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When fishing around docks ...
A professional bass angler’s run-in with a dock owner in the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River may emerge as a defining moment for the rights of anglers and hunters.
The state of New York has regulations designed to protect people from harassment while fishing or hunting. They apparently did not discourage a man who pro angler Mark Menendez says harassed him with epithets and verbal threats. He said the man eventually fired up his docked boat and drove in circles in an apparent attempt to disrupt Menendez’s fishing.
The angry man eventually stopped pestering Menendez, but the incident is far from over. According to a report published on BassFan.com, Menendez has filed a complaint with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC is investigating.
No doubt it will be a while before the matter is resolved. But in the meantime, the incident underscores the misunderstanding that many people have regarding public water that is near or under their property.
Encounters between anglers and dock owners are perhaps the most common sources of friction and present the biggest potential for harassment in the fishing world.
People who fish know that docks are among the best places to catch bass, crappies, bluegills, rock bass and other fish. The overhead shade provides comfort and habitat for cover-loving species.
People who moor their boats on docks and hang out on them to picnic and catch some sun often consider the water around the docks their private property.
There’s the rub. Fishermen want to pull big bass from the docks, and the dock owners want to keep people out of the spaces they consider their own.
I have seen some pretty frightful flare-ups over fishing around docks. I’ve also been involved in a few. One of the most vexing involved a dock owner at Chautauqua Lake in western New York who threw fistfuls of gravel at a friend and me while we were fishing in front of his place.
Most people who have docks are happy to share them with anglers in boats who happen to troll past and cast into their shady recesses. I’ve had some absolutely wonderful morning chats with dock people who were proud to share their places.
And the majority of anglers who fish around docks have skills aplenty when it comes to presenting lures without damaging stuff.
I am not so foolish that I think all anglers are able to avoid snagging covers or banging lures off boats. I have no doubt that some clumsy fishers have left their marks. They are the people who make it bad for those who leave with no trace we had been there.
The fact is that while a dock is indeed private property, the water is public – except, of course, in places where the law says otherwise. While dock owners are convinced they can shoo away a fisherman in a boat, the law says harassing an angler is illegal.
Most anglers have the utmost of respect for dock people’s feelings. Most will steer clear of docks with children playing or people fishing. Most will make every effort to avoid being an annoyance.
Anger nevertheless can bubble up when a dock owner and angler clash over who is right.
Menendez’s decision to file a formal complaint is a step to help anglers gain further clarity over whether they have the right to fish around and under docks and other property bordering public water.
In the meantime, we anglers should exercise all due care in fishing around docks. One bad apple can make all of us look like troublemakers.