Posted Access and Wading Angler's Rights

There is a spot about a mile from my parent's house in southern Indiana where I like to go fishing. It is at the intersection of Brandywine Creek and County Road 100 North in rural Shelby County. There is a modern bridge as well as the remains of an old bridge, which is where folks have parked to fish the creek for years.

Perhaps I have built up this fishing hole in my own mind over the years simply because it was always close to home and easily accessible. After all, it is only a warmwater creek flowing through mostly flat farmland. Cautious wading and mindful presentations would produce smallmouth bass from Brandywine, though the majority of the catch usually consisted of bluegills, redears and rock bass. There are certainly better waters in Indiana, but this is where my stream-angling education began in 1985, when my brother and I were finally big enough to ride our bikes down to the creek and wade by ourselves. It is where we stepped into the water, leaving behind bank-fishing and boat rides to become part of the environment where the fish live.

Last week I was saddened to find that my old fishing hole has now been posted with "No Trespassing" signs, like many other easily-accessed sites in the area. I was initially angry, but I quickly understood why landowners would post access points. After all, nearly every one of these spots has become a garbage dump for pop cans, beer bottles, styrofoam bait containers and wads of monofilament. It is not uncommon to find the remains of old campfires, piles of cigarette butts and even condoms.

I guess that these once-popular fishing holes have really become magnets for people who refuse to accept responsibility for themselves. If access rights were solely about fishing we would have a better argument in favor of wading these waters. After all, why should an angler be denied the right to use a natural resource at the whim of an adjacent landowner? But these access points have become something else. The folks who leave these kinds of messes behind might dip a line in the water, but fishing is probably second to their desire to have a good time and leave the mess for somebody else to clean up.

Whether we use fly rods, spinning gear or bait, real anglers are conscious of our impact on the environment. We don't leave behind messes and we don't do things to threaten the resources that we enjoy. If you are a true angler then pick up after yourself. The next water that gets posted might be your favorite spot, and if the people who own that access have put up with the kind of messes I have seen, I don't blame them one bit for posting it.