licenses & civil disobedience...

[chesapeakeblend]

so i was over at dick's sporting goods a few minutes ago and some guys in front of me were talking about the shad fishing at fletcher's. is it true you cannot fish in d.c. with a maryland license? i thought a maryland resident could fish anywhere on the mainstem river with a md license. they said not below little falls. have i been committing an act of civil disobedience?

mike

[AlexT]

They are correct, you need a DC license. The Maryland license with VA is reciprocal because they share a border along the river. DC "owns" the river where it contacts the district and rights on both banks, from above Chain Bridge down to the Wilson Bridge.

[HJS]

The reciprocity also extends way up the Potomac along the WV/MD line from Harpers Ferry all the way out to Garrett County... BUT NOT in DC. In DC you need the DC license to fish the Potomac. $10 for non-res.

Hmmm... what do you need if you are a VA res and are fishing the DC section of the Potomac from the VA shore??? Can't find my DC book anywhere.

[spilunkr]

Howard,

It is my recollection that since the Potomac belongs to MD up to the high water mark on the VA side that reciprocity does not apply as one would normally understand it. I don't have my rule book handy but I think the regulation up river from D.C. is that a VA resident can fish the Potomac from the shoreline with a VA license but if in the River, then a MD non-resident license is needed.

Guy

[kwk]

If you're fishing in the Potomac within the DC boundary, you need a DC license even if you're fishing from the Virginia shoreline.

[spilunkr]

KWK,

In D.C. a D.C. license is needed, no reciprocity with anyone. No questions there. When MD ceeded the land that became D.C. the Potomac went with it.

Upriver from D.C. the river belongs to MD to the high water mark on the VA / WVA side. Below D.C. the MD line goes to the high water line and a straight line from Point to Point at the mouths of rivers on the VA side. But I think the license and reciprocity agreements are different for the Potomac above and below D.C.

Guy

[kwk]

Guy, I was just responding to Howard's question about fishing from the VA shoreline in the DC section of the Potomac. If you really want to be bored, I can regale you with tales of my unappreciated-by-Virginia legal analysis (from a past life when I had reason to do such things) of how National Airport is actually in DC ...

[Mako993]

I believe a "Northern Virginia Area Tidewater Tri-State License" is in order - area residents 5.00; non-residents 500.00. Ha! Just kidding of course!

[AlexT]

Technically, you need a DC license to fish the Potomac along DC, even if you are standing on the VA bank. Now, if a fish jumped out of the river onto the bank, and then took your fly, you'd probably be OK with a VA license, but if the fish is in the water when he hits your fly you need a DC license. [smile]

[Mako993]

Only if the fish has a MD license.

[Flying Fish]

By the way, Fletcher's is selling DC licenses--like hot cakes!

FF

[Mako993]

Cool. Are they renting boats yet?

[AlexT]

Their cutoff is 4.7 feet on the Little Falls gauge. Anything above that and they will not rent. On Sunday, there were about 10 boats in the water. I did not check to see how many of those up on cinderblocks on the lot were actually painted, but a few weeks ago around 30 of them were ready to hit the water. I suspect they take a few days to swell up and stop leaking, so if they don't get more boats in the water over the next couple of days there could be dramatic shortage this weekend.

[Mako993]

Thanks, Alex. Yeah, they need to drop some boats in the water quick!

[Flying Fish]

They might start renting this afternoon, almost surely by tomorrow.

I'm not going even to try to get a boat there on the weekend for a while.

FF