# Frustration to a boiling point



## Shrimptail_Hunter (Dec 20, 2008)

I am getting sick and tired of seeing this. My community pond that a lot of community members paid to have stocked with crappie, channel cats, large mouth bass and thread fin shad just put this up. 

No wonder our youth is not getting in touch with the outdoors you can't do anything outside any more without getting harassed unless you pay to go some where.


----------



## slabnabbin (May 25, 2010)

That sucks! What subdivision is this?


----------



## bearwhiz (Jan 30, 2011)

I would get my community members together and approach the home owners association about it. They are the ones who had to vote on it to have it done.


----------



## SetDaHook (Oct 21, 2010)

bearwhiz said:


> I would get my community members together and approach the home owners association about it. They are the ones who had to vote on it to have it done.


Ditto that! It's your HOA dues that even made the lake possible to begin with, so you and the other residents have a say in how it's used. It's a shame that all of these new developments have all of these great amenities, and a few people mess something up (litter, graffiti, whatever ) and then the majority of residents are the ones that suffer. Actually, it's the kids who suffer because they're the ones thaty don't have access to fishing holes like we did when we were young. Good luck!


----------



## chucktx (Sep 12, 2011)

good luck!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Profish00 (May 21, 2004)

Signs are for non members of the community


----------



## scwine (Sep 7, 2006)

Profish00 said:


> Signs are for non members of the community


That's what I would think as well. 
A little too obvious to me if a resident knows that they helped pay for stocking it.


----------



## Profish00 (May 21, 2004)

My deer lease has no trespassing no hunting signs all over it, same thing at the lake house with no fishing signs. It's a private lake and deer lease. Both cost me fees to live there.


----------



## Quackerbox (Feb 6, 2006)

What signs??

Something to think about....say you fish who are they going to call? I assume its private property. 

The police is gonna show up and maybe ask you to go home. So you walk home and come back tomorrow.

They call the opossum cops and he shows up, you have a fishin license, live on the property and have access to the pond. Whats he gonna write you for? Fishin in a no fishin zone???

If it where me I'd keep fishin and let the chips fall where they may.

Just my .02


----------



## Davoh (Mar 5, 2010)

Hey Quackerbox, I would like agree... but what about kids? How do you teach the kids? "now little johnny, if you're gonna disobey the rules, you gotta know which ones you'll get in trouble for"


----------



## caldvn (Sep 25, 2009)

Davoh said:


> Hey Quackerbox, I would like agree... but what about kids? How do you teach the kids? "now little johnny, if you're gonna disobey the rules, you gotta know which ones you'll get in trouble for"


I would just tell Johnny that's bs and lets' catch some crappie I paid for.


----------



## Quackerbox (Feb 6, 2006)

caldvn said:


> I would just tell Johnny that's bs and lets' catch some crappie I paid for.


This.

Chances are I would have chipped in to pay for the fish just so my boy could fish in the back yard in the first place. That way he aint running all over the world doing who knows what or sitting in front of the Wii all day. Kids need to get out more.

Off the subject but denying neighborhood kids the opportunity to get out strikes a nerve with me. Video games, cell phones etc have a place but they cant substitute the outdoors and the real world and reminds me of something that happened the other day.

Somebody stopped me at the gas station the other day and asked me if I was the guy on the corner who had the deer feeder in the back yard. I says yes thats me. Then she asked me if that was my son in the back yard with a deer rifle? I says no thats not a deer rifle thats a scoped pellet gun (we have a .22 cal trap he shoots into off the patio right next to the 3d buck target we all shoot our bows into )and no hes not shooting at the deer. She basically went to tell me I needed to be a responsible parent. I politely told her to mind her own **** business and raise her own flippin kids and let me worry about mine.

FTR Id let him play dodge ball and try out for baseball with the chance of not getting picked to play like I did when I played little league as well.

Hellian parent regards


----------



## Long Pole (Jun 5, 2008)

Fish at night.


----------



## OWR (Dec 8, 2011)

This is happening at most of the sub division ponds.
The reason for this is liability. Many people these days do not want any personal responsibility for themselves or their children.

God forbid, your child walks down to the pond without you and something terrible happens, many people would look to sue the HOA for allowing them to fish and not providing any protection (lifeguards at the pool). With the signs and newsletters they have a small wall to protect themselves from these kinds of people.
The same thing could just as likely happen when you are at the lake.
My understanding is that the only person that can press charges for trespassing is the landowner or their designee. If the police show up, they may ask you to leave or check your ID and carry on, I have had this happen to neighbors
The position I have taken on this is I walk past the signs and fish. If I am challenged, I will take the legal action as far as I can to make my point, I am a land owner using the pond as designated in the HOA package I received when I purchased the home (recreational ponds).
I understand the HOA's position, I just do not agree with their opinion. 
Olen


----------



## CaptDocHoliday (Feb 3, 2011)

Sign is for the General Public. Residents are expemt.


----------



## boom! (Jul 10, 2004)

Time to teach lil johnny about big government and defiant acts of disobedience.


----------



## Jasmillertime (Mar 23, 2010)

boomgoon said:


> Time to teach lil johnny about big government and defiant acts of disobedience.


and how to use a hack saw :biggrin:


----------



## RATLTRAP (Sep 16, 2009)

A half inch wrench will probably take care of that problem. Or you can make a letter "G" sticker to put over the "N" in NO to where it says GO FISHING!!!


----------



## Swampus (Sep 1, 2005)

boomgoon said:


> Time to teach lil johnny about big government and defiant acts of disobedience.


"REVOLUTION!!" Gett Um' Boom!!

Really--get all the sub together and demand ur money back all at the same time for the stocking of the lake...............money talks and bet the sign fades away....

Good luck getting it back for all of you and the kids!:headknock


----------



## markbrumbaugh (Jul 13, 2010)

Feitctaj


----------



## markbrumbaugh (Jul 13, 2010)

markbrumbaugh said:


> Feitctaj


Last word is if they can't take a joke


----------



## markbrumbaugh (Jul 13, 2010)

boomgoon said:


> Time to teach lil johnny about big government and defiant acts of disobedience.


Yup


----------



## Shrimptail_Hunter (Dec 20, 2008)

I would fish at night but the pond closes at dust and is marked all the way around the walking trail and it also says no trespassing violators will be prosecuted. 

As for it being marked only for non residents my parents neighbors kids got picked up by the cops and taken home the other day for fishing by a culvert near there house on that pond. 

It ****** me off. Someone on the HOA probably is old and has nothing better to do then walk around that pond and call the cops on violators. It's not the kids are out on the streets on go carts ripping down streets like I use to do when I was younger and get escorted home by the cops. Where are we suppose to ride our go carts in parking lots and someone's land that allows you to have motorized vehicles on them. But when your 10-15 years old and your parents work like a dog the only way you can get your go carts to parking lots is ride them down the street. I'm getting sick of it.


----------



## Finn Maccumhail (Feb 16, 2009)

Shrimptail- you should be able to put your hands on the bylaws or covenants from the HOA when you (or your parents?) bought the house. That will detail stuff re: the ponds. I'm betting they have no authority to restrict access and those signs carry no legal weight. 

In most cases signage restricting access like that is illegal and unless there is fencing to control access neighborhoods/HOAs can't stop the public from using those facilities. 

My wife works for a residential developer and I'm in commercial real estate. If you want to pm me the neighborhood I can figure out who the developer is and who is managing the HOA. Then I can tell you who to b!tch at in this situation.


----------



## big-john (Jan 6, 2011)

I'd stop or call the cops that patrol the area and explain the situation and ask them if they have any authority to enforce the no fishing signs.Its likely that it is a civil matter and between you and your homeowners association,in which case just go fishing and let them take you to court if they don't like it .


----------



## jas415 (May 25, 2009)

*fishing rights*

There are always several different sides to any story. If it is a Legally required 'detention' areas, and I would bet it is as all new subdivisions are required to detain the runoff, then the HOA usually only owns the 'amenity' part, where the water is at normal pool level. If the HOA actually owns the 'detention area, from the normal pool level up to the top of the slope that would contain all the runoff, then they can make rules for being on the property. There are actually two legal parts, the detention area and the amenity area. Find out who own which! Sometimes the local water district owns the detention part and they make rules for access to the ground around the amenity.

Second, where are they getting the water to keep the ponds at a constant level? If they are using runoff or actually pumping water from the local water system then the water is okay for 'human contact', but if they are using the discharge from the sewer treatment plants to keep the water at a 'pool level', then the EPA requires the 'no contact' sign.

Seems to me that the reason for the signs is something 'legal' so I would contact the Water District and the HOA to get answers. We have similar ponds, stocked, maintained, etc., and we have 'fishing' signs and rules around the place. We have no legal size or bag limits, no license required, as it is not a 'natural' pond where the state waters flow into it. We have feeders on all three ponds and we 'sample' and re-stock every year. We have 8 and 10lb bass, 3 to 5 lb catfish, and tons of large bream.


----------



## That Robbie Guy (Aug 11, 2009)

... sounds like a fight i'd be willing to take.


----------



## johnmyjohn (Aug 6, 2006)

We have lakes with the same signs but with an up to possible $5k fine. I found out while the builder had control of the HOA rules they gave the lakes or bodies of water to the tax district. This gave them a break on insurance due to liability relief. The kicker is the land all the way around these bodies of water belong to the subdivision. When the HOA took control they appointed a person over the lakes who thinks the fish are his pets. I asked him about the residents fishing and he said it was OK but catch and release only and daylights only. I still find it hard to send or take kids down there to fish next to the signs, esspecially if they can read. Politics has never been my better side and unfortunately if I can battle the HOA I still would have to fight the district. My original HOA rules had nothing in it about no fishing or giving the lakes away.


----------



## Quackerbox (Feb 6, 2006)

johnmyjohn said:


> We have lakes with the same signs but with an up to possible $5k fine. I found out while the builder had control of the HOA rules they gave the lakes or bodies of water to the tax district. This gave them a break on insurance due to liability relief. The kicker is the land all the way around these bodies of water belong to the subdivision. When the HOA took control they appointed a person over the lakes who thinks the fish are his pets. I asked him about the residents fishing and he said it was OK but catch and release only and daylights only. I still find it hard to send or take kids down there to fish next to the signs, esspecially if they can read. Politics has never been my better side and unfortunately if I can battle the HOA I still would have to fight the district. My original HOA rules had nothing in it about no fishing or giving the lakes away.


No trying to start a battle but how can an HOA make a class C misdemeanor have a fine of 5k? Even if you can prove a 'criminal trespass' the max fine is only 1500


----------



## johnmyjohn (Aug 6, 2006)

You got me on that, maybe having to do with the lake itself being gov. property?


----------



## Finn Maccumhail (Feb 16, 2009)

johnmyjon- FYI, is the bypass don't allow for that transfer they can't just prevent access. And if the HOA is overseeing things now it would be worthwhile to get some neighbors together and get rid of the turd putting up the signs.

Few things **** me off worse than chicken-shit like this. A big reason people pie hase homes in master-planned communities with amenities like neighborhood ponds. And they market the neighborhoods with ads showing families fishing in them only to change the rules after you buy the house.

I get not wanting to have every slappy from miles around pulling all the fish out of a stocked pond but blocking residents from access seems to me a worthy cause for somebody like Smarr's group to file suit.


----------



## Quackerbox (Feb 6, 2006)

johnmyjohn said:


> You got me on that, maybe having to do with the lake itself being gov. property?


Dont see that working either. Meaning I dont see dad and junior getting taken to federal court for fishin in a no fishin zone. County court isnt going to hear a case filed on the goverments behalf either.

Either way its hog wash! I fish a pond in a neighborhood I havent lived in for 9 years. Once Ive been stopped by the pond **** that still lives there. I remembered him but he didnt remember me from when I did live there. He told me I needed written permission from a landowner to fish which is fine. I could get one for everyday of the week. After explaining I didnt plan on keeping anything and told him of the amounts of bass I had released from conroe and fayette in the lake he let me fish

FISH ON!!


----------



## fluffycharm (Jun 20, 2005)

let's do a 2coolfishing day...we all show up bbq and fish the pond out...and do a fish fry...and never have to worry about the fish dying bc they have ran out of food or competition or water drying up and low oxygen...


----------

