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Fishing on Private/Public Land

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tj1320

Member
What is the name of your state? NM

I wasn't sure where to post this so I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place.

My friends and I like to fish along a small creek that "pools" into ponds in certain spots. Nobody bothers us if we go one direction but if we go in the opposite direction, there is a house/farm and the owner yells at us to leave. This is a natural creek and I am wondering if the property owner has any control over it or not. Honestly, I'm not even sure if the creek is private or public land. We were probably 200 feet from his house, walking along the creek and fishing. There are no "no trespassing" signs anywhere or we would not have been fishing there. Is there some kind of easement in place for fishing in areas like these? We're not bothering anyone or hurting anything and this guy is pretty hateful about it. How would I find out if the land is publicly or privately owned? The local title company, perhaps?
 


TheGeekess

Keeper of the Kraken
If there were people 200ft from my house, fishing in the creek that borders my property (property line is half the creek bed), I'd be raising cain, too. He's probably never had a problem before with people trespassing until now. Stay away from that end of the creek.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
walking along the creek and fishing.
well, you were on somebody's land. Iwould guess it is owned by the guy that yelled at you.


There are no "no trespassing" signs anywhere or we would not have been fishing there.
although some states require notification before it is condidered trespassing, a real simple rule is;

if it is not your land and nobody has given you express permission to be on the land, there is a great chance you are trespassing.

Is there some kind of easement in place for fishing in areas like these?
No

We're not bothering anyone or hurting anything and this guy is pretty hateful about it.
if it is his land, you are bothering somebody. How would you like it if somebody walked through your yard without permission?

How would I find out if the land is publicly or privately owned?
most county offices have land records available for viewing by the public. Some are even online.

The local title company, perhaps?
sure, if you want to pay.
 

izzie01

Member
Here in Mn at least, water ie:lakes/streams/rivers are public domain and a certain amount of public area along all water.You are allowed to walk along lake waters edge/beach you canoe because it it "public". It has something to do with public access. Although there are quite a few lakes and such with no public access to them, you can't cut across private land/peoples yards to get to the water so in essense a "private" lake/pond. I don't know how it is where you are but I have a feeling its more of a federal thing. He probably isn't aware and maybe it's just never come up so is feeling threatened. Is it really worth it? Do you stay only at waters edge? Check with your local DNR for rules on this.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
no. it is not a federal thing. There is a situation out east where this was happening and since the stream was not accessable via public land, the owners of the adjacent property could prevent anybody from walking to the stream.

when you get into navigable waters, there are different laws in place to deal with but I have never seen a place that forces an adjacent landowner to allow trespassing.

why don;t you post up the applicable statutes for us izzie.
 

izzie01

Member
Yeah you are right about the navigatable waters..It is I guess commonly known law to people who canoe/kayak which I have done on occasion for years, never actually read anything on it. I tried to find something re it but may differ by each state. This is the only thing I could find but I am sure its elsewhere.
http://www.state.sd.us/denr/des/waterrights/StreamFencingGuide.pdf

It talks about public highway on navigatble waterways ordinary highwater marks on streambed. Its fr SD but each state may be different. Sorry, if this doesn't set up a link I am a bit of a greenhorn on this computer stuff.

Like I have said before, not a lawyer and couldn't understand most of the gobbley gook language that it is written in, as to forewith.

Why am I doing this, is nice outside and gotta mow lawn. bye
 

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