Local Kayaking / Canoeing

[SycamoreStateofMind]

I would love to have a put in/ take out location on Hasselburger. I am a big kayak fisherman and love stream/ river kayak fishing. Waded/ fished Otter Creek more times than I can count. Heck, I'd likely help get a coalition together to keep Otter Creek clear of debris/ log jams for kayakers and fisherman once we can establish determined float routes. Removing the dam will help make Otter Creek accessible to kayakers, which I will certainly appreciate. I own a few kayaks 96, started out with those cheaper ones, fell in love with kayak fishing, now I fish out of a $1,500 kayak and have a dual layered kayak trailer with rod lockers and storage. My wife might kill me, if she knew just how much money I have in kayak/fishing gear, haha!

That’s so funny… Sounds like you have an awesome setup!! Fishing is not a cheap hobby. Especially when you get into the higher end rods and baitcasting reels.Tackle (the latest and greatest) isn’t cheap either. I think this year in Florida I lost 3 or 4 Jackhammers in one day. $65 gone.

I had a short window of time in my life where I was heavily researching the idea of getting a kayak to fish out of. Just got tired of always having to ask my uncle or friends with bass boats to go fishing… But I just could never get comfortable with the thought of it. Standing on the deck of a bass boat and casting to cover vs sitting in a kayak (or standing) and casting/netting/steering etc. seemed daunting to me and I just never invested in it. Always been impressed by the kayak angler especially those fishing in creeks and rivers navigating current.

Now married with a family I’m sort of glad air didn’t as I barely have time to fish the way it is.

 

[BlueBleeder]

That’s so funny… Sounds like you have an awesome setup!! Fishing is not a cheap hobby. Especially when you get into the higher end rods and baitcasting reels.Tackle (the latest and greatest) isn’t cheap either. I think this year in Florida I lost 3 or 4 Jackhammers in one day. $65 gone.

I had a short window of time in my life where I was heavily researching the idea of getting a kayak to fish out of. Just got tired of always having to ask my uncle or friends with bass boats to go fishing… But I just could never get comfortable with the thought of it. Standing on the deck of a bass boat and casting to cover vs sitting in a kayak (or standing) and casting/netting/steering etc. seemed daunting to me and I just never invested in it. Always been impressed by the kayak angler especially those fishing in creeks and rivers navigating current.

Now married with a family I’m sort of glad air didn’t as I barely have time to fish the way it is.

Oh yeah, I love fishing out of a bass boat too, but there was just something about reducing down and being able to get places a boat can't that lured me in.....pun intended. It is challenging at times, especially on swifter current, but it's a heck of a lot of fun. Did a 4 day smallmouth/ pike fishing trip in Michigan in July on the Shiawassee River and I am leaving soon for a 5 day trout fishing trip on the Norfork/ White Rivers in Arkansas. If we limit out early may go float some of the Buffalo River which is a great smallmouth fishery. I totally get not having much time though. These two trips are pretty much all the fishing I will have done this year. Kids are getting older and doing more things and that's where most of our time is spent.

 

[BankShot]

wow! great conversation. While the waterway may be public property, the land on either side is not, unless the county owns that.

Do you understand the concept of "easement" as applied to Property Law "ingress & egress?"

 

[BankShot]

River Rights and Usage

River Rights and Usage from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources

www.in.gov

-Pay close scrutiny to "High Water Mark," which Rothrock & Hines were complaining about.

 

[meistro]

Thank you sir.

Bridge is in design phase now. Once that's done, we have to secure funding. Looking at 2-3 years. fyi, this will be a clear span bridge which will alleviate the log jams that currently happen.

 

[BankShot]

wow! great conversation. While the waterway may be public property, the land on either side is not, unless the county owns that.

County owns land w/ direct proximity to O.C. a block East of N. Fruitridge on Tuttle Ave. Could easily be groomed as a "Launch Site."

 

[meistro]

County owns land w/ direct proximity to O.C. a block East of N. Fruitridge on Tuttle Ave. Could easily be groomed as a "Launch Site."

Finding a launch site is not the problem. The problem is convincing all the people along the creek that this is a good idea and people won't trespass on their private property. There are also log jams up and down the creek that would need to be cleared. With all due respect, this is not a fight that we as Commissioners have the time to take on right now. We are working on bringing more businesses to the county, working on a new E911 center, working on bringing much needed housing development to the area, working on a sports complex, working on renovating the Indiana theatre, working on jail overcrowding, working on the drug and mental health problems, working on road projects and on and on. All this in addition to the everyday running of the county. Sometimes, you need to pick and choose your battles and that's what we're doing here. Maybe someday there will be an appetite for this, but not now.

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

Do you understand the concept of "easement" as applied to Property Law "ingress & egress?"

The man is a home builder not a politician… I think he has as good of understand of the concept of easement as anyone on this forum. So just take a nap and get back to us after you get some rest.

 

[BlueBleeder]

County owns land w/ direct proximity to O.C. a block East of N. Fruitridge on Tuttle Ave. Could easily be groomed as a "Launch Site."

Question is.....can they legally stop you from kayaking Otter Creek? Once the dam is removed, there will be easy kayak/canoe access at the park to let you go downstream. Otter Creek is not listed as a "navigable waterway" so that means the land to each side and the bed underneath the water is privately owned. However, the water itself is not therefore you are allowed to paddle it.

 

[4Q_iu]

Yes yes… The only difference between “rails to trails” and canoeing is that literally everyone can access trails and literally no one has a canoe. So when allocating resources and making decisions let us defiantly only take into consideration the 50 people that own floating vessels and not the 50k who actually can walk/run/ride/utilize a trail.

Signed,

Someone who spent more days on water this year than anyone on this forum. So bye.

Not my point at all.

Some cities, counties, "other governmental entities" rammed thru Rails to Trails projects without doing the LEGAL research to learn that when some rail lines were abandoned, those 'right of ways' reverted back to the LANDOWNER, not a government entity.

But to your point; not everyone who partakes of outdoor rec opportunities are GOOD citizens; they stray off public lands onto private, wholly ignore posted Private Land signage, etc, etc, etc.

The sheer ## of folks who utilize trails vs. streams/brooks/cricks and rivers? sizeable. More people using, more people not being good citizens.

Happy Fishing but DON'T eat that Wabash River fish

 

[Sycamorefan96]

Question is.....can they legally stop you from kayaking Otter Creek? Once the dam is removed, there will be easy kayak/canoe access at the park to let you go downstream. Otter Creek is not listed as a "navigable waterway" so that means the land to each side and the bed underneath the water is privately owned. However, the water itself is not therefore you are allowed to paddle it.

No, they can't stop you from using Otter Creek. Otter Creek is clearly marked on Beacon (the VC property map website) as being public land. Planning on kayaking the creek from the dam to Tecumseh (on the Wabash) next Spring when there's more water. It's 6.6 miles on the creek to the river from Old Mill Dam and 8.1 miles total to Tecumseh.

 

[BankShot]

Question is.....can they legally stop you from kayaking Otter Creek? Once the dam is removed, there will be easy kayak/canoe access at the park to let you go downstream. Otter Creek is not listed as a "navigable waterway" so that means the land to each side and the bed underneath the water is privately owned. However, the water itself is not therefore you are allowed to paddle it.

You must own property on BOTH sides of the creek to own the creek bed...but still cannot prevent use of the flowing stream above. As mentioned previously, we owned a farm on BOTH sides of Otter Creek from '50-64 on Tuttle Ave. The property now owned by the County was deeded yrs. ago by FOSTER COYLE, former Trustee. Our property was the "peninsula" you see on Beacon. We also owned a few acres W. of O.C. next to the RR tracks. Horrible soil (sandy) and easily flooded.

 

[Sycamorefan96]

Just take a better approach with people is all I ask. This conversation could have gone way different.

That's cute, coming from you .

But I’m not so cynical to cry foul and corruption because it didn’t happen. That’s not stable behavior nor does it typically result in the outcome going in your favor. Had you just taken this offline and asked Meistro if anything could be done to get this reintroduced or anything you could do personally to help it become a reality I’m sure he would have been more than willing to entertain the idea. But you want to come on here and tell him that you’re “shocked he didn’t know the creeks were public land” and then cry foul. It’s an outrageous approach.

If VC doesn't want people like me to think that there's shady stuff going on in the background then they need to be more transparent with the local citizenry. They tell us all one thing two years ago and now it's 101 excuses of why it's not going to happen. If not for asking this question on Sycamore Pride of all places, I wouldn't even know what the status of the project was.

As for meistro, I literally said that I don't specifically blame him for what is going on because I have no idea what he is or isn't responsible for. It's extremely hard to find out voting records for politicians around here and what they aim to do for the county.

 

[meistro]

That's cute, coming from you .


If VC doesn't want people like me to think that there's shady stuff going on in the background then they need to be more transparent with the local citizenry. They tell us all one thing two years ago and now it's 101 excuses of why it's not going to happen. If not for asking this question on Sycamore Pride of all places, I wouldn't even know what the status of the project was.

As for meistro, I literally said that I don't specifically blame him for what is going on because I have no idea what he is or isn't responsible for. It's extremely hard to find out voting records for politicians around here and what they aim to do for the county.

Not sure how I can be more transparent? We hold weekly meetings every Tuesday at 9 am that are open to the public, with time for public comment. I am on facebook, twitter and instagram. I am always out in the community. My number is 812-208-3049. My office is in the County annex and my door is always open. People like to use the transparency issue, but you'd be hard pressed to find any Commissioners in the state that are more accessible and offer more public input. You may not always agree with our decisions, but transparency is not the problem.

 

[BrokerZ]

I think we should consider dropping football.

What do you guys think?

 

[Sycamorefan96]

Not sure how I can be more transparent? We hold weekly meetings every Tuesday at 9 am that are open to the public, with time for public comment. I am on facebook, twitter and instagram. I am always out in the community. My number is 812-208-3049. My office is in the County annex and my door is always open. People like to use the transparency issue, but you'd be hard pressed to find any Commissioners in the state that are more accessible and offer more public input. You may not always agree with our decisions, but transparency is not the problem.

Does VC post on their website the videos of the weekly meetings that can be watched later or at the very least a summary of what ultimately happened and who voted on what? I've looked in the past, as well as today, and I can't find anything but maybe I'm looking in the wrong pIace? I haven't been in TH on a Tuesday since July due to the nature of my job, as I typically come home from trucking every third weekend Friday through Monday.

As for my frustration, none of that should be taken personally, so if it came out that way then I apologize. Like I said last night, I honestly have no idea what you have or haven't done since you were elected (or any of the others for that matter). I've lived here my entire life and I've just seen too much nonsense take place in the past to fully trust what goes on around this community anymore. I mean this is a county that had the FBI raid their school corporation's headquarters .

 

[meistro]

Does VC post on their website the videos of the weekly meetings that can be watched later or at the very least a summary of what ultimately happened and who voted on what? I've looked in the past, as well as today, and I can't find anything but maybe I'm looking in the wrong pIace? I haven't been in TH on a Tuesday since July due to the nature of my job, as I typically come home from trucking every third weekend Friday through Monday.

As for my frustration, none of that should be taken personally, so if it came out that way then I apologize. Like I said last night, I honestly have no idea what you have or haven't done since you were elected (or any of the others for that matter). I've lived here my entire life and I've just seen too much nonsense take place in the past to fully trust what goes on around this community anymore. I mean this is a county that had the FBI raid their school corporation's headquarters .

Yes, all meetings are live and recorded. Go to the Vigo County government website. You can see minutes and schedules of meetings. Search for live meetings and it will take you to our youtube channel.

 

[sycamore tuff]

Thanks for all the information Meistro. A promise made, a promise kept

 

[Sycamorefan96]

Yes, all meetings are live and recorded. Go to the Vigo County government website. You can see minutes and schedules of meetings. Search for live meetings and it will take you to our youtube channel.

Thanks, found it and watched today's meeting. Planning on watching most of these going forward.

 

[sycamore tuff]

I watched the February mill dam meeting. It was informative. The worst part is that it reminded me of a post game press conference. I had no idea what the people were asking. A microphone would be helpful.