re: Gating canals in houma area

Really!!! I have fished "private" canals my entire life. You can't even travel to "public water" without trespassing. I can't stand a thief, vandal, poacher etc. I do not own bolt cutters. But to see places that responsible outdoorsman have fished with their parents and grandparents and now can't take their children is just horrible. I took a trip to lake fork in 2010 with my dad and all I heard from our guide was he would never come back to Louisiana after being run out of a canal that had no gate or posted signs. Maybe the honest fisherman should do a better job of helping wildlife agents. I don't know the solution, I just think it's sad. I fish the lake verret area.. If all the canals like cracker head, the oxy fields become off limits like Curtis breaux has it would be really tragic

I agree... I have talked to cops and game wardens and they don't want the private canal issue to come up. It's like I said in an earlier post... You have to trespass in bayou black. You can not get to public water without traveling through a private canal

I fish an old aluminum boat

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Has anyone ever gotten fined and had to come out of pocket?

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I got a ticket a while back, but nothing ever became of it for a myriad of different reasons. I like to run my mouth a little bit about ignoring a lot of posted signs, and that's not a lie but this ticket was more of a show of power than it was a criminal complaint. I was not trespassing. The reality of the situation is it's nearly impossible to prove on way or the other. Nobody really knows for sure what is public and what is private. We have a pretty good idea of what would be private based on the way the lots were divided, but the waterways that run through them may not necessarily be private. It's possible for a water way to shift from the public trust to private control, and ice versa. Not to mention bayous, creeks, canals and what have you that once served as boundaries or property markers have shifted and around and moved so much over the better part of 200 years that the lines become blurred. It's entirely possible to be trespassing by simply being to close to one side or the other of a historically navigable canal.

Despite all the bullshite, I'm on the land owners side for the most part. My beef stems from earlier generations raping our marsh and leaving this vanishing resource in their wake. What we have is private, and rightfully so, canals being gated off and people being pissed off for the wrong reason. The gate isn't the problem, it's never been the problem. The canal is the problem. Once navigable waterways have been altered to the point they are no longer usable in a lot of places and the only remaining safe passage is through these oil and gas canals.

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Also the general,public , all us taxpayers and fishing license holders would like to be informed as to what the future holds for us. Someone who's already purchased a lifetime fishing license deserves an answer even more

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I don't like to be discouraging, especially when it comes to enjoying one of the greatest and unique natural resources in North America. The sad reality is you will never get any straight answer from any local or state government. Nobody will give you a map, at least not willingly. Nobody in any authoritative position will say one way or the other what areas you can and can not access freely. Nobody can show you what is public outside of WMA's. The eastern side of lake Tambour is private, would you like to take a stab at where in that wide open body of water there is a property line?

It's a real problem that will continue to grow unless people become more vocal. CCA isn't doing anyone any favors and they are our biggest lobby when it comes to the marsh. They want nothing to do with the problem. As long as we have people like those turds who cut off public access fouchon beach with zero repercussion, our shallow water marsh fishing will be chipped away until it's confined to land leased or owned by the state. This assuming someone like Biloxi Marsh Co or Delacroix land continues to allow access out of the kindness of their own hearts.

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I have talked to cops and game wardens and they don't want the private canal issue to come up.

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May be true for the marsh, but in other parts of the state they are eager and willing to help run people off and write fines.

I will say the marsh is a totally different animal than say the Breaux Canal and issues along rivers north of I-10.

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As long as we have people like those turds who cut off public access fouchon beach

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You can still access by water. The beach is closed until they finish the restoration project supposedly reopening sometime this year.

I never asked for your sympathy.

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I will say the marsh is a totally different animal than say the Breaux canal and issues along rivers north of I-10

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I've never had or seen any issues with this subject other than below I-10. You have to way out of your way to trasspass most other areas I've ever fished north of that.

Ok

You gonna sic your insurance company on me?