New Trespassing Law

[Bamboozle]

The bad part about all of this and regardless of your opinion is it takes only ONE $hithead to ruin it for everybody whether that means littering, defacing or simply walking on property that isn't posted because you can within the law.

For that reason I do whatever I can to figure out who owns what and ask and if I can't, I don't fish there...period. I consider that respect for what's not mine and I take that same level of respect with me when on public property as well.

Just look at what happened with Glen Onoko Falls or the Peace Rock area on the Schuylkill if you need an example of how bad behavior effects pubic space as well.

There is a small stream in Tioga County I have wanted to fish for eons that runs through some properties that are vacation homes and a through a local F&G. Every time I am there the homes are closed up and my searches for contact info for the club has been fruitless.

The club property is posted as are most of the homes and it is tricky trying to figure out who own what with the lousy parcel maps available. That leaves me about 30 yards of creek that runs through State Forest land that I can be sure isn't privately owned.

That's the only part I have ever fished...

Do what you want if you feel you are within the law, but just don't be surprised when what wasn't purple today, ends up purple tomorrow.

 

[Mike]

As some have suggested above, when asking permission to fish already posted properties one often learns that fishing is allowed. When interviewing landowners about their posting, particularly those owning riparian properties along stocked trout streams, it was very frequently the case that the landowners said that the posting was aimed at hunting. As evidence of this, note how many posted properties along stocked trout streams are also posted with “fishing permitted courtesy of landowner” signs provided to the landowners free of charge by the PFBC or posted by WCO’s with the landowners’ approvals.

As for landowner liability, individuals should be hesitant to bring this up without having first read Pa Act 586, The Recreational Use of Land and Water Act, which provides a much clearer understanding of this issue than do guesswork and assumptions. The act is designed to encourage landowners to keep their lands open to free public activities, such as fishing, hiking, etc.

 

[Bamboozle]

Mike wrote:
As some have suggested above, when asking permission to fish already posted properties one often learns that fishing is allowed. When interviewing landowners about their posting, particularly those owning riparian properties along stocked trout streams, it was very frequently the case that the landowners said that the posting was aimed at hunting. As evidence of this, note how many posted properties along stocked trout streams are also posted with “fishing permitted courtesy of landowner” signs provided to the landowners free of charge by the PFBC or posted by WCO’s with the landowners’ approvals.

As for landowner liability, anglers and landowners in my view should be hesitant to bring this up without having first read Act 586, which provides a much clearer understanding of this issue than do guesswork and assumptions.

That's why I never ask for fishing permission around hunting season. Many land owners I have encountered get suspicious if I ask for fishing access permission in the fall which I often do days or weeks before I plan to fish and always BEFORE I grab the rod and put on waders.

I do almost all of my door knocking in the late winter or early spring which has worked out well in most situations.