# Fishing Harassment on a Public Lake.



## Loryn's Dad

Hey Guy's. Been hearing different accounts of fishing rights on a public lake. Can a property owner restrict access to water/fishing? Is there a specific distance a fisherman must be from shore/dock?


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## AntiHuntersLoveMe

Sounds like harassment, call a C.O.

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## AKhunter

All public waterway boundaries are at the average high water line.


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## Jiw275

AntiHuntersLoveMe said:


> Sounds like harassment, call a C.O.
> 
> Sent from my SM-S727VL using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


Good advice. Video will certainly help.


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## Walleye5-0

Loryn's Dad said:


> Hey Guy's. Been hearing different accounts of fishing rights on a public lake. Can a property owner restrict access to water/fishing? Is there a specific distance a fisherman must be from shore/dock?


Assuming it’s a public lake, everybody is entitled to fish anywhere they want on that lake (and boat in general). Hunting and trapping would be different.


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## mjh4

I personally like to stay at least 20ft from someone's dock. I live on a public lake and could care less if someone is fishing right next to my dock but there are some real yeah hoos out there that think they own half the lake. There is a guy a couple houses down from me like that. Anytime someone's fishing by his dock he has to go outside and give em a hard time. Last weekend I told him to quit acting like d**k and leave people fishing alone. Everyone in the neighbor hood laughs at his stupid behavior. Some people are just blanking weird.


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## Southsider1

I was always told that, as long as you don’t anchor or tie up to something, you can fish anywhere. I’ve had many people come out of their homes and tell they me I can’t fish near their property. I tell them to call the DNR or the police if they think a can’t fish there. Neither has ever shown up and told me to leave. The owners know that they really can’t do anything but they figure if they start yelling many people will leave.


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## wpmisport

On a public lake you can cast along side the docks and that's were a lot of bass and pan fish can be found. I do my best not to hit the dock with a lure and always keep away from someones boat. I have never had to retrieve a lure or a hooked fish from a dock.


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## DirtySteve

I was yelled at twice last week and threatened to have police called on me. I asked him to please call. The odd thing was we were fishing smallmouths like 30ft away from anyones dock in both scenarios. 

Here is how the first incident went down. We were fishing between two 100-120' long docks that were about 100-150' apart. There were some fish cruising the shallows not on beds. A guy starts yelling from a window of his house about 200' from the water at us i explained i could understand him.....cause i couldn't. He opened a door and leaned out yelling the law says I cannot fish within 100 feet of his dock. I replied back no it doesnt. I probably shouldnt have said anything. He yelled wanna bet I will make the call. I said go ahead please do. That was the extent of the conversation. We fished a few mins and then decided to move down the shoreline. He came out screaming wanting to know why we werent staying to wait for police. I told him my name and my boat model. Told him where i launched. I said if the police needs to talk to me I will and i moved on from the nut and tried to enjoy my vacation day. Never heard back. 

Same thing happened 15 mins later. A woman was swimming with a friend. We were about 200ft away on the other side of her docks....we didnt see them at first. She started in on me about 50 ft from her dock being against the law. I said look i will go around because you are swimming and I am not a jerk I am just out here enjoying my day fishing. I will say your interpretation of the law isnt correct. She looked at me and said there are no fish up around these docks anyway why are you up here. I didnt say anything. She started in again. What are you fishing for? I replied smallmouth bass. She said why up here? I said it is spawning season and there are hundreds of fish in the shallows for 3 weeks. We have caught many today and several were 5lbs. She seemed astonished and said oh. I told her that in 3 weeks the fish would be deep and nobody will be fishing shorelines....but we wouldnt be fishing here if the fish werent here. I told her to have a nice day and moved on.

I am a lakefront owner as well. I dont get bent out of shape about dock fishing. I get that i dont own the water/fish under the dock or the land under the dock for that matter. I simply have riparian rights to the land that allows me to put up a temporary dock as long as i dont impede travel on the lake. People have the right to fish for the fish under my dock or under my boat. I dont own them. The only thing they cant do is create a wake within 100ft of my dock. Thats a safety issue. I have the right to tell someone they cant swim within my riparian rights.....I would never do that though. Seems like a real DB kinda thing to do. Its a public lake and I typically like most of the people I come across.


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## Walleye5-0

DirtySteve said:


> I was yelled at twice last week and threatened to have police called on me. I asked him to please call. The odd thing was we were fishing smallmouths like 30ft away from anyones dock in both scenarios.
> 
> Here is how the first incident went down. We were fishing between two 100-120' long docks that were about 100-150' apart. There were some fish cruising the shallows not on beds. A guy starts yelling from a window of his house about 200' from the water at us i explained i could understand him.....cause i couldn't. He opened a door and leaned out yelling the law says I cannot fish within 100 feet of his dock. I replied back no it doesnt. I probably shouldnt have said anything. He yelled wanna bet I will make the call. I said go ahead please do. That was the extent of the conversation. We fished a few mins and then decided to move down the shoreline. He came out screaming wanting to know why we werent staying to wait for police. I told him my name and my boat model. Told him where i launched. I said if the police needs to talk to me I will and i moved on from the nut and tried to enjoy my vacation day. Never heard back.
> 
> Same thing happened 15 mins later. A woman was swimming with a friend. We were about 200ft away on the other side of her docks....we didnt see them at first. She started in on me about 50 ft from her dock being against the law. I said look i will go around because you are swimming and I am not a jerk I am just out here enjoying my day fishing. I will say your interpretation of the law isnt correct. She looked at me and said there are no fish up around these docks anyway why are you up here. I didnt say anything. She started in again. What are you fishing for? I replied smallmouth bass. She said why up here? I said it is spawning season and there are hundreds of fish in the shallows for 3 weeks. We have caught many today and several were 5lbs. She seemed astonished and said oh. I told her that in 3 weeks the fish would be deep and nobody will be fishing shorelines....but we wouldnt be fishing here if the fish werent here. I told her to have a nice day and moved on.
> 
> I am a lakefront owner as well. I dont get bent out of shape about dock fishing. I get that i dont own the water/fish under the dock or the land under the dock for that matter. I simply have riparian rights to the land that allows me to put up a temporary dock as long as i dont impede travel on the lake. People have the right to fish for the fish under my dock or under my boat. I dont own them. The only thing they cant do is create a wake within 100ft of my dock. Thats a safety issue. I have the right to tell someone they cant swim within my riparian rights.....I would never do that though. Seems like a real DB kinda thing to do. Its a public lake and I typically like most of the people I come across.


Best thing to do is record any harassment on a phone and cal the RAP line. Makes it that much easier to prove in court. 

Check out this document https://www.michigan.gov/documents/Water97e_142928_7.pdf for further explanation on all riparian rights.


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## DirtySteve

Walleye5-0 said:


> Best thing to do is record any harassment on a phone and cal the RAP line. Makes it that much easier to prove in court.
> 
> Check out this document https://www.michigan.gov/documents/Water97e_142928_7.pdf for further explanation on all riparian rights.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I've never been in a big enough fight over fishing to end up in court. I guess I dont have enough give a damn in me to get that worked up. I could have stayed around and challenged that nut and made him call the police if i wanted. I took a day off work to fish with my sons while the fish were biting. I had no intentions of waiting around to fight some crazy old man and the police on a vacation day. I am certain I could have won but what good does it do? Nobody is going to change this guys opinions. He would probably scheme up some other thing to get back at us lousy no good fisherman. He is probably the type that runs lines under the water out from is dock and stuff. 

As far as the riparian document I have read that before. Probably 10 years ago or more. Its an interesting read.


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## Boardman Brookies

They are just all bent out of shape because since the paid a fortune for their 2nd or 3rd home they feel the own the lake. I've had the same run in's as you guys on lake and rivers. I know I am in the right and offered to call the CO myself. But there is a catch. I tell them that if I am in the wrong I will take the ticket and they will never see me again but if they say I can legally fish there I will press the CO to write them a ticket for angler harassment. That always ends the argument.


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## Lucky Dog

Nothing worse than having fishing baits bounced off you docked boat.....Just saying.


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## bobberbill

Or seeing some guy standing on your dock trying to get his lure out of your boat cover.


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## Big Skip

If u are at your place on the lake you are a lucky sob and life is good. Shouldn't get your panties in a bunch over people fishing. Lot more to be upset about in the world than a bait bouncing off your dock/boat.

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## Lucky Dog

bobberbill said:


> Or seeing some guy standing on your dock trying to get his lure out of your boat cover.


Or your 80 year old mother looking out her window to see a man pissing, or ****ting off the boat 75 feet away. Sometimes we are our own worse enemy.


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## UPEsox

I've been known to tell people where to cast around my dock, it holds some real nice largemouth. Also relish anytime someone yells at me for fishing their dock.

My all time favorite: A dentists on our lake, in a nice cove adjacent to a great weed line feeds the fish. Not kidding he had an automatice feeder set up dropping pellets. Naturally it was a great spot to pick off crappie and occasional 5lb largemouth. Well the dude is finally in town and sees me roll over to his dock area and bang a nice bass. He comes flying out screaming you can't fish there! you can't fish there! I then ask him why and he says "Because I feed those fish!"

I literally lost it laughing on the spot, guy never hassled me again though.


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## DirtySteve

Lucky Dog said:


> Nothing worse than having fishing baits bounced off you docked boat.....Just saying.


I dont condone hitting boats....

But there are always two ways to look at this. I am a dock owner and a boat owner. Nothing says I have to leave my boat or dock on a public lake attracting the fish that people are trying to catch. I do not own the water or fish under my dock. My boat is expensive and I dont leave it docked because i dont like dock rash and water lines on my new boat. If I had a hoist it may be different....but i dont. I do have a docked pontoon and I dont care at all if guys want to cast lines under it. Its not a big deal to bounce a lure off an aluminum pontoon. I enjoy seeing people fish....especially teenage type kids. Far better than other trouble they could be out causing.

As far as a guy standing on my dock retrieving a lure. I would rather him do that and carfully retrieve vs pulling and causing damage.

I do not have an elitist power tripping attitude because I can afford lakefront vacation property and a boat. People want to fish and i get it. I like to fish too. I would be a real DB to gripe about a landowner yelling at me over fishing near a dock then go yell at someone else for fishing under mine. For the record I do respect other boat owners and I dont let my sons fire away at docks with boats. Mostly because I dont want to deal with the argument. It isnt worth it. If it is just a dock I let them skip under it.


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## waxico

I tell them to stop stealing my fish. Then I laugh and give them advice on other good spots.
I would guess the yellers aren't sportsman. We tend to stick together...


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## fishrod

Some of you guys defending these property owners are making me wonder....


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## Rasputin

fishrod said:


> Some of you guys defending these property owners are making me wonder....


Making you wonder what? What's worse, acting like I own it when I do or an interloper acting like he owns it when he doesn't??

The way I see it is the visitor is a taker, as a lakefront owner I sacrifice for the good of the lake. Frankly, I keep enough fish for one or two meals a year. I do things to enhance the habitat.. Outsiders show up and take multiple limits in a day, multiple times what I take in a year. So what about them am I supposed to respect? To be clear I never say anything to the visitors, and I know that they have every right to be here, I just wish they would show more respect for the resource instead of taking all that they can. My lake is small and can't take the pressure, but the beneficiaries are the visitors. When I can tell that the fish have been abused, I'm the one that restricts my harvest for the health of the lake, the visitors will just go to some other lake next year while this one recovers.

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## Jiw275

If you witness people taking multiple limits in one day, call the DNR. I am positive that complaining on an online forum will not stop the villagers.


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## Macs13

Disagree there... when you spend 30, 50, 100k for a boat, you should NOT have to worry about it getting marred up while it's sitting at your dock. If you can't cast, you shouldn't be tossing around a boat (not you specifically - royal you)


Big Skip said:


> If u are at your place on the lake you are a lucky sob and life is good. Shouldn't get your panties in a bunch over people fishing. Lot more to be upset about in the world than a bait bouncing off your dock/boat.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A205U using Tapatalk


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## fishrod

This could go on for days. I agree that if you cant cast or flip well enough to not get ON TOP of a boat ....you shouldn’t be fishing around docks. But the old guy that wants to kick my a$$ or call the authorities, needs to read and then reread the regs. Having a 100 k boat at the dock is good for you, but if lake is public, its public. Going over ones limit is a whole other argument. Sorry for being so salty so early in the morning. Have a great day.


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## DirtySteve

Macs13 said:


> Disagree there... when you spend 30, 50, 100k for a boat, you should NOT have to worry about it getting marred up while it's sitting at your dock. If you can't cast, you shouldn't be tossing around a boat (not you specifically - royal you)
> 
> Sent from my SM-G988U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


I am a dock owner and i own a pretty expensive boat. My dad keeps a 1995 pontoon at the dock cause its old and scraped up. I dont keep my boat at the dock....ever. crap happens around docks. Migh be a kid does something. I have seen kayakers run in them or push their paddles off of them. I am particular about my boat because it is brand new. Best solution is dont park it on a dock and life is stressfree. I can enjoy talking fisherman along my waterfront. 

Now the jackwagon that smacked my trailer while i was on higgins 10 days ago pissed me off. I intentionally park a long ways from anyone. There were like 8 trailers in a 300 spot lot. I came off the lake last and my trailer was moved 2ft and a 2ft scrape on the side and and top of the steel tubing kinda in the middle of the trailer. Almost looks intentional.


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## Bucket-Back

People get jealous of other's nice things


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## pescadero

Rasputin said:


> Making you wonder what? What's worse, acting like I own it when I do or an interloper acting like he owns it when he doesn't??


If it's a public lake, and the interloper is a Michigan resident - he owns just as much of it as you do.

You own the riparian bottomlands - but the water, and use of that water - belongs to the public of which both you and the interloper are equal members.


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## toto

pescadero said:


> If it's a public lake, and the interloper is a Michigan resident - he owns just as much of it as you do.
> 
> You own the riparian bottomlands - but the water, and use of that water - belongs to the public of which both you and the interloper are equal members.


Gotta say, that is about as perfectly said as I've ever seen.


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## DirtySteve

pescadero said:


> If it's a public lake, and the interloper is a Michigan resident - he owns just as much of it as you do.
> 
> You own the riparian bottomlands - but the water, and use of that water - belongs to the public of which both you and the interloper are equal members.


Does he even own the bottomlands? Or does he own rights to use those lands? I believe many lakes can be different.


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## plugger

Hitting a boat with a bait is no different that hitting a car in a public parking area with a rock while you are playing with your wrist rocket.


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## Fishndude

I wouldn't stand on my dock, and try to hit boat fishermen's boats with my bait/lures. They can take care not to hit/hook my boats, if they are docked. They can hook my dock all they care too. :lol:


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## ESOX

Lucky Dog said:


> Or your 80 year old mother looking out her window to see a man pissing, or ****ting off the boat 75 feet away. Sometimes we are our own worse enemy.


By the time she is 80, I imagine seeing man bits are nothing new to her.

Just kidding, don't get mad.


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## Lumberman

I was just thinking it was time for some dock reform. Why should anyone be allowed to put a dock on public water? 

Docks should be like tree stands. Once you put them out anyone should be able to use them. 

Or better yet ban them completely. They are terrible for the environment and Natural habitat of the lake. 

Don’t want your boat to get hit then don’t park it on our lake. Put it in your yard. Problem solved. 

And tell your mom to stop staring at me when I’m taking a leak.... it’s creepy

On the flip side who are these guys that are overhand casting 2oz sinkers at people boats? 

If you some how manage to damage someone’s boat by fishing. You are doing something wrong. I know I’m of one actual case of a guy ripping some canvas. Which is so stupid. The guys a criminal.


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## DecoySlayer

I had to cut two rigs out of my lines on my layout boat last duck season. Some people just suck.


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## pescadero

DirtySteve said:


> Does he even own the bottomlands? Or does he own rights to use those lands? I believe many lakes can be different.


If it's a natural lake - he probably owns bottomlands. 

If it's an impoundment... it depends.


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## Bucket-Back

Didn't know one could "Park" a boat.


Lumberman said:


> I was just thinking it was time for some dock reform. Why should anyone be allowed to put a dock on public water?
> 
> Docks should be like tree stands. Once you put them out anyone should be able to use them.
> 
> Or better yet ban them completely. They are terrible for the environment and Natural habitat of the lake.
> 
> Don’t want your boat to get hit then don’t park it on our lake. Put it in your yard. Problem solved.
> 
> And tell your mom to stop staring at me when I’m taking a leak.... it’s creepy
> 
> On the flip side who are these guys that are overhand casting 2oz sinkers at people boats?
> 
> If you some how manage to damage someone’s boat by fishing. You are doing something wrong. I know I’m of one actual case of a guy ripping some canvas. Which is so stupid. The guys a criminal.


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## DirtySteve

Lumberman said:


> I was just thinking it was time for some dock reform. Why should anyone be allowed to put a dock on public water?
> 
> Docks should be like tree stands. Once you put them out anyone should be able to use them.
> 
> Or better yet ban them completely. They are terrible for the environment and Natural habitat of the lake.
> 
> Don’t want your boat to get hit then don’t park it on our lake. Put it in your yard. Problem solved.
> 
> And tell your mom to stop staring at me when I’m taking a leak.... it’s creepy
> 
> On the flip side who are these guys that are overhand casting 2oz sinkers at people boats?
> 
> If you some how manage to damage someone’s boat by fishing. You are doing something wrong. I know I’m of one actual case of a guy ripping some canvas. Which is so stupid. The guys a criminal.


Actually docks are just like tree stands. If you put them in you must remove them yearly. You cannot use someone elses tree stand and you cannot use someone elses dock.

The big difference is when you buy property on inland lakes in most cases you are deaded riaprian rights to put that dock in. The guy who accesses the lake with a pubkic launch has no riparian right to any bottom lands.


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## Macs13

DirtySteve said:


> Actually docks are just like tree stands. If you put them in you must remove them yearly. You cannot use someone elses tree stand and you cannot use someone elses dock.
> 
> The big difference is when you buy property on inland lakes in most cases you are deaded riaprian rights to put that dock in. The guy who accesses the lake with a pubkic launch has no riparian right to any bottom lands.


You CAN use anyone else's tree stand on public lake. 

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## DirtySteve

Macs13 said:


> You CAN use anyone else's tree stand on public lake.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G988U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


This has been hashed out several times on this site. You cannot use a treestand that doesnt not have your name permanently displayed. The law used to say the person who put the stand up had to put the name on it. It was changed a couple years ago to user not owner. There is no possible way you can use another persons stand without defacing their personal property.


Think of it this way. If you went out disperesed camping and pitched a tent would you expect anyone who came along could use your personal tent? A stand or popup blind would be no different.

The law says you do not have exclusive rights to the area that you hang a stand. Anyone can hunt your spot anytime they want even if you are in your stand. They can hang a stand in your tree right next to you if they like. They cannot sit in your stand.


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## Walleye5-0

DirtySteve said:


> This has been hashed out several times on this site. You cannot use a treestand that doesnt not have your name permanently displayed. The law used to say the person who put the stand up had to put the name on it. It was changed a couple years ago to user not owner. There is no possible way you can use another persons stand without defacing their personal property.
> 
> 
> Think of it this way. If you went out disperesed camping and pitched a tent would you expect anyone who came along could use your personal tent? A stand or popup blind would be no different.
> 
> The law says you do not have exclusive rights to the area that you hang a stand. Anyone can hunt your spot anytime they want even if you are in your stand. They can hang a stand in your tree right next to you if they like. They cannot sit in your stand.













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