Private,state, or Federal? Seems the Federal government has the final desigination of rights on useage. That Federal decision being dictated by a judges whim. I'm not saying the judges decisions are right, wrong, good or bad. It may be best to use a waterway as you wish for as long as you can without bringing the useage up to a higher official (Being)?

In Pennsylvania, my understanding of the law is that the property owner owns the streambed under the water and any dry land - stream banks, islands, exposed sandbars, etc.  However, if at any time in history, the water has been designated as navigable, you are allowed to float or wade.  You may be prevented from stepping ashore by the owner, but he/she cannot tell you to "walk on water".

There's been a bit of controversy over this topic in PA, as it seems there is controversy everywhere - with some stories of PA landowners stringing cables across streams that are paddled by kayakers and used by trout fishermen - a rather dangerous situation potentially.  Unfortunately, I can't recall if I ever read about whether or not the landowner is allowed to do such a thing and if that cable (or others like it) are removed once the authorities become involved.

Don't sweat it...you're in a Kevlar canoe....Bring your own gun!

HaHa...

No, we have not fished Kohler but good guess. I did take a quick peek at Kohler and Sheboygan Falls once just to see what it looked like on New Years Eve coming back from a different trip.

It was a different golf course farther south, but I think they have now removed the dam that helped create the gravel beds. My 2 friends and I were a little startled when we looked up on the hike in and were told to leave by the gentleman standing on the railroad track crossing. We had walked this creek upstream and down and never had a problem years before or after that day. 

I can see how people would not want a complete zoo occuring, and in some cases on other streams I have seen it get quite crowded. I tried to avoid all of that. I think it might also help if you can not be so obtrusive or obvious, standing in the open or in peoples way??

BT

Quote:

Sheboygan River...Kohler by any chance?

The Beaver

In Ohio the water is public but the stream bed is private.  I found out the hard way while wading a small stream and arguing with a land owner who later in the discussion revealed a gun.  It was at that point that I was told to walk on water.  This somewhat irritated land owner followed me to my car which was over a mile upstream with a handgun at his side.  That was a long walk.  I stopped fishing there and also stopped arguing with strangers that day.  A law I will never forget.  Cedarstripper

From what I have been told here in Ky the water is public but the soil, including the stream bottom, is considered private property.

We have been told to leave the river or be arrested while standing in the water and trying to fish in southeastern Wisconsin. I asked the off-duty police officer employed as a security guard if he knew what a navigable waterway was, but my friends thought we should just go. Then found my car had a ticket in a well used parking area off of the road we have used for years. I suggest bringing a copy of the law for your state with you on small streams.

BT

Just found this on an Iowa Paddlers club's site... interesting... sounds like in Iowa, the "high water mark" law only applies to the lower portions of river where they become much larger...



"In Iowa, on those rivers designated as meandered (see list below), the state owns the stream bed up to the normal high water mark. On those designated as non-meandered, the state owns the water only, and the adjacent land owners own the stream bed.

It's often said that if you step out of your boat on a non-meandered river, technically you are trespassing. This may not be so, as this could be considered a part of "navigating" (see below). But it's never been tested in court.

There are (portions of) 13 interior rivers classified as meandered:

Cedar, lower 157 miles beginning near Cedar Falls
Des Moines, 278 miles, mouth to confluence of east & west forks
East Fork DM, mouth to north edge of Algona, 39 miles
West Fork DM, mouth to Emmetsburg, 44 miles
Iowa, lower 123 miles beginning west of Marengo
Maqouketa, lower 26 miles beginning near Maquoketa
Little Maquoketa, lower 2 miles
Nishnabotna, lower 6 miles
Raccoon, mouth to Dallas-Polk County line, 13 miles
Skunk, lower 61 miles (none of the South Skunk)
Turkey River, lower 58 miles beginning near Clermont
Upper Iowa River, lower 6 miles
Wapsipinicon, lower 98 miles beginning near Central City

"Meandered" is a surveyor's term going back to when the state was first surveyed.

The Iowa DNR has this to say about public waters: "Water occurring in any river, stream or creek having definite banks and bed with visible eveidence of the flow of water is declared to be public waters of the state of Iowa and subject to use by the public for navigation purposes in accordance with law".

Iowa further defines "navigable waters" as "all lakes, rivers and streams, which can support a vessel capable of carrying one or more persons during a total of six months period in one out of every ten years". The US Supreme Court has ruled that a stream may be navigable even if it contains some obstructions.

Where a public road crosses a stream, the road right-of-way extends across the stream and it's banks. You may encounter and cross a fence in the right-of-way, but, as with those encountered in a stream, do not damage it."

I used to live on a river in Wisconsin and there the rule is land that goes from the actual river's edge to the OHWM (Ordinary High Water Mark) is not directly owned by the property owner...it is public  property (although you can mow it and maintain it like it was yours).  Thus, on a flowing river, I could walk the shoreline between the OHWM and the actual waterline and not be trespassing.

My dad had told me it was a federal law, but looking at

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it seems it was just a state law.