State Permits for lakes that adjoin two states....rip off.

[32251]

Found a nice little funky fish camp RV in Alabama. I live in Georgia. The lake (Weiss) is in Alabama and a section of it is in Georgia.  I looked up the permits on the Alabama website. I would be required to have a NON resident permit to fish the section of the lake in ALabama where my fish camp RV that I own is permanently set up. Cost of the permit is $46 as opposed to a $12 resident fee. That will be $138 for the three folks in my family!!

I don't understand why two states that share a common border with a lake that also shares the same border can't honor each others' permit, or at least charge the same rate.

Why should a non resident rate cost almost 3 times more??

Am I wrong about this??

[Fishing Rhino]

I'd think the two states would "honor" the license of the other in cases where a body of water borders both states.

There are two bodies of water I fish that border two states, MA and RI, Sawdy Pond and South Watuppa Pond.  A license from either state allows fishing "privileges".

As for the resident, non-resident differences, I do not have a problem with that.

A state is responsible for "maintaining" its waters.  It includes such things as water monitoring, stocking programs, law enforcement, maintaining ramps, etc.

This is paid for by taxation as well as licensing fees.  Since residents of a state contribute taxes within the state, they already contribute beyond the licensing fee to the maintenance of the waters within the state.

Folks within the state that don't avail themselves of that resource also contribute to its upkeep.

It's only fair that those outside pay a higher, but reasonable fee to avail themselves of another state's resources.

In your case with Weiss lake, I'd agree that either a GA or AL license should allow access to the entire lake.

It does pose another question.  What about rivers that run through several states?

The ocean is another similar circumstance.  State waters extend a distance of three miles from the coast.  There is a boundary line that delineates between states.  

Commercial fishermen from one state cannot intrude into another state's waters.  I believe that is determined by federal law.

[cart7t]

Yikes!

Missouri has a special "White River Border Lakes" permit that allows you to fish in either the Missouri or Arkansas side of Table Rock, Bull Shoals or Norfolk lakes for only $10 extra on top of the states $12 resident license fee.  An Arkansas non-resident license would cost $40 if that wasn't available.

Quite a savings.  

[Sam]

Lakes Gaston and Kerr are on the Virginia-North Carolina border and you can fish them with either state's fishing license.

On the southern Virginia-North Carolina border you need a North Carolina non-resident's license to fish the Chowan if you live in Virginia.

There is a lot of tax revenue for states from non-resident fishing license sales.  Need I say more????  >

[Fishing Rhino]

Lakes Gaston and Kerr are on the Virginia-North Carolina border and you can fish them with either state's fishing license.

On the southern Virginia-North Carolina border you need a North Carolina non-resident's license to fish the Chowan if you live in Virginia.

There is a lot of tax revenue for states from non-resident fishing license sales. Need I say more???? >

For future reference, does that Gaston/Kerr deal apply to non-resident licenses as well?

[Daniel A.]

Louisiana has reciprocal fishing agreements with bordering states. If I'm not mistaken, you can fish a body of water on the border with either state's resident license without penalty.

[Team_Dougherty]

My guess is, from looking at a map, most of lake is on the Alabama side of the border. The Georgia side looks more like a river.

Georgia and Alabama have agreements with other lakes.

http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/documentdetail.aspx?docid=7&pageid=6&category=fishing

[32251]

I see that now.  Looks like there is too much of the lake in Alabama to warrant the same aggrements for the other lakes that split up more equitibly between the two. Still, SOME of the lake is in Georgia and the main river that feeds the lake comes from Georgia. With so many folks coming from Georgia to fish that lake......oh well.

[fishfordollars]

Toledo Bend is that way. East side is Louisiana and West side is Texas. Each state recognises the other without a fee.

Texoma is just the opposite. You need the Oklahoma permit or license in order to fish their side. It does suck.

Amistad and Falcon are on the Texas Mexico border and you must have a Mexico license and I think a Mexico boat permit. I heard they did away with the permit, but I would not swear to it. You still need the license though if you cross the lake and fish the Mexico side.

[32251]

Here is some more food for thought.

Alabama non resident permit......$46.

Georgia non resident permit.......$24.  

Each is for one year.  

[The Rooster]

I live right in the tri-state area of Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. I reside in Kentucky. OH is separated from the other two states by the Ohio river. Then KY is separated from WV by the Big Sandy river.  So it's like a big Y shaped body of water, more or less.

You can fish from the banks on either side of the Ohio river with either a KY license or an OH license along the stretch of the river that's between those two states, but you cannot fish up any tributaries of the river, only to the mouths of those tributaries along the main body of the river. So no matter which state you live in, KY or OH, get that state's license and you are good on either side of the river from shore, and also in a boat as well.

There is a similar agreement between OH and WV, either state's license is good along the river between those two states, but one slight difference is that you can also fish upstream in the tributaries along that stretch of river to the first riffle, unlike the KY/OH agreement where it's just the main body only.

Then you have the Big Sandy river between KY and WV. Along this body of water, you cannot fish either side with either state's license. You can fish the river itself from a boat with either state's license but fishing from shore it's only from the banks of the state you are licensed in, either KY or WV, not both sides. So if a KY resident wants to fish on the WV banks, I have to buy a WV license to do that. If they want to come here to fish then they have to buy our nonresident license to do that.

I don't know what the beef is between KY and WV, but it seems that OH is the only state that gets along with all of them. ;D

Personally I'd like to see a NATIONAL license that could be purchased for a lifetime.  I'd be willing to pay a $1000 for that but it probably won't happen in my lifetime.

[MALTESE FALCON]

Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River, and Detroit River are all shared by Michigan, and Ontario, Canada. You MUST have a license for both, or the fines can get very expensive.

Falcon

[moby bass]

The PA/OH border runs down through the middle of Pymatuning Lake.

Either license, PA or OH entitles you to fish anywhere on the water, but only from the shore of whichever state's license you hold.  Even if you are on the causeway, you must fish in your state.  And since parking on the causeway is only on the south side, when coming from PA we have to drive across the causeway to the OH side, turn around and drive back to PA to park.  Even if you are fishing from an island on the lake, you have to be sure of what state you're in. Go figure.

[burleytog]

Personally I'd like to see a NATIONAL license that could be purchased for a lifetime. I'd be willing to pay a $1000 for that but it probably won't happen in my lifetime.

There is absolutely no incentive for any state to agree to such a thing.

[Little Luey]

I live in Arizona and fish the Colorado river, I need to purchase a California fishing stamp that cost $10 to be able to fish the river on either side, California or Arizona. I supose I could just have the regular Az license and just fish the Az side but there are some parts where the boundries are not very well defined and I just prefer not to take a chance.