Page 1 of 2

Access question

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 5:44 pm
by PortMurrayAng
I am sure this has been discussed before, so forgive me if this has been covered.

Here is the hypothetical: I am fishing between two bridges, lets say a quarter mile apart. Each bridge is posted as stocked water. Is the whole stretch wadeable between the bridges?

If yellow Posted signs are along the bank, that means stay off the bank, but so long as I am fishing I should be OK, right?

Signs that are chained up across the river are clear enough. Is there an imaginary boundary a certain number of feet above and below a stocked section when there is no chain?

Thanks!

Re: Access question

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 9:08 pm
by coaltrout
from what Ive heard/understand: Stocked waters doesnt overwrite posted property. The state will obviously stock where there's some public access, but it doesn't imply there's any more public access than there already is.

Ive also heard posted property extends to the river. Now sometimes one side of the river is posted and the other is public. in these conditions I just try and stay on the public side as much as possible.

One thing that always works is just being aware and mindful of people's property. There have been times where I'll start at a public access but end up going through posted signage. As bad as it sounds; it's not illegal if you cant get caught :mrgreen:
An easy way to get caught and to be disrespectful would be to walk right through their backyard, any piece of property that is clearly developed avoid. The opposite would be like in the middle of the woods with no view of their house- where I normally only walk through.

Re: Access question

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 9:39 pm
by barkeater
If property is posted you can't go on it even if you are wading in the water. If only one side is posted you can go along the non posted side as long as you don't cross over the middle. I know "how do you know where the middle is?" About your question on the 2 bridges, it sounds like the property in between is posted.

Re: Access question

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 11:08 pm
by Troutman
Id just pass all together. So much public access waters. No need to step on someones property or club water. Just my .02 cents

Re: Access question

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:48 am
by PortMurrayAng
Thanks all but I mean the river. Wading from one stocked bridge down through and to, without stepping on dry ground, the the bridge below.

The musky is what I'm thinking of. Below Pt mnt TCA are several bridges with stretches that go through private property. Conceivably one could wade down to Narnia. Would that be legal?

Re: Access question

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:09 am
by Troutman
Technically the property underneath the water is still their property. If you float thru on a vessel without anchoring. You are not trespassing.

Re: Access question

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:21 am
by BiggerThomas
Troutman wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:09 am
Technically the property underneath the water is still their property. If you float thru on a vessel without anchoring. You are not trespassing.
I've always found this to be an interesting topic. I heard the law changes depending on what part of the country you're in (?). I remember reading years ago about Huey Lewis who owns/ed land in Montana--apparently it got pretty heated.

Re: Access question

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 11:09 am
by lightenup
I have read sveral places in NJ. The property owner owns to the deepest thalweg, or the lowest elevation under the water. So if posted on both sides stay out. If oosted on one side you may paas but stay in the shallow water on the non-posted side..

Re: Access question

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 11:30 am
by barkeater
One of the main reasons that land becomes posted is that land owners become tired of all the trash. If you are fishing on private land which is not posted, don't leave garbage. You might want to pick up trash you find as well after covid 19 goes away.

Re: Access question

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 7:40 pm
by joe_panella
BiggerThomas wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:21 am
Troutman wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:09 am
Technically the property underneath the water is still their property. If you float thru on a vessel without anchoring. You are not trespassing.
I've always found this to be an interesting topic. I heard the law changes depending on what part of the country you're in (?). I remember reading years ago about Huey Lewis who owns/ed land in Montana--apparently it got pretty heated.
Montana laws are good for the fisherman. I believe you can follow the high water mark on any stream. Wyoming not so much. You can't even anchor your drift boat on private water.

Re: Access question

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 8:02 pm
by garden hackle
joe_panella wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 7:40 pm
BiggerThomas wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:21 am
Troutman wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:09 am
Technically the property underneath the water is still their property. If you float thru on a vessel without anchoring. You are not trespassing.
I've always found this to be an interesting topic. I heard the law changes depending on what part of the country you're in (?). I remember reading years ago about Huey Lewis who owns/ed land in Montana--apparently it got pretty heated.
Montana laws are good for the fisherman. I believe you can follow the high water mark on any stream. Wyoming not so much. You can't even anchor your drift boat on private water.
It is Timisoara with Vermont, as long as you stay within 18 1/2 feet from the high water mark you are good.

Re: Access question

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:39 am
by Jaybird
BiggerThomas wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:21 am
Troutman wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:09 am
Technically the property underneath the water is still their property. If you float thru on a vessel without anchoring. You are not trespassing.
I've always found this to be an interesting topic. I heard the law changes depending on what part of the country you're in (?). I remember reading years ago about Huey Lewis who owns/ed land in Montana--apparently it got pretty heated.
Huey Lewis is a doosh as is the owner of Cox Cable . 2 guys who buy prime land in Montana because of the beautiful land on a trout stream , knowing Montana has the high water mark wading law . Then lobby to change the law DOOSH !

Re: Access question

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:16 am
by garden hackle
garden hackle wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 8:02 pm

It is the same with Vermont, as long as you stay within 18 1/2 feet from the high water mark you are good.
Damn eyesight and autocorrect!

Re: Access question

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:44 am
by Rusty Spinner
PortMurrayAng wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:48 am
Thanks all but I mean the river. Wading from one stocked bridge down through and to, without stepping on dry ground, the the bridge below.

The musky is what I'm thinking of. Below Pt mnt TCA are several bridges with stretches that go through private property. Conceivably one could wade down to Narnia. Would that be legal?
No. In NJ, the landowners own the bottom of the river's bed, so you cannot trespass. It is not the same as wading the West Branch in NY/PA, for example, where everything below high water mark is okay to wade.

Use this site to determine legal ownership. Unless otherwise deed stated, the owners will own "to the thread of the thalweg" which is not mid-point of the river at all times. The thalweg is the deepest part of the channel and it meanders within a river's banks side to side.

Re: Access question

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:46 am
by Rusty Spinner
joe_panella wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 7:40 pm
BiggerThomas wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:21 am
Troutman wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:09 am
Technically the property underneath the water is still their property. If you float thru on a vessel without anchoring. You are not trespassing.
I've always found this to be an interesting topic. I heard the law changes depending on what part of the country you're in (?). I remember reading years ago about Huey Lewis who owns/ed land in Montana--apparently it got pretty heated.
Montana laws are good for the fisherman. I believe you can follow the high water mark on any stream. Wyoming not so much. You can't even anchor your drift boat on private water.
NJ's laws are just like Wyoming's laws. Same for most states.

Re: Access question

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:50 am
by Rusty Spinner
Jaybird wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:39 am
BiggerThomas wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:21 am
Troutman wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:09 am
Technically the property underneath the water is still their property. If you float thru on a vessel without anchoring. You are not trespassing.
I've always found this to be an interesting topic. I heard the law changes depending on what part of the country you're in (?). I remember reading years ago about Huey Lewis who owns/ed land in Montana--apparently it got pretty heated.
Huey Lewis is a doosh as is the owner of Cox Cable . 2 guys who buy prime land in Montana because of the beautiful land on a trout stream , knowing Montana has the high water mark wading law . Then lobby to change the law DOOSH !
His other partner in crime was Earnest Schwab of the brokerage house by the same name. They lost in court and decided not to pursue it to higher courts where it was believed it would be held up as constitutional by that state. They bought ranches on what we call a ditch out West. Most ditches are relics of the cattle industry where ranchers tried to move all flowing water from their grazing lands into a man-made ditch. Turns out these ditches now hold wild trout, and when you hire a firm like mine, we can turn your ditch into basically a spring creek. We just finished two of these exact projects in the Gallatin Valley in MT recently. We narrow the ditch, build in meanders, import gravels for spawning, and sometimes add undercut bank habitat using engineered wood additions.

Re: Access question

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:50 am
by Rusty Spinner
Jaybird wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:39 am
BiggerThomas wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:21 am
Troutman wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:09 am
Technically the property underneath the water is still their property. If you float thru on a vessel without anchoring. You are not trespassing.
I've always found this to be an interesting topic. I heard the law changes depending on what part of the country you're in (?). I remember reading years ago about Huey Lewis who owns/ed land in Montana--apparently it got pretty heated.
Huey Lewis is a doosh as is the owner of Cox Cable . 2 guys who buy prime land in Montana because of the beautiful land on a trout stream , knowing Montana has the high water mark wading law . Then lobby to change the law DOOSH !
His other partner in crime was Earnest Schwab of the brokerage house by the same name. They lost in court and decided not to pursue it to higher courts where it was believed it would be held up as constitutional by that state. They bought ranches on what we call a ditch out West. Most ditches are relics of the cattle industry where ranchers tried to move all flowing water from their grazing lands into a man-made ditch. Turns out these ditches now hold wild trout, and when you hire a firm like mine, we can turn your ditch into basically a spring creek. We just finished two of these exact projects in the Gallatin Valley in MT recently. We narrow the ditch, build in meanders, import gravels for spawning, and sometimes add undercut bank habitat using engineered wood additions.

Re: Access question

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:56 am
by Jaybird
Rusty Spinner wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:50 am
Jaybird wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:39 am
BiggerThomas wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:21 am


I've always found this to be an interesting topic. I heard the law changes depending on what part of the country you're in (?). I remember reading years ago about Huey Lewis who owns/ed land in Montana--apparently it got pretty heated.
Huey Lewis is a doosh as is the owner of Cox Cable . 2 guys who buy prime land in Montana because of the beautiful land on a trout stream , knowing Montana has the high water mark wading law . Then lobby to change the law DOOSH !
His other partner in crime was Earnest Schwab of the brokerage house by the same name. They lost in court and decided not to pursue it to higher courts where it was believed it would be held up as constitutional by that state. They bought ranches on what we call a ditch out West. Most ditches are relics of the cattle industry where ranchers tried to move all flowing water from their grazing lands into a man-made ditch. Turns out these ditches now hold wild trout, and when you hire a firm like mine, we can turn your ditch into basically a spring creek. We just finished two of these exact projects in the Gallatin Valley in MT recently. We narrow the ditch, build in meanders, import gravels for spawning, and sometimes add undercut bank habitat using engineered wood additions.
The guy from Cox Cable his ditch was called the Ruby river .

Re: Access question

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:04 am
by Rusty Spinner
Jaybird wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:56 am
Rusty Spinner wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:50 am
Jaybird wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:39 am

Huey Lewis is a doosh as is the owner of Cox Cable . 2 guys who buy prime land in Montana because of the beautiful land on a trout stream , knowing Montana has the high water mark wading law . Then lobby to change the law DOOSH !
His other partner in crime was Earnest Schwab of the brokerage house by the same name. They lost in court and decided not to pursue it to higher courts where it was believed it would be held up as constitutional by that state. They bought ranches on what we call a ditch out West. Most ditches are relics of the cattle industry where ranchers tried to move all flowing water from their grazing lands into a man-made ditch. Turns out these ditches now hold wild trout, and when you hire a firm like mine, we can turn your ditch into basically a spring creek. We just finished two of these exact projects in the Gallatin Valley in MT recently. We narrow the ditch, build in meanders, import gravels for spawning, and sometimes add undercut bank habitat using engineered wood additions.
The guy from Cox Cable his ditch was called the Ruby river .
I was referring to the one Huey Lewis and others own.

Re: Access question

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:56 am
by Jaybird
Rusty Spinner wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:04 am
Jaybird wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:56 am
Rusty Spinner wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:50 am


His other partner in crime was Earnest Schwab of the brokerage house by the same name. They lost in court and decided not to pursue it to higher courts where it was believed it would be held up as constitutional by that state. They bought ranches on what we call a ditch out West. Most ditches are relics of the cattle industry where ranchers tried to move all flowing water from their grazing lands into a man-made ditch. Turns out these ditches now hold wild trout, and when you hire a firm like mine, we can turn your ditch into basically a spring creek. We just finished two of these exact projects in the Gallatin Valley in MT recently. We narrow the ditch, build in meanders, import gravels for spawning, and sometimes add undercut bank habitat using engineered wood additions.
The guy from Cox Cable his ditch was called the Ruby river .
I was referring to the one Huey Lewis and others own.

I was being sarcastic