Old fishing holes that are off limits anymore

[Will Ketchum]

There are two places I can think of that are unavailable anymore.

 

One is a former water company reservoir that was a backup should it be needed. It was lightly fished and the bass and bluegills grew to a healthy size. When the water company decided to sell it, a nearby private community at another lake bought it to construct summer homes. Gone.

 

Another was access to places on the Susquehanna river. We got to the river at that time using the railroad company property. We could cross the tracks or drive down the dirt road they used. From illegal dumping and ATVs probably it's now gated. Gone.

 

It seems to be the trend anymore and fishermen end up at public areas trying to fish with 10,000 others.

[Bankc]

The best spots are usually the most packed.  In the age of online satellite maps and social media, if you find a good spot, word will get out.  

 

I know of a few lakes and rivers that are never busy.  But they're either a long drive, in a dangerous area, or filled with garbage (or some combination thereof).  And none of them are good fishing lakes.  But you can still catch bass on them, and if you crave being alone more that catching fish, they're good places to be.  They also benefit from the age of the internet, in that everyone bad mouths them, so no one is willing to check them out in person.  And while none are good, none are as bad as what most people say they are.  

[BrianMDTX]

23 minutes ago, Will Ketchum said:

There are two places I can think of that are unavailable anymore.

 

One is a former water company reservoir that was a backup should it be needed. It was lightly fished and the bass and bluegills grew to a healthy size. When the water company decided to sell it, a nearby private community at another lake bought it to construct summer homes. Gone.

 

Another was access to places on the Susquehanna river. We got to the river at that time using the railroad company property. We could cross the tracks or drive down the dirt road they used. From illegal dumping and ATVs probably it's now gated. Gone.

 

It seems to be the trend anymore and fishermen end up at public areas trying to fish with 10,000 others.

Are you talking about the area on the left side of Rt. 1 as soon as you cross the Conowingo Dam and pass Rt. 222? When I was a kid we’d park there and walk up the tracks to what looked like a big pond with a small and short access to the reservoir. There were some monster 8”-10” bluegills there and some big bass. Never caught the bass lol but we did catch many of those fat bluegills. 
 

I think the access closed shortly after 9/11. 

[the reel ess]

Warm water discharges at nuclear plants used to be the ticket in winter. Now you can't get close to them since 911. There' used to be one near here everyone called simply The Hot Hole.

[Jar11591]

One rock quarry I used to fish had several quarry ponds in it. Deep, crystal clear and lots of big fish. The stone company that owned it allowed people to fish it as long as it was after work hours. Over the span of a couple years, it got extremely popular with swimmers. Dozens and dozens of swimmers could be there any given Saturday or Sunday, and they would always leave a ton of trash. Beer bottles and garbage and big bonfire remains were all over the place. So the company blocked off the path to get back there, put up no trespassing signs, and that was the end of that. Infuriating. People suck. 
 

Another place that comes to mind is a lake that has the most beautifully colored smallmouth in it. It’s on private land, but has a small dirt road and launch that the owner allows the public to access. Last October I drove up to fish it, and found the road to be gated by the owner. But it was off peak season so the owner may have gated it just for the winter. So this spring I’ll be driving up to see if it’s off limits permanently. Hope not. 

[Bankbeater]

I have three places near me where you can no longer fish.  Two were private pay lakes on farms.  One farm was sold to developers and turned into a sub division, the other was purchased by a paintball company. The third lake is owned by the Conservation Dept. and turned into a dog training lake.

[padlin]

We’ve lost almost all our hunting ground, mostly full of oversized homes with posted property. Much of it is timber co owned and posted. We’ve got whole towns that are by permit only.

 

Have our share of private ponds but many have state property for access points. What’s lost was lost long ago.

[king fisher]

     I grew up fishing a creek where it opens up in to a big flat pasture surrounded by basalt cliffs.  After a couple miles of what looks like a small lake, it narrows back down to a stream, and eventually goes over a water fall, and continues on to a major river.

      In the later winter early spring, I caught many large rainbow and brown trout, in the pool below the falls.  In the late spring summer, I fished for largemouth in the slow water, and small mouth in the faster water.  On slow days, I would catch crappy and bluegill for dinner.  In the fall I hunted ducks, geese, pheasants, quail, huns, mule, and white tail deer, in the pasture and scab lands along the creek.

      I climbed, all the bluffs cliffs, and explored every draw, and valley.  Some older kids made a diving board, and my friends and I spent countless hours swimming there.  Before I was old enough to drive, my mom would drop me off at the bridge above the pasture, and I would spend all day hunting and fishing.  One summer day the bass fishing was so good, I kept fishing while my Mom kept honking her horn, waiting for me on the bridge.  I new I was going to be in the biggest trouble of my life, but I had just caught a five pound bass and lost another, and decided what ever punishment she could give me would be worth one more cast.  When I got old enough to drive I

would go there at least a couple days a week all year long.

        It was and still is a small piece of paradise on earth.  Unfortunately the rancher that owned the land sold it to a man from Seattle, who built a better fence, put up hundreds of no trespassing sings, and ran off any locals kids and adults at gun point.  The sad thing is he doesn't even fish or hunt there more than once or twice a year.

       After being away for years in Alaska, I went back home to visit, and of course the first place I wanted to go was this creek.  Friends told me that I could no longer step foot on the place.  I felt like I hadn't truly visited home.  Some people want to see the school they went to, a favorite place to eat, or a place they just hung out at when they were young.  All I wanted to do was cast a lure for a bass in my favorite fishing whole.  It was more than a place to catch fish, when I was young it was my second home.

      Not much I can do.  The man owns the land, and even after begging him to let me catch a few bass and let them go, he told me to stay off the property.  He lives 250 miles away and is never around, so I could simply sneak on the place, but it wouldn't be the same looking over my shoulder all the time, besides I have to respect a private property owners rights, and stay away.

      If I ever win the lottery, I will buy that pasture and put feel free to fish and hunt signs up the day I sign the papers.  I currently have great bass fishing in Mexico where I live, but would give up every DD bass I have caught in Mexico, if I could spend a few weeks, at my old fishing hole.

     I plan on retiring in the farm community where I grew up.  I can only hope by then, someone else owns that property.

      

 

[Jar11591]

4 hours ago, Will Ketchum said:

It seems to be the trend anymore and fishermen end up at public areas trying to fish with 10,000 others.

There are not many groups I can think of that stand to lose more to urban or commercial expansion than sportsmen and women. 
 

 

@king fisher dang dude that was sad to read. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

37 minutes ago, king fisher said:

     I grew up fishing a creek where it opens up in to a big flat pasture surrounded by basalt cliffs.  After a couple miles of what looks like a small lake, it narrows back down to a stream, and eventually goes over a water fall, and continues on to a major river.

      In the later winter early spring, I caught many large rainbow and brown trout, in the pool below the falls.  In the late spring summer, I fished for largemouth in the slow water, and small mouth in the faster water.  On slow days, I would catch crappy and bluegill for dinner.  In the fall I hunted ducks, geese, pheasants, quail, huns, mule, and white tail deer, in the pasture and scab lands along the creek.

      I climbed, all the bluffs cliffs, and explored every draw, and valley.  Some older kids made a diving board, and my friends and I spent countless hours swimming there.  Before I was old enough to drive, my mom would drop me off at the bridge above the pasture, and I would spend all day hunting and fishing.  One summer day the bass fishing was so good, I kept fishing while my Mom kept honking her horn, waiting for me on the bridge.  I new I was going to be in the biggest trouble of my life, but I had just caught a five pound bass and lost another, and decided what ever punishment she could give me would be worth one more cast.  When I got old enough to drive I

would go there at least a couple days a week all year long.

        It was and still is a small piece of paradise on earth.  Unfortunately the rancher that owned the land sold it to a man from Seattle, who built a better fence, put up hundreds of no trespassing sings, and ran off any locals kids and adults at gun point.  The sad thing is he doesn't even fish or hunt there more than once or twice a year.

       After being away for years in Alaska, I went back home to visit, and of course the first place I wanted to go was this creek.  Friends told me that I could no longer step foot on the place.  I felt like I hadn't truly visited home.  Some people want to see the school they went to, a favorite place to eat, or a place they just hung out at when they were young.  All I wanted to do was cast a lure for a bass in my favorite fishing whole.  It was more than a place to catch fish, when I was young it was my second home.

      Not much I can do.  The man owns the land, and even after begging him to let me catch a few bass and let them go, he told me to stay off the property.  He lives 250 miles away and is never around, so I could simply sneak on the place, but it wouldn't be the same looking over my shoulder all the time, besides I have to respect a private property owners rights, and stay away.

      If I ever win the lottery, I will buy that pasture and put feel free to fish and hunt signs up the day I sign the papers.  I currently have great bass fishing in Mexico where I live, but would give up every DD bass I have caught in Mexico, if I could spend a few weeks, at my old fishing hole.

     I plan on retiring in the farm community where I grew up.  I can only hope by then, someone else owns that property.

      

 

Dang right in the feels.

 

I'm living out a true lifelong dream currently being able to pursue a giant on the lake I grew up spending my entire childhood on.   Camped out, swam, catfished with my first GF, stunk out and met a girl for the first time and made out on her dad's pontoon, spent countless summer nights in HS night Bassin which had a profound effect on me to this day.     Had numerous rope swings, we'd spend hours shooting bb guns at fish, never hitting a single one lol.    We'd throw M80s in there as well.   No supervisor.....pure unaltered nature, the greatest gift a child could ever receive, especially in 2023!

 

I remember running home with a stringer of about 15-20 Bream with the biggest pride smile an 8-9yr old could have, then I saw the look on my parents face ?

[DitchPanda]

There's a gravel company north of town that used to.allow fishing in the pits outside of working hours. They were a goldmine for bass, big crappie and walleye. Of course some morons kept going out there during business hours so they shut down the fishing. I know plenty of guys who sneak out there, several of them have got trespassing tickets. Heard the fishing is still fantastic, but its not worth the legal hassle.

[gim]

4 hours ago, padlin said:

We’ve lost almost all our hunting ground, mostly full of oversized homes with posted property

I’ve lost permission to hunt on some private property that I used to be able to hunt over the years. Mostly for 1 of 2 reasons: either the landowner moved and the new owner declined to offer me permission, or the land was converted into agriculture. Landowners often turn marginal land into row crops because they can make more money off that than just leaving it as grassland, brush, and/or trees. It’s worse in states like South Dakota and Iowa than it is here too.

 

I cant think of any location or water body that was previously open to me for public fishing that is now off limits. Sometimes river levels get too low and that can limit access to certain areas. That has happened here the past two seasons because of drought.

[Dogface]

8 hours ago, Will Ketchum said:

Another was access to places on the Susquehanna river. We got to the river at that time using the railroad company property. We could cross the tracks or drive down the dirt road they used. From illegal dumping and ATVs probably it's now gated. Gone.

 

 

Norfolk Southern posted their right of way because of fear of getting sued if someone was injured or killed. I remember when they did it because many folks had camps or cabins on the river and you had to cross the NS tracks to get to them. The guys with camps tried to work out access with NS but I never heard what happened. 

 

 

[ironbjorn]

You shouldn't break the law. You shouldn't break the law. You shouldn't break the law.

 

But everything is bought up and posted anymore, so I don't fault people or care that they ignore signs. Soon enough you'll need a boat to bass fish because public lakes with no shoreline is all the future holds at this rate.

[Bluebasser86]

The lake I grew up fishing was semi private, membership only type deal. We had a camper on the lake and from the time I was about 11 until I was around 18, I spent all my free time there. Bought my first boat from a guy on the lake, caught my first 5lb largemouth, my first flathead catfish, so many good memories. The guy that owned it decided to end the lease with the guy that ran the lake and built houses around it. I still don't understand that because the guy that owned the lake was an avid hunter and made good money leasing the lake property to all the members and it was well taken care of. So he lost a constant source of income and a great piece of hunting property that I know he'd taken many big deer off of, for one big check when the property was sold. 

[T-Billy]

11 hours ago, Will Ketchum said:

From illegal dumping and ATVs probably it's now gated. Gone.

We've lost several unimproved "ramps" on the river in my area for those exact reasons, especially the dumping. 

[T-Billy]

7 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Dang right in the feels.

 

I'm living out a true lifelong dream currently being able to pursue a giant on the lake I grew up spending my entire childhood on.   Camped out, swam, catfished with my first GF, stunk out and met a girl for the first time and made out on her dad's pontoon, spent countless summer nights in HS night Bassin which had a profound effect on me to this day.     Had numerous rope swings, we'd spend hours shooting bb guns at fish, never hitting a single one lol.    We'd throw M80s in there as well.   No supervisor.....pure unaltered nature, the greatest gift a child could ever receive, especially in 2023!

 

I remember running home with a stringer of about 15-20 Bream with the biggest pride smile an 8-9yr old could have, then I saw the look on my parents face ?

I'm living that same dream brother. Bought a home in my childhood hometown last May. Population, about 350.  I'm 1/2 block from the lake. One mile from a launch ramp, and fifteen minutes from the ramps at my favorite fishing lake. Moving back here was like moving back in time a few decades. #Blessed

[Susky River Rat]

13 hours ago, Will Ketchum said:

Another was access to places on the Susquehanna river. We got to the river at that time using the railroad company property. We could cross the tracks or drive down the dirt road they used. From illegal dumping and ATVs probably it's now gated. Gone.

Sounds like you are talking about redhill. Can’t forget the warm waters on the west shore at Brunner. As soon as you pull up there in a boat their security is there making sure you don’t go past their cable. They also basically shut down the catwalk. Not officially as far as I know but, I can’t see them ever letting people on it again with the new fish slide 

[N Florida Mike]

I could write a book on this for my area. I grew up in a semi-rural area that is now in the suburbs. Many of the ponds  in the woods back then are now surrounded by homes or businesses. 

The hunting spots are worse ,if anything. A hunt club ran dogs for deer in an area that was wide open, app. 30,000 acres. There is now maybe 8000 acres of it left, and they are developing it as fast as they can.

One example of the fishing loss of spots is the St Johns river system.  One creek off the river is just 15 minutes from where I grew up. Caught a 5 pounder in there once. My friend lived near it , and we would have bb gun wars along it’s banks , and fish in between the trees and brush along its banks. We used to wade all up and down it too, because it had sand bars and little holes in it. At where it went into the river there was a dock we fished on or wade fished in the river. 
It’s been surrounded by a nieghborhood now for many years , with no access.

When it got closed , I started fishing more 20 miles down the river. There was an access at the end of a road that you could hand launch a jon boat. Then they built a house there and it closed.

I went another 10 miles further, and found a great wade fishing area. Went there for years, especially for the huge bream I caught under shrimp platform docks . Where I parked was only 20 feet from the river access. 
The last day I went, someone had put up a white vinyl fence! People had fished there for centuries, and I didn’t see any signs, so I went under the fence, fished, and when I returned, I saw it… A no tress passing sign on a cypress tree facing the river.

I was outraged, to say the least.?

I never went back…

[AlabamaSpothunter]

4 hours ago, T-Billy said:

I'm living that same dream brother. Bought a home in my childhood hometown last May. Population, about 350.  I'm 1/2 block from the lake. One mile from a launch ramp, and fifteen minutes from the ramps at my favorite fishing lake. Moving back here was like moving back in time a few decades. #Blessed

Love hearing that brother, especially in the times we live in.   I reached a put where I thought my fuse was gonna blow in 2020/21, I think rediscovering Bass fishing and this community has helped heal my soul.     

[Blue Raider Bob]

Went back home last fall for a visit with my sisters. Took some time for myself and visited the Mississippi River, and one of the old Oxbows I fished as a kid. The lake is called Dacus Lake and it is on the west side of the river near Memphis. The entire property was purchased by a duck hunting club many years ago and is now private property. I could only stand on the bank and wish I was out there once again. The entire lake was void of fishermen and has been for years. Quite an eerie site. When I was a kid, the banks were alive with the local folks sitting on buckets and worm fishing with cane poles. No telling how great the fishing would be now. 

[cheezyridr]

delaware being a tiny state,  you have basically 3 choices

1)public access lakes in the lower part of the state

2) a handful of creeks and a couple public access ponds in the upper county. 

3) saltwater

 

i like bass. that kills $ 3 for me. i don't have a boat, that kills #1.  the public access ponds above the canal suck, so i avoid them. that leaves small creeks, and the brandywine river/creek, mostly.  in the valley, where all the money lives, there are tons of little ponds all over the place.  they're all privately owned, and no one wants outsiders there. i don't trespass. 

there is another place, a place of legend...

it has always been off-limits.  but some people still sneak in there. hoopes resevoir.

it is suspected by many, that most (if not all) of the big bass people claim to have caught in the brandywine or the christiana, actually come from hoopes.  the fines, criminal record,  and possible civil asset forfeiture that comes from getting caught there doesn't seem to be prohibitive to some people - until they get caught, i suppose.  

[Gera]

Anyone with a happy story??

[Swamp Girl]

This is the saddest thread. I even teared up reading king fisher's account. This line is heart-breaking.

 

16 hours ago, king fisher said:

I currently have great bass fishing in Mexico where I live, but would give up every DD bass I have caught in Mexico, if I could spend a few weeks, at my old fishing hole.

 

I wish I could make your dream come true, king fisher. I know it's not the same, but I can put you on pristine water chock full of bass in Maine if you ever want. I was born in Washington state, so I speak from experience when I say that this side of the country is just as pretty as the Pacific side.

 

I moved too much in my life to see water lost to development, but there are two local lakes here in Maine that have been blocked by rich people. They can't own the lakes, but they do own the access. I emailed both the landowners requesting permission and both replied, but they're deeply suspicious...of an old woman in a canoe. Both moved here from New York City, buying hundreds of acres and both post pics of their paradises on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, etc., flaunting what they have.

 

However, here's your positive story, Gera:

 

I think I can reach one of the lakes by driving down a power line cut, which they don't own, and mucking my way through a swamp, which they don't own. I think I can reach the other through a mile of tiny creek paddling, which they don't own, and likely dragging my canoe over beaver dams. If I run into them, they can photograph me all soggy, muddy, scratched, and grinning, and post me on their idyllic social media accounts, beside their pretty pics of them pretending to live the northwoods life. 

[roadwarrior]

14 minutes ago, Gera said:

Anyone with a happy story??

Sure...

Out here in the Wild West the fishing opportunities are unlimited!  Hundreds of miles

of lake access and thousands of miles of river front. If you can't find some place to

fish, you aren't trying. We catch lots of bass and every other freshwater species, both

big and small. If you are looking for monsters, the Mid South has produced World

Records for a number of species. If it's numbers that you are after, we have crappie,

bluegill, white bass, catfish and tons of trash fish.