Angler Harassment in Montana

http://www.yukongoesfishing.com/2012/05/watering-water-angler-harassment-on.html

That's garbage....funny...but garbage. Old school land owners are a breed of their own that's for sure.

the dude is thinking that if your gonna fish his hole your gonna pay for it one way or another!

Smells like class warfare.

This is the History of the fight over Mitchell Slough.

http://www.hcn.org/wotr/16996

Taken to the Montana Supreme Court

http://www.montanawildlife.com/news/MitchellSlough.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/us/01trout.html


Land owners owe $350,000.00 in attorney fees used to defend the public access.

http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_4b003714-e477-11de-a196-001cc4c002e0.html


Then the wealthy landowners tried to legislate that the waterways were private to reverse what the Supreme Court decided.


http://www.plwa.org/viewarticle.php?id=93


But they were shot down


http://ravallirepublic.com/news/local/article_73c66d67-ba62-5175-9af0-68c8f84771d0.html


Now Huey Lewis and neighbors are stopping the hunters as well.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/11/huey-lewis-duck-hunting.html

Sounds like he sucks as bad as his music.

Sounds like he sucks as bad as his music.

Okay I got to rant a little over this one...I can't believe what some dip shits do to try and protect a public waterway as there own. Cracks me up anymore. Reminds me of a few gated communities in Montana. I mean if I moved to California (rather but a bullet in my head) I would have to adapt to the environment, get use to flipping people off, locked cars, houses, gated windows, security systems etc.. why bring all that baggage up here with you?? A friendly smile and a wave still goes a long way in Montana, but the Bitteroot has lost this in my opinion.


On the other hand though, this looks like a great place to jump shoot a few ducks this fall,I'm not a very good shot and think his camera equipment might be missing a few parts, a few accidental discharges in his sprinkler system would be of benefit too.

How different is the automatic sprinkler from the landowner actually standing there and spraying you with a hose? You are standing on public property. In addition to it being angler harassment, isn't it some degree of assault as well? I doubt local enforcement has the balls to follow through with this.

I'm by no means in support of the land owner spraying anglers with water, but a grown man complaining that water droplets hitting him while he stands in a stream with fucking water proof trousers on is assault, is the epitome of American pussification.

Id bring my 3 wood and have a little sprinkler head driving range practice. Then we could frolic in the newly established slough geysers! Sounds like fun if you ask me.

I like it!

I'd use my .357. (Assuming I'm out of the city limits)

Better yet, I,d probly just use my air rifle and shoot out the camera lense.

Nope killed it. . . .

Yup, Mt is a carry state. Landowners can carry to.

First off, I am a die hard fly angler, and tyer. I am a staunch conservationist, in fact I carry a garbage bag with me when I fish and ALWAYS carry out more than I took in. I am a big advocate of stream access and anglers being allowed to fish wherever there are fish, EXCEPT the Mitchell ditch. ITS A FRICKIN DITCH!~ A man made irrigation structure for transporting water to and from the famed Bitterroot river. My question is, Why the frick would ANYONE want to fish an irrigation ditch over the Bitterroot? COME ON! I mean really, I MEAN REALLY?? I live in Eastern Idaho abut 2 1/2 hrs from that area, I've fished the Bitterroot and do not even begin to understand why anyone would want to fight over a trickle of water when there are thousands of miles of better water available. If you studied about the history of the ditch, how it came to be built, yes built, by human hands, what it is for and why the landowners are angry I think you would stop pushing this issue. It gives anglers a bad name and reputation. Think about it. A majority of the landowners have farms and ranches that were homesteaded a hundred or more years ago. They built homes and raised families on the land. THEY BUILT THAT DITCH. And now you guys want to fish on their property? If it was me I'd wait till someone trespassed and go out and practice my trap shooting. Screw the sprinklers! I prefer to sprinkle lead! Or maybe a kinder gentler landowner will do a rock skipping class for his kids whenever an angler decides to trespass on his property. And @ TB Out here in Idaho and Montana you carry at your own discretion.

Please refer to above

Put a discover pass on it.

I totally disagree with you and your third post on this forum. I think the evidence speaks for itself, the channel was historically there, blah blah... That has already been decided by the courts and it is over. I encourage all of you to go and find out how phenomenal the fishery is!

Dont forget the trail pass to get there....win