re: Gating canals in houma area

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Lost for words on this topic... I do not carry bolt cutters. I do not vandalize.. I just hate being a responsible bass fisherman who is losing places to fish. I do not cross posted signs or gates... Also I don't carry a gun so when I see the thread getting violent I just want people to know I am a peaceful bass fisherman that is upset

I am with you 100%.. The laws in Louisiana need to be discussed.. Fisherman need to be respectful, but demand the conversation to take place.. We need to look at laws other states have and have a healthy debate. Conservation, navigable waterways and other issues need to addressed

Great point.. Talk to anyone from another state about this topic

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Arky friend of mine told me that the big navagable rivers up there have public access every so many miles as required by law. 

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Are these waterways owned by the state? The problem here is state owned river bottom versus private owned river bottom. It has nothing to do with the canal being navagable.

Don't know if all these other states have the same scenario where private land owners created the canals as we did.

Exactly. People keep citing other states laws. No one has the oilfield in their wetlands the way LA does. Those rivers are public waterways much like our main bayous which are public. If an Arkansas hunter owned a thousand acres of land and decided to dredge a canal from the river to the center of his property, im sure that canal doesn't suddenly become public. But they probably never have to deal with that since why would anyone do it.

It sucks. I fished a lot of private marsh (no no trespassing signs) and would hate to lose it all. But fact is, these are private.

Think of it as a road. Most roads are provided by the state or federal government. But you can connect a private road or driveway to that road and have it go on your private property. People don't have enough a right to your road just because it's connected to the state highway. Sucks if you've been using it with no problems then the owner suddenly puts up a gate. But it doesn't make it wrong for the owner to put up a gate. It's their right.

Exactly..... Great post dock

Bottomline is landowners just need to stop being assholes about this. If they start gating my spots off, I'm selling my boat. Think of the money the state would lose if this happens in sales tax via-licenses, tackle, bait, gas, etc. not to mention places that would go out of business.

Not arguing the damage caused in some cases. But fight that fight. Don't take up the cause of "your canals messed up the main canal, now I get to use your property as if it were my own"

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 Of the millions of acres of marsh that make Louisiana what it is, only a very small portion is in fact navigable by Louisiana law. The "fact" needs to be discussed and potentially altered, because as it reads today we are all trespassers when we leave a coastal marina by boat

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So we should all be trespassers since Louisiana has so much to offer?? Because millions of acres exost, and it hasn't been gated before, you should have a right to it.??

And the not being able to navigate is false. You can go plenty of places...just not into the actual marsh in most places. Bayous, bays, lakes, etc. for the most part are still accessible.

lic. If an Arkansas hunter owned a thousand acres of land and decided to dredge a canal from the river to the center of his property, im sure that canal doesn't suddenly become public.

No. But it should