Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fishing Regulations.

There's another active thread on here right now where a couple of members mentioned dealing with state regulations concerning fishing, as well as harvest practices, on private waters. I don't want to hijack that thread, and I definitely don't want to engage in a political battle with anyone, but I am genuinely curious as to how such a system works.

If the state has access to your water, do you reap any benefits from the arrangement? Are you required to permit public access to your water? Does this still apply even if the entire BOW is on your land, owned solely by you, and has no continuous flow through water? (stream fed and discharged, for instance)?

I'm not trying to stir the pot here, I'm just amazed at the differences from state-to-state. I completely understand the reasoning behind the regs when applied towards land-based, free roaming animals, but why does it work the same way on a captive fish in your own BOW?

For those of you affected in this manner, are these regs fairly new, or have they been on the books for some time?

I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that if you accepted some states' offers to stock your pond for free, you had to allow the public access to your pond.

In PA, I don't believe there are any regulations regarding harvesting of fish from your own pond, but there are regulations for certain species such as grass carp. You need to have a permit for those.

Also, in PA, if you or direct members of your family are fishing your pond, they don't need a PA fishing license. But, all friends/others do.

Fish that the state does manage can get into private ponds during high water events, fish can and do "free roam" during those times. In Nebraska you need to keep your receipts as proof of ownership in order to bypass state regulations for each species of fish in your pond. Also, if your pond is connected by inflow or outflow to other BOWs where the fish that the state claims dominion over can get in, then state regulations do apply even if you have receipts. I keep my receipts in my gun safe and my pond is not connected by inflow or outflow to any other bodies of water.

The state of Nebraska will stock private bodies of water for free but state regulations will apply, the pond owner does maintain private access, no public access is granted here if the state stocks fish in your pond, they do "ask" that you let someone fish it at least once a year.

Sunil, that's how Indiana used to be. At one time the state would provide fish free of charge to private pond owners, with the stipulation that they allow public access. I don't know how such a thing would be enforced, but I imagine there was a lot of room for the investigating officer's discretion. Indiana no longer provides fish for private use.

Shorty, do the powers that be inspect each BOW, or is it a blanket ruling? In other words, how do they decide the question of whether or not "state" fish can get into your pond? Is this discretionary also? Is there room for arguing your case, or is it simply a matter of your screened overflow pipe feeds 300 yards downhill into a stream, therefore you're subject to the ruling, gravity defying fish notwithstanding?

The powers that be do not inspect each BOW here, heck we don't have enough CO's to enforce fishing regulations on public BOW's let alone private ones.

We do have "dam inspectors" that check the integrity of private dams every few years.

I will say that the state of Nebraska "claims" there are very few BOW's that are not connected by inflow and outflow to other BOW's so most private waters do fall under state regulations with very few exceptions. I will argue my case if if it ever comes to that, I doubt it will though.

I'm under the impression that the state would look the other way if one were to cull LMB for management purposes (outside of current state regulations on bag and sizes limits) so long as the fish never left property, even if they were originally stocked by the state. Just keep it quiet and don't post any pictures of it or brag about it. The state of NE also allows for waivers of state regulations on private BOWs for fish managment purposes, they have a form you can fill out and they will review and approve the paperwork if needed. Been there, dont that with my dad's old pond before he sold it a few years ago.

Darlene will never be a state record LMB in Minnesota because in order to qualify; public access is required. Not being a glory hound, I don't really care.

I imagine if Darlene were caught and was a "state record" one could say she was caught in the Rock River (100 feet away and where she came from in the first place).

There are a lot of regulations on the books of questionable value or just plain unenforceable.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department does not stock private ponds.

In Missouri, if you do not have receipts for your fish, it's assumed that they came from public sources. That gives the MDC the right to enforce license laws and creel limits on your BOW.

Let's say you stock your pond with LMB from a private hatchery. The LMB get out of hand, so you invite a couple of friends over to help thin the population. They get checked by an MDC agent (I know, that's a stretch) on the way home, and they have 150 LMB fillets in an ice chest. To avoid a ticket for being over limit, they must provide a receipt from you, and you must be able to provide the original receipt from the hatchery when the MDC comes knocking on your door.

The MDC used to stock certain private ponds with BG and LMB for free. You didn't have to allow public access to your BOW, but you and your guests were supposed to follow all of the state's normal fishing laws. The MDC discontinued the free stocking a couple of years ago, citing budget constraints.