The Future in PA is Grim!

I used to fish a section of a Class A on private farm property and asked permission the first time I went.

The owner was 87 years old, a really nice guy and we even hid from his wife while we shared the beers I always have with me in a cooler in my car.

However, he had steadfast rules on asking permission EVERY time, parking in a specific location and where to access the field I had to cross to gain access to the creek.

I found out that the asking every time thing was so he could deny access to the second person that asked on a given day ensuring the first angler got the stretch to him or herself...

Like I said, really nice guy and I always made sure I got there early and had beer. 🙂
 
I asked permission to fish a wild trout stream that was behind a Bible camp. They said yes and they copied my fishing and driver license.
I had to email them the night before in case there were functions going on. I fished on week days and always got the green light. I signed in and out at the main building. The stream had a fair population of wild browns from little to 18 in. I never saw another fisherman. Really good people ran the camp.
 
falcon said:
I asked permission to fish a wild trout stream that was behind a Bible camp. They said yes and they copied my fishing and driver license.
I had to email them the night before in case there were functions going on. I fished on week days and always got the green light. I signed in and out at the main building. The stream had a fair population of wild browns from little to 18 in. I never saw another fisherman. Really good people ran the camp.
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I haven't printed any in awhile because I haven't needed them, but I used make "business cards" with my name on them and underneath it said:

"NO Litter, NO Damage, NO Harvest" and below that:

"All around nice guy!" and my cell phone number. 😉

It got a lot of laughs and smiles, lots of permission and invitations to return.

Of course as I still do to this day, I always send a thank you card in the mail after the first encounter and Christmas/Holiday cards to the owners on private property I frequent often.

Another thing I do is join any fish & game/club that may have access to property I want to fish. Most memberships are pretty cheap and in the case of one of three I belong to, I get access to a ton of property the stream crosses through because the locals are all members too.
 
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found this comment from the owner of Hooksetr on Instagram. It seems like he is aware of the possibility of access being removed and then monetized as a result of this and is committed to not allowing those landowners to list their property on hooksetr. (that’s what he says, anyway 😒)

My concern would be that while that sounds nice, there is no possible way to know which properties allowed access previously and which didn’t. Some of the best waters I fish the landowners aren’t exactly setting up signs saying “come fish here” and publicizing the fact that they allow access. Most just turn a blind eye to fisherman or have given permission to a few people who have asked nicely. There would be no way for someone to confirm a landowners claims that their property was previously closed to all fishing in 95% of cases. So on paper no established access could be removed by this, but in reality more of our best waters could potentially become off limits.
 
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tomgamber said:
If there was pressure to force these fishery "owners" to have to carry a certain amount of liability insurance, this could make a fish for fee enterprise less attractive. I had to carry a million dollars of liability just to shoot weddings 20 years ago. Way less dangerous than fishing.

Are guides required to carry insurance?
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with bridezillas........ at 1 million, you were under-insured
 
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