The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-05-31
STOCKING PRIVATE WATERS
What Land Owners Must Do to Con-
troll Fishing on Property.

So many letters have come In in
reference to private and posted wa
ters, methods of stocking same and
other. matters relevant thereto, that
l have prepared this circular in the
hope that it will cover all inquiries.
To stock and privately control a
brook 1t is necessary that the land
owner or tenant comply with certain
definite laws laid down by the State.
The following order Of procedure
will insure intelligent action.
Read Secs, 1854, 1855, and 1866 Of
the Public Statutes. A copy may be
found in the town clerks office.
Sec. 1854 provides that ii the owner
or occupant of enclosed land, or Gull
tiyated land not enclosed, conspicu-
ously posts notices that shooting,
trapping or fishing is prohibited, he
may take advantage of the law which
provides that persons trespassing
wilfully shall forfeit a penalty of ten
dollars to be recovered in an action
for trespass To take advantage Of
this section it is necessary that the
owner annually stock the waters at
his own expense.
The Legislature of 1910 amended
this section so that the penalty Is in
creased from $40 to $25 and made a
further provision that if any person
shoots a deer on such posted land he
shall forfeit fifty dollars to be recov-
cred by the owner or occupant there
of in an action for trespass.
Sec. 1855 provides that the owner
or occupant shall annually at his
own expense, place in the waters so
posted not less than 1000 fry or 300
fingerlings, in each half mile or less
of stream, or each acre or less of
pond or pool so posted.
The owner shall, on or before the
open season for trout each year, file
with the town clerk of the town in
which such posted waters lie, a
sworn affidavit stating that the pro-
visions of this section have been
fully compiled with. This affidavit
shall show the number and kind Of
fish distributed from whom the fish
were purchased or procured, and the
date thereof.
The town clerk shall place such
afIidayits on file, open for inspection
similar to other public document.
Sec.5356 requires that the posting
notices shall be not less than two
feet long to one foo. wide, and be
posted in two conspicuous places on
the premises, and shall have append
ed thereto the name OF the owner or
occupant. The owner may recover ten
dollars in addition to actual damage,
from any person who breaks down,
defaces or destroys such notice.
The amendment to Sec. 1854 was in
the interest of landowners who may
not want tame deer killed in their
door yards or on their lands, if action
at law is contemplated it is advisable
to be very careful to get all possible
legal proof. 1t means that a land
owner may prohibit shooting, trap
ping or fishing on his premises and is
given the legal protection TO make
such prohibition effective.
The law of Vermont permits the
commissioner to sell fry and finger
lings if any are left after the calls
for stocking public waters have been
met If you want TO buy some trout
next year, write the commissioner
early this fall. He will then try TO
make arrangements for your future
wants. In order to do so advantage
ously he must make provision for
the eggs early this fall Contracts
for eggs can best be made before
Sept. 1st Remember fish have their
regular spawning season. Trout
hatch in the winter, are fry in the
spring and reach the lingering stage
in early summer. 1t is useless to ex-
pect to get fingerlings before the fish
have been in existence long enough
TO reach that stage ,
If you stocked the stream last year
late in the season, the expense then
incurred ought to protect you in
your posting until the same period
this year. when you will have to
stock again ! think in order to pro
tect yourself you should have filed
notice with the town clerk again be
fore the open season this year, stat
ing what you did last year. If you did
not do so you cannot keep off poach-
ers until such time as you stock again
this season and comply with the law.
While the Commissioner is glad to
give all information at his disposal
il is advisable to refer questions of
law to your attorney especially such
as embrace peculiar conditions. The
Commissioner is glad to give such
decisions as he has in possession, but
he cannot make laws nor give to
them an Interpretation different from
the Interpretation placed upon them
by the courts.
now refer you to Sec. 524S of the
Public Statutes, under which you
will find the definition of private
preserve as natural pond OF not
more than twenty acres belonging to
the owner, or an artificial pond made
solely for the purpose of fish culture.
In other words any individual or club
may own a natural pond not eceed-
ing 20 acres and have entire control
of it as to fishing.
If the pond is supplied with water
from various streams, which streams
are not controlled by the individual
or club | should not understand that
the members would have the privil-
age of fishing this pond except during
the regular open season for such fish
ing.
If the pond does not receive contri-
buttons of fish through tributary
streams which are not controlled by
its owners, should say that on such
a pond the owners may take fish at
any time.
A man may construct an artificial
pond of an unlimited area and con
troll it absolutely if he does so by trap
ping a stream to supply his water
and then let's the same water empty
into the original stream again be-
fore it leaves his own land or by