Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fishing Friends and Neighbors

Tell me about it people have no respect for other peoples property.

I have enjoyed the comments and learned a good deal from them. Maybe the most important thing to glean from what has been said is that every pond is different, every owner is different, and every neighborhood is different.

Concerning ponds, mine has only the dam plus maybe 400 feet of shoreline accessible by land out of a total of about a mile, and “insurance regulations” prohibit letting my neighbors fish from my boats or putting their own boats in.

Concerning owners, if my primary interest were largemouth rather than bluegill, I would probably be a lot more strict about who could fish and what they could keep. (Almost everyone else in the area lives and breathes only for trophy sized LMB.) Also, being able to look out my window and see the area where someone could fish from shore really helps.

The neighbors are usually law-abiding and they love to gossip. If anyone were sneaking on the place (as a couple of deer hunters have been known to do), I would hear about it if I didn’t see them, and I make it a point to talk about how sad, but necessary, it would be to prosecute trespassers. My biggest concern just now is that I hear rumors that someone may be planning to come after my wild turkeys this coming spring. But, that’s a slightly different problem I am working on now.
Lou, 13.5

A friend of mine who grew up outside of Atlanta, told me that his dad got so fed up with poachers, he dynamited the dam of his own pond.

burger, I know of a nearby 4-5 acre former lake. The owners moved out of state. When poachers kept coming in, they just split the dam w' a beg piece of equipment.

I don't fish but bought the property for privacy, nature, the view etc.. I actually want people to fish sometime for the health of the pond but on my terms. The 2 acre pond is essentiall my front yard and most of the time we don't want to see anybody in our front yard. We've bought many trees to block our view of other houses, people etc.. My neighbor who actually lives closer to the pond than me wants unlimited access but I will not let him fish if he doesn't call/ask. He always wanted to trim around the pond etc.. but I found everytime we went to the property, he and his wife were sitting around the pond fishing,smoking and drinking. I couldn't take it anymore so I lost my temper and cut him off unless he asks. He hasn't asked yet. BTW, we are building our house and won't move in for another couple of months.

At this stage of my life, privacy is at a premium. We're moving 45 miles from work just to get away. The neighbor insist he will still trim the pond even tho he knows he can't fish...He hasn't trimmed it yet. Fortunately, our property sits up off the road and a person would have to be fairly bold to sneak in to fish. Also, I can show up at any time of day or night.

The only thing i worry about is someone sabotaging the pond; like putting washing powder, clorox etc. in the pond for spite.

Nice summary Lou....

off subject...we have large flocks of turkey, one year we had 70 birds on our driveway. every night from spring thru fall they roost in the digger pines next to our house (average about 6-10 birds). it is a wonderful phenomena guaranteed to please the casual visitor to our place. its so routine we have identified many individuals including one that has had a game leg for 4 years...we call her the old lady. as such, my wife wont let me experiment.......a neighbor says your better off w/ a supermarket butterball cause the locals are greasy, stringy, full of cartiledge, not good to eat.

back on subject
turkey poaching is a problem on my place as well. one small benefit, in ten years i have collected approximately 2 dozen high quality hunting arrows (alum or graphite).

good luck lou.

Before I bought my place it had been sitting in a natural state for years. The pond had been created, stocked, and left to fend for itself. My property is surrounded by properties of horse owners. I guess that the horse owners liked riding up the valley to my place and then around the lake and let their horses drink from the lake. The first time I looked at my place there was LOTS of horse manure and torn up ground from the horses. The fencing had be cut in several places to make it easier for the horse owners to ride around the vacant ranch.

I bought the place, mended all of the fences, posted No Trepassing signs, and talked to all of the immediate neighbors. One neighbor told me that another neighbor down the valley typically road his horse and carried wire cutters (I guess a renegade of sorts).

So I spread the word that the property was off limits until further notice. It hasn't made me the most popular land owner. Every time I see a neighbor out and about I stop and introduce my self and explain what I am doing with the ranch (managing the lake to improve fishing and improving the property). One neighbor made the comment that "Everyone has always used the pond, it's sort of a community pond." I decided that I'd had enough of explaining my self. So I just told him the ranch had been up for sale, anyone could have bought it, heck the could have all pooled their resources and bought it together if they wanted to keep it a "community pond." But they didn't, I bought it.

And now there's a new sheriff in town...

jeez, I think I've been watching too many Westerns lately.

Just keep up the 'new sheriff' attitude, Jeff. You dont need buddies that dont understand property lines, land ownership etc. Maybe one of them has a prized horse that you could ride at any time. Maybe get another set of keys made to the barn. Maybe even start a 'dude ranch', they provide their own horses and you charge for them to ride and water their horses on your land. Of course sign a damage waiver first. :rolleyes:

good catch burger....make sure the damage waiver fully explains release of liability (indemnification).....its a good idea for any PM that allows people to fish their ponds

Jeff, if they get upset, just tell them that you might like to drag their horse around by the jaw for awhile.

Regarding the guy that carriers the wire cutters, get a dirt bike and go to his place and enjoy yourself for awhile.

Like BM said, friendship and respect have to be a 2 way deal.

Thanks for the feedback, it's strange how people will act like you're a Jerk for protecting your property.

DIED, you bring up a good point. The realtor that I worked with in purchasing my place mentioned the same thing about getting a damage waiver signed by people that use the pond. At this point I have stopped all (legal) access to the pond but at some point in the future I may modify that.

Does anyone here use such a waiver? If so could they post a copy of it?

Jeff :

Stand pat for a while. In most states (and I am fairly sure Calif.) if people use property for a period of time they can claim rights in the land by adverse possession sometimes called prescription. You need to take steps to rule that out. Contact your realtor and seller and get an affidavit from them stating the facts prior to your purchase and that any use by your neighbors prior to your purchase was with the prior owners permission. If their use was with the owners permission then it can't become adverse or prescriptive. If you think their prior use may be a problem then think about that step. If not then at least talk to the realtor and prior owner and see what they say.

These guys violated my pond rule number 5, "Thou shalt not use explosives in lieu of bait."

Nov 25, The Nation, Bangkok. Two men killed, another injured while blasting fish off Chon Buri

Chon Buri - Two men were killed and another severely injured while they were illegally blasting fish near the Samersarn Islands off Chon Buri's coast.

Police said the group was illegally fishing by blasting fish habitat near the Rongkhon Island off Chon Buri's Sattahip district Thursday morning when a bomb exploded on their boat.

The bomb sunk the boat and killing two men abroad while injuring another.

The injured man and the dead bodies were later retrieved by other fishing boats. All of them were Thais.

Sounds like these folks should be eligible for one of those "Darwin Awards."

My buddies who helped build my pond have an open invatation(sp?). Also hunting buddies and neighbors have open invites as well. All my neighbors have ponds so they are not a bother. Basically any one who has small kids and wanna BG or CC fish are welcome anytime.

Donnie

Jeff - Sounds like a non- Darwin Award to me as they were at the very low end of having the tools to survive (as in low IQ).

ewest, there is a thing on the internet called the Darwin Awards which highlight the actions of those with less grey-matter than the rest of the population.

They improve the gene pool of the human race by removing themselves from it.

Yeah, Theo, but the process is sooo slow, added to the fact that they begat faster than they blow-up. If my guess is correct, they were drunk and the remaining fuse was too short. Being "thrifty", they discussed ad nauseam the best way to still use the fuse and still have money to buy more Mekong Whiskey.

www.darwinawards.com

There's some very funny reading there.

:D

we had mushroom hunters on our property last year we got back from vaction and they were out there. so i got the wise idea of dressing up in my ghilli suit and hiding. I caught up to them on our neighbors farm(these neighbors are very close family friends and im suppose to stop people from partying there). well i hid behind this nice big log and waited till they got within about 30 ft then jumped up and scared the daylights out of them. they havent been back since. As for the kids partying there is nothing i can do even though i attend a private school i still know these kids but no matter what i tell them they havent stopped partying