"No Fishing" epidemic?

I think this is a growing trend. And i'm sure it's not just an Illinois thing either. A stream in west central Wisconsin that i've fished for the last 18 years, has in the last few years, seen an influx of No Trespassing/No Fishing signage as well. Properties have started to change hands and signs seems to follow that. Hell, one was even a long time canoe access landing. A local told me he thought that it was posted illegally, as it was immediately adjacent to a large wooded track that changed hands the year prior.

Sad state of affairs for sure. Problem is, you just have far too many people "fishing" who just don't respect the resource. And hence those of us that do suffer for it.

Bob P. said:

Sad state of affairs for sure. Problem is, you just have far too many people "fishing" who just don't respect the resource. And hence those of us that do suffer for it.

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It is feasible (and even understandable) that in some cases this happens because residents get fed up with people coming to fish who are noisy, leave their garbage behind, etc. In these instances near me I think it's something different, mainly because they were not heavily fished. I feel almost certain it has to do with a small number of people (perhaps even a single person) who lives in these townhomes/condos/etc who is just hell bent on not seeing anyone fishing...so they go to their associations/boards and complain and lobby that signs need to be put up to stop trespassers/etc. And once the signs are up they feel empowered to go and lay down the law. The way some of these people come running out of their homes immediately when they see someone it's as if they are just sitting around waiting for something to complain about.

Sounds like the ponds were always private property but something must have happened resulting in the signs going up. Here in the near west suburbs, every private pond is posted. I'll bet you're on the right track with disrespectful fisherman, perhaps even just more people fishing and they don't want to deal with the influx. There seems to be a lot more fisherman now than say five years ago. A public forest preserve lake I used to fish has been beat to death as of recent. Last time I was there, there were several dead bass and crappie lining the shores that I'd think died from being guthooked or mishandled. Not to mention more line littering the shore than I can remember. I'd usually only see one or two people fishing it, I now have completely written it off.

Bob P. said:

... A stream in west central Wisconsin that i've fished for the last 18 years, has in the last few years, seen an influx of No Trespassing/No Fishing signage as well. ...

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At least WI has favorable stream access laws. Here, the state just gave a big F-U to people recreating on most of "our" rivers and streams.

Its rare that I do not see some sort of no fishing sign at our ponds out here. Most of them you can ignore luckily.

I was the unfortunate recipient of a $195 ticket for fishing a Will County lake that had no 'no fishing' signs whatsoever. The information about the lake being closed to fishing is buried deep somewhere on line.

Lesson learned. Do your research. Know who owns the water you want to fish before fishing it.

🎣

DonR said:

I was the unfortunate recipient of a $195 ticket for fishing a Will County lake that had no 'no fishing' signs whatsoever. The information about the lake being closed to fishing is buried deep somewhere on line.

Lesson learned. Do your research. Know who owns the water you want to fish before fishing it.

🎣

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That's total BS ! I'd fight it. I once got out of a speeding ticket because the road had been under construction. Speed limit signs were missing because of it and there were no signs enumerating whose jurisdiction it was in either. I took pics of all of it and presented the information to the DA at my appearance. He recommended to the judge that it be dismissed.

Wait what!?! They gave you that ol ignorance of the law is no excuse BS for fishing??!!

I've said it before a few times that "no fishing" signs put up by HA's and such are not a law. Now if a park district or DNR have it, such as no fishing before a trout opener, restricted zone, closed season, etc that is different. What I look out for are the no trespassing signs. That will get you if they are willingly ignored. Much like a stop sign in the Jewel parking lot, a no fishing sign on a pond is a mere suggestion. I cant write a disregard stop sign ticket if someone merely rolls through it with no one around. I've explained this to residents who call when someone is fishing a "no fishing" pond and they call the police. We can only cite for no trespassing if it is posted and reasonable that the fishermen saw the sign and still decided to fish. Otherwise we just ask them to leave and can issue a trespass warning if the resident is the lawful owner of the property.

I feel your pain. I "Ninja" fished a public golf course for years at night. Eventually they started out giving tickets and trespassing tickets though no signs were posted. 971 fish in 93 outings made the pain go away for a while, it's understandable why people want to fish good spots. The car left parked always alerted police and they drove behind the club house shinning their spot lights onto the course. Some guys I know would drive a small truck onto the cart path but not me. I imagine if we had Uber our ninja fishing trips would not ben stopped.

Then I used to fish with a retention pond hoping crew and our stops were from joliet, to Romeoville, Bolingbrook and eventually into the Elgin area. One time they went to some cement factory near Elgin that had good fishing. "No Trespassing" signs posted everywhere, I politely told them next time if that cement factory in on the milk run I'll catch up with them at a different pond.

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CatsAndCarp said:

Yesterday, I arrived at a local spot (have fished there for probably 7-8+ years) and found it plastered with "NO FISHING" signs. Same thing happened a few years ago at a different local spot that I had also fished for years.

Has anyone who's been fishing for a while seen any trend like this?

Truthfully, I do fish a few places that have signs, but they are secluded and it's easy to go unseen. These two spots there is nowhere to hide. When I tested my luck at the spot that had signs added a few years ago, a woman immediately came out and started harassing me just for looking at the water (I hadn't even taken my fishing gear out of the car, was just walking the perimeter looking for fish activity).

Sad state of affairs and makes me wonder if local fishing could become non-existent for some of us.

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Coming from Southern California, the “No fishing sign depends on the enforcement of the area as well as measures of security. Outside of National and community parks, there are “No Fishing” signs or “Members only lake” everywhere but half of those spots aren’t even regulated if they’re not fenced off. Even if you do get caught, a talking politely and leaving right away will keep you out of trouble.


I don’t know how your community takes care of their fisheries but in SoCal, poaching and polluting is quite rampant due in-experienced fisherman, alongside real-estate competition which has led to this issue. Even in Chicago (and Cali), the marina’s of filled these signs but no one has enforced or asked for my license during my stay. In the end, it really depends on the enforcement and the reason for them, if you stay polite and pick up after yourself while at these spots or know someone who lives on the property, your less likely to get in trouble.