So today as I was paddling back to a launch area in the tidal canal near my house a man walking his dog along side said to me "well I hope your fun time is worth it!" I asked what he meant and he went on to say that although it's not posted the local canals are protected areas and it's a $1500 fine to be caught accessing them. Is there any truth to this claim? I've seen several different guys launching around here and find that hard to believe. The canal is off the ICW in a gated neighborhood. Any thoughts? Since I'm new to the area I figured this would be the perfect place to get some answers...thanks!

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Malibu Stealth 9

Sounds to me like he just doesn't want people launching from his neighborhood and that it will get over run with people using it. I have never heard of such a thing. I personally live on a canal in isle of palms and have not heard anything to support his statement. There is a gated neighborhood around the corner here and if that's the one your talking about just pm me and you can launch from my house I have friends do it all the time. Isle of palms is the neighborhood under the JTB bridge area just FYI since ya said you were new.

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Yellow Ocean Kayak Trident 11

I'm sure there are SOME spots where access may be limited by law....I'd be really suprised if the place you were paddling is one of them. Generally speaking...if it's navigable waters...the people who own houses along the banks have NO right to prohibit use of the water despite their rhetoric, claims, and in some cases...threats to the contrary. The farther South you go in Florida...the more common those kind of A-holes become. There have been cases posted on various forums where LOCAL law enforcement would be called by some indignant homeowner, arrive on the "scene of the crime" and request kayakers to leave an area..."just to help keep the peace"...even though no laws were being broken. 'Round here...there's a few "Mansioned-up" neighborhoods along the water where homeowners have mounted water sprinklers with motion detectors that automatically come on and shower the open water all around their docks whenever someone in the water...(like a kayak fisherman) gets too close. Good way to cool off in the Summer...!!!

Per any type of tresspass law in Florida. There must be a "POSTED NO TRESSPASS SIGN" It can be common knowledge that it is private property but for you to actually be sited there must be a posted sign.

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Future Beach Angler 160 DLX (Sand)
14ft Coleman Scanoe.

Thanks for the input guys... I pretty much figured the guy was FOS and he just doesn't want anyone using "his" canal. I told him that I'd been stopped by FWC a couple days before and they did a normal check and asked me 20 questions, one of which was where I had launched from, and I told them exactly and they didn't seem to have any issue with it. He replied with "well that's the problem cause no one seems to enforce the law anymore!" Blah, blah, blah... I just wanted to see if there was any fact behind his BS claim... and I've always believed that it must have no trespassing signs posted to be legit. Thanks for the offer Pablo... might take you up on that sometime.
On another note...does FWC always ask some many questions or just bored and trying to make conversation? They wanted to know where I launched and how many days a week I fish. What I use for bait and what I've been catching. What size of fish and how many I've kept or released. What other kayaks or boat have I seen lately and what are they catching? I guess it's their job but it was my first run in with them over here and while they were nice it just seemed to be a little much...maybe that's just how it is in Jax.

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Malibu Stealth 9

As far as I know, no navigable waters are not private. I checked the laws years ago when I used to bass fish and we had problems with the same kind of people.they would call the cops and they couldn't do anything about us fishing in their backyards. I would check current laws but as long as there is access from public waters I think you don't have a problem.

There is nothing he can do as long as it is not posted and you dont tie off to any dock,the water is public, if you are talking about Queens Harbor,i wouldnt worry, i have been all over back there in a yak and never had any problems, sounds like a jealous rich dude to me!

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MALIBU STEALTH 12

Not all............ But I think they were making conversation.
Happened to me before.

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After extensive, diligent, and scholarly research, there is NO evidence that life should be so serious.

U14.5

T120

Try this!
http://www.floridageomatics.com/publica ... erged1.htm

There are always exceptions however... The only legitimate one I know of in the Jacksonville area is/are the backyard canals off Pottsburg Creek. It was explained to me years ago and I forgot most of the details but I believe the Corps of Engineers somehow deeded the water rights to the homeowners. There are a few 'No Trespassing' signs back there that should be obeyed.

This was along time ago and I believe the story was on the Monroe Campbell Show, things may have changed since then...

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...Cooler water, higher ground.

Believe it or not those questions FWC was asking is the "SCIENCE" behind the fisheries management. They don't ask charter captains or commercial fishermen anything, just the occasional person they pull over or occassionally asking people at a ramp what they caught.

Really scientific huh?

As for the trespass question sounds like the typical guy who thinks he owns the water too but they are public navigable waters if they are attached to the ocean, ICW, or river. The only exception I can think of is inside the Queen's Harbor lock for example.

Also there are folks that put up No Trespass signs on public waters hoping you will obey them. Tell him to go ahead and call the water police and to hold his breath while he wauts for them

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"This is my signature not my facebook page."

I would think Mike is right. If you are launching from public property, you should be legally allowed to fish there. The water is public...never heard of the Army COE deeding water to any private entitiy. The only other place I can think of where water is off limits is the backside of Mayport Naval Station off Chicopit. Never fished there but I believe there are some very obvious warning signs/barrier lines noting the federal government property.

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"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Land under water can be leased. My father owned Bull Creek Fish Camp and he had to lease the land under the docks and the underwater part of the boat ramp from the state. But it was for commercial purposes and I would ask these water snobs to see their "sovereignty lands" lease. They'll probably say, HUH?

Water covered land has a lot legalities involved. Not to worry though,if the current administration carries out all of it's plans, there will be no private property. My family owns land on Lake Ontario and we used to live on Lake Erie. We had older deeds and we owned the beach to the low water mark and other lands with newer deeds only owned to the high water mark. We had a number of issues dealing with the public on our beach and them claiming that we didn't own it. Once a girl parked herself on our beach and decided to sun bathe topless, I decided not to tell her she was trespassing. No sense in ruining the view.

In VA we had issues with the old Kings Grants. Some of those grants even gave the rights to the river bottom. You couldn't even float the certain rivers/streams because some sections of those had places where the land owners had rights to the river bottom.

I once had permission to access a trout stream from a landowner. After spending 3-4 hours on the trout stream, I was suddenly being harrassed by another landowner and the county police who they had called. It seemed that I had gone some 20 yards downstream onto his "river bottom". The landowner was insisting that I be arrested for trespassing. Finally the county sheriff conviced him that since I had proper access from the landowner above his property that it was a pure accident that I had entered onto his property.

When I talked to the landowner who had give me permission, he apologized for not alerting me to his neighbor.

After the sheriff left, I stood at the property marker and cast downstream onto the AH's property. I so wanted to pull a fish from his section of the river while standing on "legal" property/river bottom. No such luck

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