For the property owners who are complaining about the damage and litter from trespassers, here are a few ideas to consider.

Why not place in your fences a gate that can be opened and closed by responsible anglers? Long stretches of closed barbed wire only keep out respectful fisherman not trespassers with wire cutters! The presence of responsible anglers can even dissuade no-gooders.

Concerning no trespassing signs, why not instead place a sign that lays out the rules you expect anglers to follow while crossing your land? As seen from the posts above, we are not talking about inviting people to hang out on your land, but rather allowing them to cross your property in order to reach the public shore that lays below the ordinary high water mark.

There is a farmer on the Sky who provides paid access to the public shore adjacent to his property. This access is only available during the fishing season because anglers respect his land. During the closed season, he restricts access because the teenagers like to go out there to party and wreck things (do you remember being a teenager?). I think this is an excellent example that responsible anglers and landowners make natural allies.

Concerning garbage, I almost always come back from fishing with at least some plastic or old fishing line that I picked up. Would it not be sensible for property owners to place 1 or 2 barrels for trash around the places where littering is a problem. I realize this entails some work, but property owners must accept that (whether they like it or not) their land borders a public area that will attract anglers as long as fishing is legal there.

Property owners would do well to understand that they are the only ones who can make the first step at reconciliation by taking steps along the lines described above. If the private lands continue to block access (and fishing stays legal), then the inevitable outcome will be a loss of public support for the landowners and changes in the law concerning shore access. It may take a long time, but it will happen.

Steelhead, it sounds like you and I are on the same page here. I am surprised not more anglers have expressed their frustrations at having access to their fishing waters systematically blocked off by private landowners who act as if they own the river and its shores.

Gerard W.
Seattle, WA