5 replies to this topic

[smh307]

I realize that these are not exactly fly fishing questions but I figured that the members here will be knowledgeable about this.

 

Can you park your car just off of the road and then go down to the river and fish? I just relocated to Ontario a few days ago and am very excited about the fly fishing opportunities here. I was looking at a popular river on Google Maps for good stretches to fish once the seasons opens, and I noticed some stretches which look good on the map, but I didn't spot any parking areas close-by, but there is a road running parallel and quite close to the river. So just wondering if one can park on the shoulder where there is enough room and completely beyond the white line marked on the road or does that violate some traffic law? Of course, if there is a sign which says no parking then it's clear enough. But what about stretches where there are no signs? Last thing I want after an awesome day of fishing is to come back and find a ticket or even worse my car being towed off!

 

Second question, what are the regulations regarding fishing an area of a river where there is private property on the "other" side of the bank? Is it legal to wade into the river from the bank where there is no private property?

 

Lastly, if an area isn't marked with private property signs and there are no visible structures there indicating private ownership, can one assume that it is public land and proceed to fish there?

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

-Mustafa

[salmotrutta]

I've never gotten a ticket for parking on the side of a road and fishing - just make sure you're following the basic rules. 

 

Beware of guard dogs. Usually it will say "no trespassing" or "beware of dog" if someone has a guard dog out.

 

"No trespassing" doesn't mean "no casting" or "no drifting", and if there's any fishable water from the road/bridge, try it out. I've got oodles of great brook trout and brown trout doing just that!

 

Good luck and enjoy!

[classic drifter]

what i do in most cases is find the location first, scout for no parking signs or like bylaws and regular street signs saying if you can or cannot park, if there is no sign that you cant park, and there would be enough room for vehicles to pass safely then you should have no problems, most of the time the likely parking spots are marked, and as long as you play by the rules then you should be fine, trust me i dont break bylaws and no trespassing signs eventhough i see alot of people doing it, i choose to play it safe, the last thing i want is to find a ticket or get my car towed away after a day of fishing, and how to get the car back or figure out a way to go home, just my two cents!

[FrequentFlyer]

be careful around private property, some people will say just wade in the river and you won';t have a problem, but reallity is, some people actually have a kings deed which says they have ownership of the river bed as well as surrounding lands.  play it safe and knock on the owners door with the promise of removing at least a bag of garbage that you find.  

 

parking on the sides of roads is not an issue unless it has a no parking sign, if there is a stretch of water you want to fish, but is flanked by private property signs, there is a road allowance, and you can stand under the road and fish with out issue.

 

If the property is not posted you can assume its public access and fish it, 

[smh307]

Thank you all for the advice!

[Graham Bristow]

be careful around private property, some people will say just wade in the river and you won';t have a problem, but reallity is, some people actually have a kings deed which says they have ownership of the river bed as well as surrounding lands.  play it safe and knock on the owners door with the promise of removing at least a bag of garbage that you find.  

 

parking on the sides of roads is not an issue unless it has a no parking sign, if there is a stretch of water you want to fish, but is flanked by private property signs, there is a road allowance, and you can stand under the road and fish with out issue.

 

If the property is not posted you can assume its public access and fish it, 

 

FrequentFlyer almost nailed it.. a couple of things to add....  some municipalities have a parking bylaw preventing parking in undesignated areas and the side of a road is undesignated. This usually occurs in cities and not in the country. I know one area I was ticked multiple times.. They have a 3 hour parking bylaw and of course I was there for about 4 hours... A cop once told me as long as I keep my tires off the pavement and I'm not obstructing traffic in any way it`s ok to park on the side of the road.

 

Also even if there isn't any no trespassing signs if you see a fence, manicured lawn or any other sign that the property may be owned by someone you cant legally access it or you could be charged without warning. If it`s nothing but bush and there`s no sign that anyone owns it you can enter and if a property owner finds you there they have to give you 1 warning before they can call the police and have you charged..

 

River bottoms are sometimes owned by landowners especially if it`s a very small creek.

 

Always be polite to the property owners guys, I know some of them and they`re good people but unfortunately they sometimes have to deal with some rude or littering a$$hole anglers that ruin it for all of us....

 

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