Me And Babler Are Headed To Loz For Some Crappie!

[Phil Lilley]

I did search youtube for other videos of anyone fishing from docks on LOZ- none.

[crappiefisherman]

Phil, maybe one of those sunny january days we could get together and try that.I hope to be still full time at work in January but you never know and I might have some free time .If anything I know Ill have 2 days a week.Do you still have the white swimmin minnows? I bet those would work great there , especially if the vegitation dies down in the winter low sun months.P.S. are those fish of any size? I did see some fair sized ones and BIG bluegills cruising the marina down there during low water conditions.

[Phil Lilley]

Sure- I'll let you know when I find them. And yes last year we caught some nice crappie.

[Bill Babler]

You know, when your wrong, your wrong. Phil and I probably should not have been dock hopping, but being an ole Climax Springs river rat, we do quite a few things the Hoiti-totti group from the other end don't do. Pretty much when you hit the mouth of the Niangua, take a right and head up the Osage on up to Warsaw thru Edwards and Climax, we are not so concerned about fishing off any dock we want in the Winter.

Most folks open their cabins in May,and close them in Sept. The rest of the year, is for the locals. Wrench is right as rain however it would be better not to fish others property. Just cause others do it and Ihave done it for years, don't make it right.

However, ponder this and I will keep clear of the subject. One of my best fiends is a Banker in Camdenton and his folks own a big spead at Climax Springs with a couple of lake cabins. I was visiting with him this morning and a lawyer friend of his was in his office at the time. The legal eagle called me back a few minutes ago with the Camden County Statutes on Trespass for Camden County.

A person COMMITS the crime of trespass when he or she knowlingly enter a building or inhabited structure upon private property reguardless of posting.

A person does NOT COMMIT the crime of trespass by entering or remaining on real or private property unless the property is fenced or otherwised enclosed with the intent purpose of excluding the actors from entering said property. Example: Fenced lots, fenced private yards, or fenced farm ground or any locked structure.

A person CANNOT be prosecuted for trespass, on unenclosed real or private property, without actual verbal communication to the actors advising them to leave the premises.

A person CAN be prosecuted for trespass if the actor refuses to leave private or real property after a verbal communication to do so.

A person CAN be prosecuted for trespass without actual communication to the actors if the property is either posted with signage or purple paint in a manner that comes to the immediate attention of the actors, reguardless of enclosure.

The way the lawyer read the law is that if the dock is posted and you step on the dock you are commiting trespass. If it is not posted and you have not had a verbal communication from the owner to stay off the dock, it is not trespass, defined by statute.

He went on to point out that trespass is the hardest crime to prosecute. About the only way to get a conviction, is for the actors to be apprehended on the property by an officer if they are in sight of a No Trespassing Sign and have the owner of the property present as a witness and willing to swear out a complaint.

Read this and interpet as you may. This is Camden county and all the counties are different.

On unmarked docks, most covered with coon manure and duck crap, falling in the lake, where its plain no one has been around since Summer, or for that matter for who knows how long, I don't think its wrong to fish them. Just not on video.

[denjac]

When watching the show saw this on utube. Bill coulda used it.

[fishinwrench]

Bill, I wish I would have had the same Lawyer when I was fighting a trespassing charge on Gravois creek a few years back, there were no signs, no fences, and I accessed the creek from a county road bridge and stayed withing sight of it. I was never confronted by the supposed property owner....a deputy and MDC agent just SHOWED UP, told me I was trespassing and wrote me up.

What you said sounds like a very good argument, I would have to agree that is the way it SHOULD work out.

But I was given the whole "ignorance of the law" speech....and charged anyway. At the time I couldn't afford to fight it. (1000.00 to retain counsel). Different situations (creek vs. dock) but trespass is trespass I assumed.

In closing my input on this I guess I should state that I do service on boats at many of the condo and resort complexes here on LO. The people at some of them are pretty ticked about finding hooks hopelessly tangled in their ropes, holes ripped in their mooring covers from guys extracting their jig hooks, and hooks stuck in the hoist hoses. Like everything else, a few slobs can ruin things for everyone else. That's kinda where I was going when I mentioned the cell phone/driving thing in my earlier post.

For Example: I am perfectly capable of making a brief phone call or text while driving without killing anyone or mowing down any mailboxes...but because some teenagers and stressed out soccer Mom's can't seem to pull it off, it will soon be illegal.

[twosets]

More offensive than the boys climbing on the docs is the grammer.

"Me and Babler"

Phil Phil Phil

[ColdWaterFshr]

Interesting info from the legal eagle. Thanks for sharing that Bill. Still, even if a dock is NOT posted, I think most of us city folks (non-locals) would feel very uncomfortable tying up to someone's dock and geting out, walking around and amongst their various lake toys, and fishing right there.

If you wouldn't have the nerve to do it during the summer, why should you have the nerve to do it in the winter? -- just because you know no one's home? Or is it because you know that you'd be asked to leave more often than not during the summer (when people are there)?

It may not be trespassing, and it may be the norm among good ole boys during the winter months on certain parts of LOZ, but I dont think I would ever feel completely at ease fishing that way unless I had permission.

But I gotta say, it has a certain edginess to it that is appealing. Especially cleaning the fish on the dock.

[Phil Lilley]

I was not comfortable at all. Bill knew it. I think he was a little too.

Next time we'll have to find a way to catch those fish without getting off on the docks.

[fishinwrench]

We do a little thing called a slingshot cast. It's fun and works great. There's also baits like the Knight "Little Fishie" and a few other flat sided soft plastic minnow types that skip really well with a circular sidearm type cast. With a little practice you can shoot a jig under the dock from one side to the other, and in between the pieces of foam or encapsulated flotation. It's a neat technique, I'm sure there are a few video's on YouTube somewhere. Bill Dance even had a episode on it once.