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FeedPrivate versus Public Water
This is just my two cents on a topic that is debated regularly on fly-fishing forums and in magazines. Private vs. Public water. I like the idea of the high-water mark delineating public and private property that is found in many states such as Oregon and Pennsylvania. A landowner can still have private water that no one can access from their property, but if public access is nearby and the angler stays in the river or below the high water mark they can fish it.Two states that I think are bass ackwards in their laws are Colorado and Wyoming. Their laws say something to the effect that if you own the bank then you also own the river bottom, meaning that even a drift boat is prohibited from anchoring or, technically, even touching an oar to a rock. I don’t know which rich landowners lobbied for that law, but the public should have had a stronger say in this ruling. Most anglers dream of someday owning a nice piece of land with a stream running through it that only they can fish. I do too. But if that stream happens to be a HUGE river, then that is something different. I would not want people on my land littering, or cutting trees for a fire, or eroding my bank, but you should realize that people have a right to fish rivers like the Colorado or the Snake in Wyoming.
For states with laws like Colorado, perhaps an additional rule that mandates catch-and-release only for rivers that flow through private lands. If landowners knew that no fish would be taken from their sections of water by public anglers, and that they would stay off their land (below the high water mark) then I think laws in Colorado and Wyoming should be changed, or at least revisited with more public interest in mind and not some rich guy named William who just retired from the investment banking industry.
Posted at 01:22 PM | Permalink
When wading boots are never dry, when passion — some would say obsession — for fly-fishing is so great, wet boots are a way of life. Wet Boots (the blog) is for anglers who know fly-fishing is far more than a way of catching fish. Wet Boots. No bait fishermen.
Reader Comments:
Water laws in western states are among the earliest statues dating to territorial days. Water is a scarce commodity. We used to laugh "you can rustle my cattle, burn my barn or rape my wife but don't touch my water!" And for sustainable agriculture, these laws worked well. But as the western landscape along the rivers changes from cows to condos, these laws require updating.
Further, we see a growing demand for exclusive water front properties with corresponding pressure on cost of that property. The last time I checked they weren't making any more rivers so the resource is a constant while demand is growing. So, do we sit around and wring our hands and bemoan the loss of trout waters? I think not.
We get up off our individual and collective duffs and start meeting with (note: "meeting with" - letters/e-mail/faxes are pointless) our local, state and federal goverment representatives to ask that they begin to acquire water front properties to hold for public use. --JCK--