Butt Cheese
11-13-2008, 12:08 PM
By LakeExpo.com Staff
Thursday, November 13, 2008 5:24 AM CST
LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. -- As winter approaches the sportsmen take over the water, especially the crappie hunters.
They work the docks and brush piles to pluck scores of good eatin' fish from cool waters. The fishermen do what has been done for generations, once for sustenance, now for sport and fine fried cuisine.
The vast majority of fishermen are considerate, short of the occasional lure flip into foam encapsulation or a mis-cast onto a dock. Usually a quick wrist jerk stealthily recovers miscues, but occasionally a lure's hook or barb proves troublesome. Caught on wood, cleat, rope, plastic, whatever, a hook can leave a fisherman in the cumbersome position of either stepping onto someone else's dock or cutting loose a $6 lure.
No self-respecting fisherman is going to leave a retrievable lure behind.
They troll up to the dock, look around and quickly leap to action, hoping to retrieve the lure from a dock before anyone notices and before their untied boat starts to float away.
Innocent enough. However, the fisherman just trespassed on private property. Most often the homeowner isn't around or doesn't care. No blood, no theft, no foul.
However, in these days of criminal activity, justified paranoia, lawsuits and cell phones, it's not unusual for the Water Patrol to be dispatched to check out a dock under pressure by fishermen.
A common call during the winter comes from homeowners observing crappie fishermen pulling into dock wells to jig. This is also considered trespassing. It is perfectly legal to come in close proximity of a dock and to cast into an empty well. However, it is not legal to pull a boat into a private dock well.
It is most often up to a Water Patrolman's discretion to issue fines or warnings in circumstances of dock trespassing. The vast majority of dock offenses go unnoticed and unreported, leaving most offenders to unknowingly continue unlawful practices. Unfortunately, ignorance of the law is likely a viable defense only once, especially when a patrolman has been forced to leave warm confines to respond.
The occasional infraction to retrieve a lure is certainly understandable and perhaps tolerable even to the most overprotective dock owner. However, the continued practice of pulling into private dock wells to fish is not only poor etiquette, it's likely to cost repeat offenders a lot more than a fish dinner.
Thursday, November 13, 2008 5:24 AM CST
LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. -- As winter approaches the sportsmen take over the water, especially the crappie hunters.
They work the docks and brush piles to pluck scores of good eatin' fish from cool waters. The fishermen do what has been done for generations, once for sustenance, now for sport and fine fried cuisine.
The vast majority of fishermen are considerate, short of the occasional lure flip into foam encapsulation or a mis-cast onto a dock. Usually a quick wrist jerk stealthily recovers miscues, but occasionally a lure's hook or barb proves troublesome. Caught on wood, cleat, rope, plastic, whatever, a hook can leave a fisherman in the cumbersome position of either stepping onto someone else's dock or cutting loose a $6 lure.
No self-respecting fisherman is going to leave a retrievable lure behind.
They troll up to the dock, look around and quickly leap to action, hoping to retrieve the lure from a dock before anyone notices and before their untied boat starts to float away.
Innocent enough. However, the fisherman just trespassed on private property. Most often the homeowner isn't around or doesn't care. No blood, no theft, no foul.
However, in these days of criminal activity, justified paranoia, lawsuits and cell phones, it's not unusual for the Water Patrol to be dispatched to check out a dock under pressure by fishermen.
A common call during the winter comes from homeowners observing crappie fishermen pulling into dock wells to jig. This is also considered trespassing. It is perfectly legal to come in close proximity of a dock and to cast into an empty well. However, it is not legal to pull a boat into a private dock well.
It is most often up to a Water Patrolman's discretion to issue fines or warnings in circumstances of dock trespassing. The vast majority of dock offenses go unnoticed and unreported, leaving most offenders to unknowingly continue unlawful practices. Unfortunately, ignorance of the law is likely a viable defense only once, especially when a patrolman has been forced to leave warm confines to respond.
The occasional infraction to retrieve a lure is certainly understandable and perhaps tolerable even to the most overprotective dock owner. However, the continued practice of pulling into private dock wells to fish is not only poor etiquette, it's likely to cost repeat offenders a lot more than a fish dinner.