First let met start by saying I knew I shouldn't have been jumping the fence to fish these ponds. I've been fishing two ponds in Mesquite for a number of years that are on commercial property up for sell. I've never been stopped by the police even though I've been seen by countless officers. Last night I went to try out some new stick baits (senkos) I made and was there for 15 minutes and an officers pulls up. He ask for my DL, FL and written permission to fish on the property. I told him I could provide two out of the three and I knew that wasn't going to be enough. He was extremely nice and cut me some slack, but he informed me that crossing a fence or gate to fish on private property is considered a felony offense. He said fishing on private property without permission is also considered poaching. He said it could get you up to 2 years and $5,000.00 in fines . Needless to say I've learned my lesson and will never cross a fence or gate again. I know, some of you are going to say I shouldn't have done it in the first place. Your right, I have no excuse. Just thought I'd share so you could know what the possible ramifications are if you choose to jump a fence to fish a pond.

Good information. I sure wouldn't want to end up like Martha Stewart for jumping a fence.

Wow, I always thought the most likely thing you would get would be a hind end full of shotgun pellets. Times have changed. Thanks for the info, I was looking the other day at muddy creek reservoir in Murphy/Wylie and thought about crossing the fence.....obviously it had been crossed before, and there were no signs. Glad I didn't now.....also guess that any permission you get has to be in writing? Another sign of change when you can't take people at their word. Glad the officer cut you some slack. Thanks for the heads up.

wow! that's good to know because about half the ponds i fish are in spots i have to jump the fence. i never knew the punishment could be that extreme. at most i figured a ticket for trespassing. thanks for the info.

You better not try and fish the other side of the dam at Lavon.

Let's just say that I found out the hard way a few years back.

I meant the other side of the spillway at Lavon

fishrman,
is muddy creek res. totally surronded by private property? i live in wylie and looked at fishing there last summer but wasn't sure of it's status as private or public.

have you tried the pond/small lake off of brown st, east of contry club road? it's by the new housing edition. just wondering if it's any good.

do you know anything about willow lake in sachse? it looks like you could park along pleasant valley and walk up to the lake, but there's fence you have to cross.

just wondering if you fished any of these small ponds and lakes.

thanks

greg

when you say the the other side of the spillway? I thought that was a fishing area on the other side.

I have tried to pond off brown street... Are you talking about the one with the levy? Small cats but they bite good....the law hasn't ran me off yet..

stanles128,

"when you say the the other side of the spillway? I thought that was a fishing area on the other side."


Not Since 9/11. I was out there a few months after 9/11 and it was really crowded onthe wall, so I decided that I would go try the other side. 2 game wardens and 3 cop cars later, I found out the hard way. They were nice about it, but I did have to pay $175 ticket. I'll never do that again.

shcausey,
Were you down behind Lavon Dam where the restrooms are, then try to walk across the bridge to the "other side?"

yup....They had just opened the gates back up and it was crowded. Elbow to Elbow on the wall. I walked up the steps and decided to go on the the other side. I was in the wrong and it almost cost me big. It was a federal offense and the game warded let me off by allowing the police to write my ticket. If the game warden would have wrote the ticket my fine would have been $750 with jail time. I didn't realize how serious it was when I decided to do it, but I had seen people fishing there before and never realized they had it closed because of terrorism. The game warden did tell me of a good catfish hole, because that's what we were trying to catch. I've gotten a little wiser since then.

Hey guys, Muddy Creek preserve is totally cool to fish in. The only problem is parking. I believe it's ok to park at the gate as long as you don't block the entrance. Or you can access it from Liberty Grove road a little bit closer to the lake. It is pretty cool down there. I have only fished it twice as I was timid about it myself. caught some nice sand bass in it this spring. Bound to be some good kitties there.The first time I went there I had my wife drop me off and I just called her on the cell to pick me up later. I live right up the road in Wylie. The second time I parked at a place off Liberty Grove that is used by fishermen every day. I then walked North into the preserve. I also went south from there a ways and got some great sand bass action there too.

Duckcreek Davey - I turned off of 544 onto Springwell parkway, then right on W. Lakefield Dr. Found a place where it looks like there are a lot of people that crawl through the fence. It's up on a hill overlooking the pond. Is that where you are talking about access? or is there a better way to get there? From what I could see it looked to be fenced in on all sides, so I didn't pursue it. There weren't any signs "private property, no trespassing, no fishing" etc. Is Liberty Grove the subdivision off of 1378? I haven't tried looking at it from that direction.
Goetzmann - hopefully this will answer your questions too. I just started a job a few weeks ago at Sanden there in Wylie, and was just looking for a spot to wet a line in the area maybe for a bit before work or during lunch. So don't know much about the area yet. Sounds like Duckcreek Davey knows it a lot better.

My fence hopping days ended when I turned 18... Getting ran off of a tank as a "dumb kid" never resulted in anything more than a good arse chewing.... Trespassing as an adult ain't cheap.. Ask Deion Sanders about it....