or say ok and smile a bunch of times lol that should get them yelling for a min till they get tired and go back inside
Only to return with a shotgun. Seen it happen, folks are crazy, and it doesn't take much at all to make them feel empowered to make stupid decisions.
bigbill reply :
I'm not on there property at all its a town road and bridge.
Second I would never sue anyone.
Loop_Dad reply :
On 7/22/2013 at 11:52 AM, bigbill said:I'm not on there property at all its a town road and bridge.
Second I would never sue anyone.
So is fishing from the bridge legal where you are? (Someone said illegal above and I have no idea. ) That seems to be the key to this issue.
And even if you wouldn't sue, someone else might sue if you get injured there.
tatertester reply :
The bridge and the water both should be public property, so access and being sued or suing should be a moot point....Fishing there should be legal....To hell with the complaining adjoining landowner.....Good fishing.
Surveyor reply :
On 7/22/2013 at 1:00 PM, tatertester said:The bridge and the water both should be public property, so access and being sued or suing should be a moot point....Fishing there should be legal....To hell with the complaining adjoining landowner.....Good fishing.
You have no knowledge that the road and bridge are public property. If its a dirt road there is a very good chance that it is private property with an access easement. Even if the road is paved there is no guarantee that its not private.
If it is public then where does the public-private property line exist? If you are casting away from the road-bridge and cast 25- 30 feet you have probably most assuredly cast onto private property and may be trespassing, depending on state laws.
And as far as your "to hell with" statement how is that gonna help?? Statements and actions like these are some of the reasons its so hard to fish and hunt private properties. I guarantee if you say that to me I will respond in a not so pleasant manner towards you.
Contact the owner and have a conversation with him.
BTW the guy that sued my family died when he passed out drunk on a RR Tract and his "family" continued the suit. I guess they figured that if his hand wasn't injured he could have been drinking with both hands and would pass out long before he tried to crawl under the parked train.
tatertester reply :
What I was saying is IF the bridge was public property, and, IF the road and water are also public property, THEN the neighbor can and should cool his jets.....I'm not suggesting anyone lay claim to anothers property.
JellyMan reply :
LOL. Nobody can tell you not to do something in which you have a legal right to in fact, do. That is also if you are in fact fishing on public land as you originally stated.
Keep fishing. If you get harassed by the guy again call the authorities.
FrogFreak reply :
On a somewhat related note, I was fishing between a swimming platform and some docks by a resort early one morning and the resort owner informed me that he considered the water between the docks and the swim platform his. He said he had guests coming and he didn't want me to fish between them. He went on to say something about it being illegal to fish where I was fishing. He said the swimming platform was like a buoy. Just to clarify here, this was early morning and there wasn't a soul on the docks, swimming etc. I just smiled and told him I wouldn't be there long.
As far as advice on this goes, I personally would find another spot if you could or discuss this situation with the landowner if that is a possibility. Even if what you're doing is perfectly fine and legal, do you really need to run the risk of some crazy landowner doing something stupid for a mediocre fishing spot?
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