I hope my silence on this matter has not been too much of a concern, I am deeply interested in what has transpired here. Trent Jones and I were well off the grid backpacking and back country fishing on Slate Run in North Central PA when all of this went down, which means at precisely the moment our Remick was being cited we were well into a bottle of Buffalo Trace, stoking the camp fire and telling stories while reveling in the memories of wild browns earlier in the day. A trip report would seem prudent but this issue is far more important at the moment. (In short though - the fishing was phenomenal).
First, a few thank-you(s) are in order to some of you who have been instrumental in keeping this thread on track. Thanks to Remick for bringing the situation to light, and for keeping your head and candor rather than simply ranting or reacting. Thank you to Rob Snowhite and Mike B. (Animal) for going right to work digging up the statutes so everyone had a baseline on which to form an opinion. BIG THANKS to Richie for being proactive and making good use of your contacts and resources, actually getting some key people on the phone to clarify at least the current interpretation of these statutes and regulations. I also think your decision to involve DU was good thinking. Thanks to Dalton for pulling up previous posts to show the lack of consistency regarding wading the Duck Pond, I remember that run-in very well. BIG THANKS to Steve Moore for chiming in with an incredibly organized and well-written account of your dealings with this topic. That took a lot of time which is most appreciated, and as Mike B. said, it answers many of the questions posed here. And thanks to everyone else on the thread for making the conscious choice with each post to keep the discussion clean and on topic. I am super proud of everyone for that and I am most thankful for the fact that I can be away for a while and not worry about the forum derailing, even when something major like this occurs - so thanks again for that.
I am a big believer in being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, especially in situations like this, so I wanted to read and re-read this thread a few times before weighing in. It can be hard to remain objective if the focus becomes too personal, too much about my own individual access to favorite fishing areas, or even the club's at large. Having read through the thread several times, I agree 100% with Richie and his initial assessment when he wrote, "The real problem here is finding out why you're not allowed to wade in a navigable waterway "period"." I believe this is absolutely spot on and the much deeper issue here, and I believe this is where our focus and efforts should be directed. How we go about this can have a major impact Nationally, and that impact can be either positive or severely negative depending on how we proceed. We have an opportunity here to set a hard precedent about a serious access issue that can help or hinder similar situations across the country where angling access is being challenged. This is a National issue for sure, it has been dropped on our laps, and I believe we have all been assembled for such a time as this. But we must "wade carefully", with wisdom, clarity of thought, and a concerted effort if we are to have a lasting impact, far greater than just a local one. (Sorry, couldn't resist the pun).
When I got back to the shop on Friday, and before I had time to chime in on this discussion, I was able to get my friend Brandon H. from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) involved and they are absolutely willing to help. You all may remember Brandon as the one who connected us with Mia Sheppard when she was in town, after which we aided and abetted her in apparently breaking the law while teaching a SPEY CLINIC for our club. For anyone unfamiliar with TRCP, please take a moment to understand their MISSION AND VISION. Of the many conservation organizations I have had the privilege and pleasure to work with, the folks at TRCP are among my favorites - these people get things done, and they know how to do it. I particularly love their mantra, "Washington, D.C., is where habitat happens!". So, you see, our issue at hand is right up their alley - this is what they do. I/we should be hearing from Brandon soon after he does a little digging and makes a few contacts.
We also have good friends in the American Sport Fishing Association (ASA) and have we partnered with them and their events in the past. Again, being that this is a much bigger, National issue and not just a local fly community one, some folks at the ASA certainly have an interest here. Access to fishing opportunities is at the core of THEIR MISSION, so again, if we treat this as a BIG PICTURE problem we have some very strong allies right in our own backyard.
In the meantime, the question at large is "what can we do". Well, we're off to a good start in keeping our composure, complying peacefully with officer's when we do have encounters with enforcement, and do our best to respect the regulations as we understand them at present. The last thing we need is to establish a bad reputation on the local level by mouthing off to or even scowling at authorities when they question or even cite us. Those of you who remember the 80's know this approach didn't work out very well for skateboarding ("Ride a skate - go to jail!"). We should do our best on this forum to curb even tongue in cheek posts or slights at the authorities as well, at least from here on. Some of it could come back to bite, even if it's funny.
I will not be at the next BEER TIE as I will be fishing in Belize, but we will have at least a few TPFR officers on hand and I will leave them in charge of public comments. Moreover, I will prepare a petition that at least shows we are interested in exploring and eventually challenging these statutes that restrict our public access to a navigable waterway, in this case, out Nation's River. I'll have one of the officer's circulate the petition and have all interested parties sign it and provide contact information. This will help when it is time to organize for public comment periods when changes in the regulations are up for discussion. We can put out a similar online survey shortly thereafter for those who cannot attend BEER TIE.
In the long run, I think we will be best served by a multi-pronged, organized approach. These prongs should include sport/fly fishing retailers (Urban Angler, Orvis Shops, Bean, etc., but also perhaps Dick's, Bass Pro, etc.). Those of us in the tackle business have a vested interest in people's right to access good fishing. The local prong should consist of TPFR, PRSC, TU Chapters, DU chapters, etc. On a conservation and non-profit front, we have TRCP, ASA, DU, TU National, and others. If we take our time, think slow, and move wisely, I firmly believe we can impact access issues across this country for the positive, and for many years to come. On the other hand, I strongly caution the sentiment of "Bringing the Thunder", etc. Coming in on the hard offensive is surely to raise the defenses of the opposition, and "lawyering up" for the wrong or mis-directed reasons can significantly impact the big picture. Remick may just be stuck with the ticket in this case, since even if he beats the wading issue he was still technically trespassing. A judge is not likely to overlook that aspect. I have no problem with TPFRers pulling together a few bucks to help with the ticket though - Gene, you're in charge of that at the next BEER TIE. We're always happy to help out one of our own.
I have a bit more to say on the topic but have to head in to the shop. Let's keep the discussion open and going. Great job to all once again for keeping it all on track.
Dan Davala
On Sun, Jun 2, 2013 at 1:11 PM, McFly <hshade2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
It's hard to believe that someone who fishes public water in a public park for one didn't notice the signs saying park closed at dusk and two can't see the danger of being in the water at night alone next to a freakin airport after 911.
On Thursday, May 30, 2013 3:08:55 PM UTC+1, FlyTimesDC wrote:So last night I was fishing the outgoing tide at gravelly point around 2:30 am when a park officer called me out of the water saying the park closed at 12 (I've never heard of the inlet our outflow ever being closed but left without resistance). He then asked to see my license, which I promptly gave him, and we went back to his car. I'm pretty sure he was looking for any excuse to ticket me, because he then sat in his car for about 10 minutes reading up on ordinances and rules. When he returned, he gave me back my licenses and a $130 fine for "Entering the Potomac". Umm, what? I have a court date in June and plan on fighting this. There are no signs or anything else to indicate that A) wading is illegal in the inlet and B) that the inlet is closed at 12am. Curious to hear y'all's thoughts. I've heard of people being hassled by airport police at Gravelly but this is a tad ridiculous.Thanks,Remick--To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/5d68b1a8-d477-435d-b760-d58b8482f1f4%40googlegroups.com?hl=en-US.
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