It wasn’t the land owners who were even involved, it was one of the club guys. I would understand if I was keeping the fish, but I’m letting them all go. Said club member made no mention of trespassing, just told me to leave and come back after Memorial Day. This is French creek in Chester county, lower stretches of it.
I was wondering if TroutRoutes/web Apps were accurate or not. Is there one that is better than the rest?
They all use the same govt. GIS data. Virtually all of the info available through these apps is available for free elsewhere. For instance, your county has a website that will have an interactive map that will show you property parcels and ownership info. It's all free, you just have to dig. This is the data that apps like onx uses. They just make it easier to access all the data in one app and viewable on one map. The apps are mostly selling convenience and they throw in some gimmicky tidbits. For instance Trout Routes has their own classification system for how "good" streams are.
I don't think the landowner would grant everyone access, but if you're up for a couple-mile hike in, then go ahead. There's trout in every riffle and slow stretch that seem eager to eat. Might be a mess if two anglers hook two fish at the same time, they run you into backing right away.
If I’m in the backcountry and don’t see any posted signs or purple paint while hunting, hiking, or fishing I’ll continue in blissful ignorance rather than constantly check-in on my smartphone or GPS enabled device. Chances are if it ain’t well marked nobody’s gonna be out there to bust my balls about it. That burden lies firmly on the landowner not the person who accidentally crosses from State Forest onto private land.
Bring a few flycrafts and float down into it! It’s navigable after all. Bonus points if you completely blow up the spot all the club people are fishing in the process.
I agree, and that's usually how I operate as well. I guess I more so meant that it's useful in times where you need to check land boundaries but don't have service. There a lot of instances where I'll check out new streams, and be right near civilization in a hub of private land boundaries with cell service that is either spotty or non existent. With a downloaded map, I can still get an idea of what's what. But yeah in true backcountry the only time I'm popping up OnX is if I want to mark a waypoint for something cool that I'd like to come back to.
A specific water in PA is either public or it private. Whichever is an existing fact. Courts do not declare a water public or private -- courts merely affirm the existing fact.
^ True. Linked below is a map of PA "public" waters. BUT, if an individual is accused of trespassing on/in a "public" stream or river, one must prove said stream or river is indeed navigable and is in fact water open to the public. "At your own peril" as they say. After the major rivers of PA, very few smaller streams have been "proven" to be navigable. Recent court cases for proven public waters are the Little Juniata and the Lehigh River.
www.gis.dcnr.state.pa.us
Went to site. So the ones marked in blue are legally public stream beds? Meaning, I assume that I can freely wade them without the surrounding landowners permission? Otherwise what would be the point of this map? Why would I then need to go to court if challenged? This is nonsense. (Some of these marked streams are tiny trickles by the way).^ True. Linked below is a map of PA "public" waters. BUT, if an individual is accused of trespassing on/in a "public" stream or river, one must prove said stream or river is indeed navigable and is in fact water open to the public. "At your own peril" as they say. After the major rivers of PA, very few smaller streams have been "proven" to be navigable. Recent court cases for proven public waters are the Little Juniata and the Lehigh River.
Public Streambeds
Explore Pennsylvania's public streambeds with the DCNR Public Streambeds web mapping application!
From the website:
www.americanwhitewater.org
When the Little Juniata case was in the courts PFBC and DCNR entered the case as amicus parties. The state combed through historical news records looking for any proof of commercial use on the Little J. While combing the news archives the state researchers cataloged every proof they found for any other river. After the evidence the state found for the Little J was determined in court to be legally sufficient the state published a list of any other river for which the state found equivalent proofs. Given the legal proof was sufficient for the Little J case it is reasonable to expect the cataloged legal proofs are sufficient for any other river on the list.^ True. Linked below is a map of PA "public" waters. BUT, if an individual is accused of trespassing on/in a "public" stream or river, one must prove said stream or river is indeed navigable and is in fact water open to the public. "At your own peril" as they say. After the major rivers of PA, very few smaller streams have been "proven" to be navigable. Recent court cases for proven public waters are the Little Juniata and the Lehigh River.
Public Streambeds
Explore Pennsylvania's public streambeds with the DCNR Public Streambeds web mapping application!
