Trout Run

[JohnCSullivan]

So what is Trout Run? I have seen the houses and the signs, but have no idea what it is. Is it a club one can join? Is it a private community? What happens if you get caught fishing it?

[Salar]

It's for sale.

I think they're asking $20 million.

400-some odd acres, and all those out buildings.

[CaptMikeStarrett]

The owner of this property has removed it from the market while he contemplates entering the race for president as an independent. If elected, he has promised to supply his own Camp David in the form of Trout Run at no expense to the government, thus insuring the savings of millions of dollars for the stressed out tax payers. Should he decide not to run, or fail to be elected, the property will be returned to the market at 20 million dollars.

Capt Mike

[Salar]

And I just finished scraping together the 20 mil...darn...

[JohnCSullivan]

So I can fish the waters?

[Jeffrey Rasband]

try asking for permission, otherwise they make it crystal clear the public is not allowed to fish their property (ie. the area is posted more thoroughly than anywhere I can think of).

[flyhead]

A buddy of mine fished it years ago and had someone roll up on him in a jeep with an 870 express with a riot barrell. He said the fishing was great up until that point.

I met the owner (at least owner at the time) while eating brunch at Congressional. She and her husband were living at the club at the time. She knew the person I was eating with and still flat out denied me when I asked for permission to fish. She said her and her husband rarely ever fished the stream. That was right around the time it first went on the market for $22m.

Matt

[Jeffrey Rasband]

hahaha I have no clue what a 870 express w/ riot barrell is but if it is what I think it is, sweet mother of brook trout! Anyway, Although it is frustrating some of our best streams are privately owned, I assure you it is nowhere near as bad as out west. I lived in Boulder, CO for two years and navigating private property issues was a much bigger issue.

[JohnCSullivan]

The issue is that when I drive through, a few times the last month or so, the place looks vacant but there are a ton of cameras up. I would ask, but don't know where to start. And honestly, I've drive 5 miles north of the compound and still see signs and frankly don't know where there property line is. If I wanted to fish the river, where would I start?

The only reason I'm miffed is because isn't it a part of a State/National Park? How can you own a stream in government owned land. At least in Colorado you can float and not be trespassing, here you can't.

[spilunkr]

John,

Trout Run is private property, it is not part of either Cunningham Falls State Park or Catoctin Mountain National Park. Hence, the owner(s) can post the land however they want.

Also like, most states, in MD if a water is navigable it is public the public has the right to to be "on" the water. However, if a landowner owns the property on both banks of a stream, said landowner also typically owns the stream bottom. So while you would be legal floating through such a stretch, you could not get out of your boat and wade because by standing on the stream bed you would be tresspassing. Technically if you were fishing such a stretch of water and your line contacts the bottom you would also be tresspassing, but the MDDNR police I questioned about that felt such a complaint would not get very far in the legal system. Some property owners do attempt to block access by stringing a fence across the stream but if the stream is navigable that is illegal.

There are also a couple of instances where the stream bottom is privately owned even without both stream banks being owned. I know of two such locations on the Potomac River - one is on the MD side below the Rt. 340 bridge where the river bottom is privately owned and is posted as a wildlife sanctuary. That ownership goes back to a King's Grant that predates the Revolutionary War.

The same is true for a section of the Jackson River below Lake Moomaw, in VA. In this case a years long legal fight resulted in the VA Supreme Court upholding the King's Grant effectively making an excellent miles long stretch of trout fishing off limits to the public.

Guy