freshwater access in MA

[Jacob K.]

i went fishing today at the pond i grew up bass fishing in newton. unfortunatly i did not catch anything, though i did see a few pickeral chasing my lure. there is a park that goes down to the water and houses are on the shore on either side of the park. if you wade one way there is a sign on a fence that comes out into the water and says 'no trespassing police take notice' is that legal? on the other side of the park there are no signs and i waded off to that side. but are people allowed to limit fresh water access in MA?

[h20]

The answer is yes and no. If the pond is 10 acres or better, then it is considered a "great pond" in Massachusetts. Great ponds belong to the people of Mass, and that property begins at the mean high water line (an average based on recorded water levels). So if it is a great pond, they have no right to limit access on property they don't own. If the pond is less than 10 acres, they may can actually own the land under part of a pond, or all of a pond. That can only be verified by looking at their deed. If they do own that land under the water, then they have every right to limit access. Hope that helps.

[Jacob K.]

thanks. i looked it up, it is 33 acres and is state owned. does that mean i can just ignore the no trespassing police take notice sign?

[bdowning]

Jacob,

Basically it comes down to how much grief you want to put up with. On great ponds, it's legal to walk anywhere as long as you don't tread above mean high water. In the spring, the water level is essentially at the highest level of the year (although this may or may not be the case for water levels that are manipulated, like reservoirs). Bottom line is, on ponds with residential frontage I try to wade and remain IN the water when passing in front of someone's property. 99 % of the time the homeowners are fine with that and often don't mind people walking or even still fishing from their shoreline. It's only when slobs throw litter on a property or damage something that conflicts arise.

I believe the Mass Public Access Board has a page on legal rights of public access on waterways. If you really want to protect yourself, print out a copy and keep it with you. In the rare event that a homeowner objects to your presence, explain your rights to them, tell them you'll be considerate of their property, etc. If they still object after that, if it were me I'd simply leave. It's not worth the aggravation and the police will likely throw you out regardless of the legality. In the 30 + years I've been freshwater fishing, however, I have yet to encounter problems with property owners.

-bd