Thread: Who Owns It?

If you are on a public lake made with taxpayer dollars, once dropped, it's PUBLIC property, no matter what anyone says to you. It's first-come-first-served.

I have had an issue or two with retards that think that it is 'their spot.' After being with the Corps of Engineers for years and now being retired from them, I can tell you that dropped habiitat is public property and I gently remind them that they are subject to removal from the lake if biligerent attitudes spew from their boat.

In every case I expect people to be respectful of fishermen who 'got there first' and give them 50 yards. Now I know this is not always the case, but it is my rule of thumb.

I heard tell of an old coot that rammed a party barge because the lady (who was camped nearby) was tied up to a certain tree and fishing a certain brush pile. The offending retard approached and stated that he had been building that spot for years and that it was HIS spot. She was fishing alone. She objected and the idiot rammed her boat THREE separate times (with a jon boat)!!!!!

He has a slip rented at the nearby marina and if I could positively identify this character, (she didn't get his boat numbers) I'd have him removed from the marina as a slip renter and be glad to do it.

You meet all kinds. Just be confident in knowing that when fishing public waters--especially Corps lakes, that YOU (the public) own the waters and all that is below it.

On the other hand, one must use a bit of class. If you approach a private dock and people are occupying the dock, then pass it up for the time being. You can always come back when no one is present. There's no reason to be pressing--on either side of the fence. Savvy?


aj

I agree, great post.

In the June/July issue of Crappie World magazine, they talk about finding underwater cover and how to put in your own (which is illegal in my state). Some fella say's "I don't appreciate it when fisherman try to steal my spots". He calls it the "Code of Conduct". It kinda upset me... just because one guy drops cover on a lakes best structure does not make it his. With Side Imaging sonar units, everything can be found....eventually. just my 2¢

Again, common sense needs to come into play when fishing. Just something as simple as leaving the docks and brushpiles alone if someone is already fishing them means a lot. You can always go back.

share and share alike

That's right but respect local fishermen and don't follow them around marking all the cover they work so hard to put out. Everyone is going to find a few ,but we have lazy folks who just try to home in on everyone's hard work without helping even after being invited. Courtesy goes along way, we show folks some spots. But hate followers, I've had some follow me so close ,had to ask them to move so I could leave.:rolleyes:

after it is sunked it belongs to everyone

... that enforce the idea that, once cover is placed in a body of water, it belongs to the public at large. Those rules state that, it is illegal to place cover in a body of water, without a permit (written or spoken) .... AND, the location of that cover must be given to them, for inclusion on any maps that the state agency produces (and probably commercially produced maps, as well ... whether copied or shared). That right there says ... you drop it, you no longer "own" it - it's "public property" from then on. That goes without saying, when you're talking about public waters that have no restrictions on placing cover.

When Mother Nature "places" cover in a body of water ... does that mean that no "human" can fish it ... of course not. You find it, you can fish it. Same concept goes with man-made, or man-placed, cover.

Even on private waters, if you place cover in there ... it belongs to everyone that's allowed to fish those waters, and not "just your private spot".

IMHO ... we should place cover (legally) to benefit the fish, and not for the benefit of our own selfs. We'll reap the rewards, anyway, even if it's not from that specific spot or the work we did to create it.

... cp