You have to ask....

[jkeepes2000]

Recieved an early Christmas gift. Permission to fish a spot that I have driven past 1000's of times! It was my wife who said to me, "Why can't you fish there? It looks good."

The owner said he 'knew about me'. That kinda scared me until he said that he knew from other land owners that I carried out more trash than I ever carried in. I have helped other owners 'fix' their ponds or lakes. Back in high school we had a land owner that had 6 good lakes on his farm. One was over populated with 3 inch bluegill. We fished it weekly for a whole summer and took a five gallon bucket of small fish out EVERY week. Slipped about twenty big bass in from his other ponds. Within two years we were catching 12 inch gills. He was thanking me for fishing that lake! No one else would fish it because of the overpopulation. We always 'forgot' to mention to others how good that lake was after we fixed it!

When you get permission ask the owner what they prefer. Do they want fish taken out? Catch and release? Slotting fish can help. We put christmas trees in some deeper lakes to give the crappie a house to live in. We used weed eaters to create paths around them. Ponds get overrun with 'greenhead' or snapping turtles. Offer to help get rid of them.

Pick up bottles and cans. Once, I had twenty or so beer bottles in the back of my truck that I had picked up at a new spot. I had forgotten about them until church the next day. I was standing out in front of church and noticed some disapproving looks as some walked by my truck! That trash collection paid off big time after a year or two. The owner posted all his property and I didn't fish there for a year or so. One day he stopped by the house and asked how the fishing was. I told him that I had not been on it since the signs went up. He said those signs were for everybody but me! No one could fish on him, but me!

Funny how you never get permission unless you ask....

[JohnScott]

... making a very good point.

Reminds me of a friend down in SE Idaho. For several years, I fished a prime stretch of the South Fork of the Snake accessed by public property but surrounded by private property further downstream. Over those years, I took the time to talk to the landowner's son when he needed a break from running the big farm equipment or redirecting the irrigation flows. We didn't spend a lot of time together, but we always enjoyed each other's company.

One day, Brook's father approached me when I was fishing off his property. He had seen my truck and come looking for me. He told me the reasons he was going to post his property, but he wanted me to know that I was welcome to use it. He offered to give me a key to the lock when he put up the chains. And he told me about another access off his property that I was welcome to use that I didn't even know about.

Another landowner in that area also had some serious problems. He was going to run me off one day when he was in a bad mood over some stuff some other anglers had done. After talking with him for a while, making the point that I had been accessing the river through his property for five years ( having been told by an Idaho Fish and Game friend about the access route ) and he had never seen me before, he realized that I wasn't one of the troublemakers. After that, I parked next to a small barn on his property, at his request.

A lot of property owners really don't want anyone on their property. But a lot of them just want to know who is there and what they are up to. Like you said, you won't know if you don't ask.

John

[LadyFisher]

I know this is very old school, but when the late JC and I first lived in Montana we made a point of getting permission for everything, fishing access, hunting too.
After we have been on one of these places we went back with a small gift, home-made venison jerky, a cheese tray, just a little 'thank you.' It sure paid off, we could go anywhere in the region.

[jkeepes2000]

We had one place that we would filet fish at the truck while talking to the elderly couple that owned it. We would give them the filets. They both loved to eat fish, but neither one wanted to 'mess' with them. We ended up trading garden veggies and even started some rhubarb for them after they let us pick blueberries for free! They had a u-pick that they could not take care of anymore. We prune the bushes for them now and pick all we want BEFORE they let their family in.

[Silver Creek]

Unsolicited kindness goes a long way.....

[herefishy]

People are funny about their property - there's a place in Colorado that has a sign on the fence saying Fishermen Welcome, but when we went in and asked where they would like us to go, they said rather grumpily that it was nice to have someone ask, as most people just crossed the fence and went in. We had almost done just that as it seemed that was what they were inviting people to do.

[turvy]

My fishing buddy and I make it a point to carry more stuff out than in when fishing and after five years we are welcomed by a series of five landowners along our river. We have a key to get by a gate on one of those and it is very bumpy 2.75 mile trip from the gate to the river. Two of the landowners always get a big bottle of whiskey every xmas and another was thrilled when we found him on a tractor on a hot afternoon...we offered him a cold beer and he downed two in the half hour we talked with him. We practice catch and release and all the farmers know it. They are all very talkative when we see them on their land or in town. Oh yeah, telling them fish stories and then again thanking also goes a long ways.

[JohnScott]

...then again thanking also goes a long ways.

Before I left Idaho, I made it a point to stop and say thanks to one of the guys who let me cross his property to get to the South Fork ( I had seen one of the other fellows not long before and thanked him and another property owner's daughter ended up being my realtor when we sold our house down there ). Besides really appreciating his generosity, I figured that would make it more likely this guy would continue to let responsible people cross his land.

John

P.S. Somewhere around 30 years ago, Frank Townsend ( I think that is who it was ) wrote a book about how he took Avis from a new rental car company to #2 behind Hertz. The book had 26 chapters - one for each letter of the alphabet.

The chapter for "T" read roughly as follows - Thanks, the most underused form of compensation.

[shortcaster]

This past fall I was in the driftless area in Wisconsin. Stopped & asked a land owner if I could fish the stream that crossed his place. He gave me the most puzzeled look & then said, "Sure. You're the first one to ask in several years." Seems people had just been helping themselves. He told me some good spots to try that paid off. On the way out I stopped again & thanked him.

Here in S W Mo trespassing can get you a $50.00 ticket or in some cases shot at.