fighting over docks?

Has anyone here ever had a verbal fight with a land owner over fishing
around their dock? The last two times out my partner and I have got into
verbals with landowners, yesterday I thought I was going to have to
fight my way off the lake. What are the laws about fishing distance from
a dock? should I report them to the DNR or Police. I'm in MIchigan

BIG FISH 2006 wrote:
Has anyone here ever had a verbal fight with a land owner over fishing
around their dock? The last two times out my partner and I have got into
verbals with landowners, yesterday I thought I was going to have to
fight my way off the lake. What are the laws about fishing distance from
a dock? should I report them to the DNR or Police. I'm in MIchigan






I've been in both shoes on this,, many, many times

Few bass fishermen have, most only look at the law, which in most, if
not all states, is no person can claim ownership of an area of "public"
water, you can fish anywhere from your boat.

Now the dock owner has spent much money and time building fish habitat
for "him" to fish, many of these are C&E fishermen, they really get
upset for all their work to end up in the live well of others, that
strangers line up to catch "their" fish (I know that they have no claim
on the fish, but this is their mindset)

Now what really adds insult is when the boaters, don't even respect you
fishing from your own pier, I have on MANY occasions been fishing from
my pier, and a boater come right up and fish it with me sitting there
with my lines out, and even snagging my lines with their lures, these
same fishermen would never consider fishing that close to another
boater. One time a boater had the balls to hold my handrail to hold his
boat not 3 feet from me fishing for crappie, and tell me my pier was
known as the best crappie hole on the entire lake, I have had others tie
up to my rail right next to me fishing, it's the same feeling if some
guy ties up to your boat, while your fishing, I bet that would make 99%
of the boaters madder than hell

I also like to leave catfish rods set in rod holders, baited and in the
water, these have bells on them I can hear from the house, Many times
these have been snagged by a boater, that could not have missed seeing
these rods fishing.

Here is my rule when boating, it is one of respect, and not being an
A-Hole, that many boaters become when dock fishing

If someone is fishing on a dock, don't fish that dock, PERIOD !
If you see rods in rod holders, don't fish that dock, PERIOD !
If someone is standing, sitting, walking, or even sun bathing on a dock,
don't fish that dock, PERIOD !

(you would never fish right up to another's boat, from your boat, when
they are on their boat, now would you ? give a dock owner the same respect)

If someone starts walking towards their dock while your fishing it, then
leave, if someone yells at you, then leave, it's just not worth the
enemy your making, there are plenty more docks out there that people are
not on, or watching, for you to fish, are there not ?



--
Secret Weapon Recoil Rig,
Fishing lure remote control
See lure video you won't believe
http://secretweaponlures.com/spectastic.htm

On Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:43:52 -0400, (BIG FISH
2006) backed into a tree whilst ridin inna park then wrote:

Has anyone here ever had a verbal fight with a land owner over fishing
around their dock? The last two times out my partner and I have got into
verbals with landowners, yesterday I thought I was going to have to
fight my way off the lake. What are the laws about fishing distance from
a dock? should I report them to the DNR or Police. I'm in MIchigan




I've never gotten upset if someone fished my pier. I always ask if
someone is on their pier and not fishing. Most times they laugh and
say there are no fish under here, but go ahead and fish it. If I am
not in a tourney I release the fish back to the pier. If I am in a
tourney I let them know it will be released alive.
On occasion I have been hollered at by irate landowners. I refuse to
argue with them. On the few occasions when the landowner has
threatened to shoot me or meet me at the launch, I calmly take out my
phone and call 911 to report the threat. Sometimes the dispatcher
says, don't pay any attention to him/her we know them and there is no
danger. Other times they ask for us to wait somewhere out of site of
the landowner so they can have a complaint filled out cause the
landowner is a nut case.
Avoid the crazy ones and don't hesitate to report them if they
threaten you. Whatever you do don't get into a confrontation, ya
never know just how crazy they may be.

Don't let them ruin your outing!

---

Dan TOASTY in Florida for now

Remove the X for e-mail reply
www.outdoorfrontiers.com
A proud charter member of "PETAF", People for Eating Tasty Animals and Fish!!!
N9JBF 1997 HD FXDS

"BIG FISH 2006" wrote in message
...
Has anyone here ever had a verbal fight with a land owner over fishing
around their dock? The last two times out my partner and I have got into
verbals with landowners, yesterday I thought I was going to have to
fight my way off the lake. What are the laws about fishing distance from
a dock? should I report them to the DNR or Police. I'm in MIchigan

Yes, I've gotten into many "discussions" over the years while fishing docks.
Some of these have gotten quite heated and I thought a couple were going to
get physical.

The problem is, there are no laws regarding fishing distance from a dock.
That means you, as a legal and licensed angler are entitled to fish right up
to and under the dock. The water (and the fish in it) belongs to the state,
not to any individual and the dock owner cannot prevent you from fishing in,
under and around his dock.

I learned that it doesn't pay to fish any dock with someone on it. Not that
you won't catch fish, because you can, but because you cannot be sure how
they'll react. But, if they appear friendly, I'll ask them for permission,
even though I don't need it. If they're total jerks, I'll bypass the dock.

But, if one comes out and stands on the dock with a shotgun and threatens me
(this happened once), I'll do again what I did then. Call 911 and report
being threatened with a firearm.

If you REALLY want to fish that dock, report them. If I remember correctly,
it is against the law to harass hunters and anglers in Michigan and they are
the one in violation of the law, not you.
--
Steve Huber
Executive Producer/Editor in Chief
OutdoorFrontiers Multi-Media LLC
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com

On Aug 16, 8:18*am, "Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers.com" go-
wrote:
"BIG FISH 2006" wrote in ...

Has anyone here ever had a verbal fight with a land owner over fishing
around their dock? The last two times out my partner and I have got into
verbals with landowners, yesterday I thought I was going to have to
fight my way off the lake. What are the laws about fishing distance from
a dock? should I report them to the DNR or Police. I'm in MIchigan

Yes, I've gotten into many "discussions" over the years while fishing docks.
Some of these have gotten quite heated and I thought a couple were going to
get physical.

The problem is, there are no laws regarding fishing distance from a dock.
That means you, as a legal and licensed angler are entitled to fish right up
to and under the dock. *The water (and the fish in it) belongs to the state,
not to any individual and the dock owner cannot prevent you from fishing in,
under and around his dock.

I learned that it doesn't pay to fish any dock with someone on it. *Not that
you won't catch fish, because you can, but because you cannot be sure how
they'll react. *But, if they appear friendly, I'll ask them for permission,
even though I don't need it. *If they're total jerks, I'll bypass the dock.

But, if one comes out and stands on the dock with a shotgun and threatens me
(this happened once), I'll do again what I did then. *Call 911 and report
being threatened with a firearm.

If you REALLY want to fish that dock, report them. *If I remember correctly,
it is against the law to harass hunters and anglers in Michigan and they are
the one in violation of the law, not you.
--
Steve Huber
Executive Producer/Editor in Chief
OutdoorFrontiers Multi-Media LLChttp://www.outdoorfrontiers.com

My rules of thumb...
1. Never fish a dock that is occupied.
2. If the dock owner comes down to fish it while you are fishing
it...move on.
3. If the dock owner comes down just to run you off, use your
discretion as to how to handle the situation.

I don't own a dock but fish them all the time (from the water and from
docks). I think I would view it as aggressive and obnoxious behavior
to have someone crowd me when I was on it. I would not threaten them,
but I can assure you that I would have a pole rigged VERY heavily and
more than likely my sidearm cast would go astray in the boater's
direction...repeatedly. Maybe that is in the threat category.

"BIG FISH 2006" wrote in message
...
Has anyone here ever had a verbal fight with a land owner over fishing
around their dock? The last two times out my partner and I have got into
verbals with landowners, yesterday I thought I was going to have to
fight my way off the lake. What are the laws about fishing distance from
a dock? should I report them to the DNR or Police. I'm in MIchigan

You guys should wander over to Az Bass Zone forums and read some of the
headaches those guys are dealing with over one Marina at Lake Pleasant. The
marina owner (not a land owner at all just a leasee) has amanged to get
angler's completely kicked out of the marina. I think the legality is gret
at best, but nobody has managed to figure out how to challenge it exaclty
since the lake is managed by a water district rather than a state agency.
Their private security have even been known to harrass people fishing
outside the marina. Makes me want to fish there everyday with my video
camera and wait for somebody to harrass me. (Arizona has an anti
harrassment law.)

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
"BIG FISH 2006" wrote in message
...
Has anyone here ever had a verbal fight with a land owner over fishing
around their dock? The last two times out my partner and I have got into
verbals with landowners, yesterday I thought I was going to have to
fight my way off the lake. What are the laws about fishing distance from
a dock? should I report them to the DNR or Police. I'm in MIchigan


Spell Check! Look into it. LOL! Lets try that again.

You guys should wander over to Az Bass Zone forums and read some of the
headaches those guys are dealing with over one marina at Lake Pleasant. The
marina owner (not a land owner at all just a leasee) has managed to get
angler's completely kicked out of the marina. I think the legality is grey
at best, but nobody has managed to figure out how to challenge it exaclty
since the lake is managed by a water district rather than a state agency.
Their private security (the marina's) have even been known to harrass people
fishing
outside the marina. Makes me want to fish there every day with my video
camera and wait for somebody to harrass me. (Arizona has an anti
harrassment law.)

BIG FISH 2006 wrote:
Has anyone here ever had a verbal fight with a land owner over fishing
around their dock? The last two times out my partner and I have got into
verbals with landowners, yesterday I thought I was going to have to
fight my way off the lake. What are the laws about fishing distance from
a dock? should I report them to the DNR or Police. I'm in MIchigan




On C'wood, there's a guy who has lawn sprinkler set up on the end of his
dock, with a motion sensor to trigger it. Get within about 20 yards of
the dock, and the sprinkler goes on and soaks you. It ain't bad this
time of year.G

But our big problem is the increasing # of fools who rope off "private
swimming areas" the length of their waterfront, 50 to 100 feet out into
the lake. A few years ago, I was inside such an area (cold, rainy day in
late September, water temp in the low 60s) and the guy comes out and
starts screaming at me. I told him I was only in so tight trying to find
the permit number on the marker buoys. He started stammering and I knew
it had never occurred to him he might need a permit for them. I pulled
the whole permit thing out of my butthole, because I had no idea either,
but I could tell he didn't have a a clue, and wouldn't call my bluff.
Turns out that on C'wood, you need TWO permits to mark off a private
swimming area. One from the power company that owns the lake, and the
other from the DEP, boating division. The latter requires the permit
number to be displayed in 3" block letters on every buoy.

Since I've never seen a private swimming area with the numbers displayed
on the buoys, I now just fish the swimming areas, and when the idiots
come out and threaten to call the lake authority, police, DEP, or
whomever (I even heard of one threatening to call the EPA recently), I
offer to make the call for them, and turn them in for an illegally
marked off swimming area.

next time I'll just leave without a word and come back in the middle of
the night like a Navy Seal, and when they find their boat under water at
the end of the dock they'll stop being buttholes.

"BIG FISH 2006" wrote in message
...
next time I'll just leave without a word and come back in the middle of
the night like a Navy Seal, and when they find their boat under water at
the end of the dock they'll stop being buttholes.

LOL, I know one guy that did exactly that, cutting the seal on one guy's I/O
boat because of a dock fishing conflict.
--
Steve Huber
Executive Producer/Editor in Chief
OutdoorFrontiers Multi-Media LLC
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com