Fishing Ohio River Marinas

I know this subject has been dicussed in great depth before, but I don't ever remember seeing any facts or laws regarding fishing in marinas connected to the Ohio River. Can anyone tell me for sure what the law is concerning fishing in marinas or tell me what person or agency I could call to find out the laws. I am asking this because I had an encounter with a gentleman this morning who insisted I was tresspassing on private property because I was fishing in a marina. I was in a boat, not in contact with any dock, other boat or land. This was on the Indiana side of the river, but I would assume the laws should be the same for any state since the Ohio River is federal water.

I will be honest about not knowing who to ask. But I could bet you could find your answer with the Corps of Engineers that control that section of the Ohio River. I believe the Louisville Corps takes care of all of the Ohio on the Indiana border.
Here is the Louisville Corps site you can start with:
[url]http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/[/url]

Josh

The only marina that I know of as being off limits is Captains Quarters in Louisville. I got my info from the Department of Fish and Wildlife. If you call the Frankfort office they will give you the numbers for the officers that patrol the river in each county.

Different states have different laws as to what is and is not public water. I believe the Ohio is considered to be KY water unless you go into a creek on the other side.

I can't tell you anything about Ky marinas but I have personally spoken to the owner of Marina Pointe Marina in Evansville and he told me that he cannot keep people from fishing in his marina. The water flowing into the marina is public water and therefore the public has a right to use it. Keep in mind that this is Indiana and not Kentucky.....

My honey hole on the river has a HUGE NO trespassing sign on it the was just put up

Its the old quarry near Utica .....OK I \gave up one of my hot spots

people we need to do everything we can to fight this.
it seems like more and more we are losing the right to fish.

some people that own or live at these marinas are going to far with the harassment. some have even got to violence.

I fished a stren series event at the delta in california this year and a guy came out yelling cussing telling us to leave or he would call all his friends to come over and harass us so we couldn't fish. then he got out the water hose and soaked me and my pro for 10 min.

I wanted to get off the boat and straighten him out but that waould only have gotten me disquaified and kicked out of FLW events for ever so it was a real tough to stay in the boat.

Also heard a story about someone freezing paint balls and shooting fishermen. I beleive that guy is still in jail.

I know this is not the Ohio River however I have a houseboat at Kentucky Dam Marina. They have posted all the docks with signs do not fish into slips. Since I am the fisherman on the dock I hear it all the time that the renters spend 3 to 5 thousand dollars a year to lease that small part of water and they do not appreciate inconsiderate fisherman hitting their boat especially when they are asleep. I have seen slip renters get fishing hooks in their hands when they untie the boat because some one was inconsiderate. I do not believe they can keep you from fishing in marinas however you are going to run into some very unhappy slip renters.

I can totally understand boat and dock owners being unhappy when someone hits their boat with a lure (there's nothing louder than a jighead hitting a pontoon boat first thing in the morning)or leaving hooks or fishing line hanging on their docks. As far as I'm concerned, that's a totally different issue, though. Damaging other peoples' property or blocking a person's access to their dock or a gas pump dock while you're fishing should not be tolerated by anyone. But when I'm fishing on a public body of water, not damaging anyone else's property or preventing anyone else from enjoying their time on the water I feel like I shouldn't be harassed by anyone. The boats, the docks, and even the land surrounding the water may be private property, but it is my belief that the water itself is for the use of all the public, not just the ones with the big boats and dock leases. With that said, I will be fishing a tournament on the McAlpine pool this coming weekend, so I may need to call someone to bail me out of jail.

LOL...WE need to start a bail fund

We fished the Plapp's tourney last month. We ran into a Enforcement Officer at the ramps at Cox park. We asked him about fishing the marinas and he told us that "Captain's Quarter and any other water that wasn't natural to the river or marked Private or No fishing was off limits to fisherman. It's a fight you can't win"... Dan

This trend is carrying over to Kentucky and Barkley Lake in a hurry! Kuttawa Harbor Marina and Lighthouse Landing are off limits during any competitive fishing event. Not just flipping the docks, but the whole dang thing! It's only a matter of time until all of them are off limits!

And another thing that's unfair is that Kuttawa Harbor and Buzzard Rock charge for use of a U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers boat ramp, which seems ridiculous. It seems to me since the Corps. poured the concrete, paved the lot, and own the lot, that the tax payers have the rights to that lot and any money paid for its use should go to the Corps., not Buzzard Rock Marina or Kuttawa Harbor Marina! It just doesn't seem right!