Beef_Vegan

Yeah unfortunately FWC wouldn't offer anything here in terms of info so I'm going to reach out to the property appraisers and maybe the sheriff to see if there's leeway for ponds like this. I was hoping to avoid them because I'm expecting canned responses of them saying to just go to a county park where fishing is approved. I think it sucks because the owner doesn't even care about the fishing or land, they just don't want liability which I'm starting to assume is the case with most of these ponds. Lakefront properties are super expensive, too that's not anywhere in the immediate future either. Yeah that's true. I guess really I was just curious because this one was so borderline. I've been kicked out of ones that were way more obvious and I just wave, pack, and go. 1 county property line map shows the 20 ft between water and sidewalk as private and the other almost shows it as on closer to the waterline since the water goes under those trees. I guess really it doesn't matter just trying to understand for the future. So frustrating nowadays.

Hello all new here. I've been pond hopping for a while in the northern Tampa area (Hillsborough county) since I bought a house here and of course it's super hard to do so because of how many people fence off water and post no fishing/private property signs. I found a lake earlier this year that was on the side of a road outside of a neighborhood (or so I thought) less than 20ft from a sidewalk on that road. Just yesterday, the owners of the parcel stopped by and told me it was private and we politely argued because I had thought it was public since it was split and it didn't look like they owned the land on the map I saw. They ended up saying I could stay but were planning to put up a sign because of liability (some recent even with police I guess); they don't actually care about the land or people using it to fish but somehow didn't know they maintained that and have lived there over a decade. I'm looking at a different map now and I think it's fairly clear they own the land but it brings up another question since I cannot seem to find this anywhere. So I was hoping someone may be able to just stop me in my tracks with a quick answer or point me in the right direction. I thought I had read that when ponds were split up by owners, then the water is public (barring trespassing on land) but wasn't there a distance to the water line that allows fisherman to use regardless of that property since it's a split pond? I'm curious if I'm remembering that correctly, if this distance was even defined? I remember reading somewhere that if you have access to a body of water you could walk to bank and be ok. Not looking for legal advice, I don't plan to screw with these people because they weren't jerks or anything. I'm just trying to understand so if I find a similar spot I can vet it better for myself to avoid this. This bummed me out pretty good yesterday because it's so difficult to find somewhere to bank fish without having to go to a park, travel far, or get chased off/cops called. This spot wasn't even really good, but it was close, quiet, and away from others so it was nice to just cast for a few hours and sometimes get a small bass. I definitely remember this being much easier when I was a kid in Florida; can't even think of a time I was ever asked to leave anywhere but that was a smaller town. Here's an image of what I think clearly shows they own the land. The left and very top are public. The X's are where I was fishing. The properties extend past a small bunch of woods on the right to the very edge of the nearest neighborhood which I'm a resident of but I don't think that matters here: Here is the image that made me think it would be fine if there was an allowable distance to the water's edge (which I might be wrong on):