Lake Fenton MI, North End Shore Access - CLOSED

[dilldapp]

Great! When do we go?

-Ray

Hi Ray

Wednesday , the 15th Sept 04 , 5:30pm would work for me if the wheather is fine.

I would even more prefer diving in the St Clair River? Best send me a direct e-mail to isp2003@habmalnefrage.de

Dilldapp

 

[Wallyg8r]

Ray,
Since we apparently can't use the shore, I need to install a dive ladder, and I'll be all set. I'll let you know as soon as I get it together.

Roy

 

[Tiny Bubbles]

You can't use the shore, but you can use the shallows (almost as good). The water by Pig Beach is very shallow for a long way out, with a sandy bottom, and then it drops off suddenly. As long as you don't set foot on dry land, you're not trespassing.

Me & dilldapp are planning a dive there Wednesday after work. I'll let you all know how it goes.

 

[Tiny Bubbles]

Me & Dilldapp launched the Tiny Bubbles at the Lake Fenton DNR Ramp, and cruised up to Pig Beach & did a shore dive yesterday. There were a few pontoon boats beached there, despite the "no beaching" signs that the condo association has posted all over Pig Fence. We dropped the hook in the shallows (knee-waist deep) and geared up there so we weren't trespassing on anyone's beach.

We dropped down, and immediately spotted the rowboat. Down the hill and to the left some to the big busted-up cruiser. The line from the cruiser to the minecart is gone between the cruiser and the stake. We followed a compass heading toward the old entry point, and went down in the hole a little bit, which got very cold & dark (near zero vis). At least Dilldapp had a big lantern and I had my backup light. We leveled off at the other side of the hole & found the small cruiser & sailboat. Visibility was around 20 feet. We went from there to the pontoon platform, to an outboard boat, and back to the small cruiser & sailboat, and to the mine cart. All of those lines are still present. And we followed the line from the mine cart to the stake on our way back, which is the 'end of the line'. There were several bluegill of all sizes, mostly around the wrecks. And on the way back we encountered a school of about a million minnows, that looked like a solid wall. We followed the side of the hill around to the speedboat & rowboat, and made our exit just as the sun was going down. I can't speak for the condition of the lines to the wrecks in the middle.

-Ray

 

[ScubaFishee]

Sounds like the plan worked and you guys had a good dive despite all the red tape.

Ray, thanks for the report.

 

[Tiny Bubbles]

Hey all,

This may be more of a hassle than not, but if that areas had been used as a dive mobilization site, you may have rights to use it. The legal aspect might also help you strike a deal for divers only, no other boaters or "riff-raff".

Depending on the length of time it has been used, the new landowners may be forced to let you still dive from that end. This would be known as an implied easement or as a form of adverse possession. Find a local surveyor and/or lawyer and they can fill you in on the specific requirements. However, it is very common for the courts to rule in your favor. Just making the owners aware of the possible outcome may help you reach an amicable agreement with them. They might be reasonalbe people once you talk to them and ask nicely....

For example, one person was given permission to keep cutting wood off another's property 'cause he'd been doing it for so long. Also, a landowner who used to let kids cross his property, but changed his mind after may years, had to remove a fence he had put up (kids father was a lawyer). These are not MI specific cases, and rules vary between provinces and states.

Similar cases to Lake Fenton have been won here. This is posted on the state's public rights on michigan waters wepbage:


L. Highway Access to Public Waters
Some waters are touched or bordered by public roadways, most of which have been established by public use or by easement. Ownership of the land beneath such roadways remains with the private landowner. The public has merely acquired the right to use the land for roadway purposes, but not the right to pick the fruits, nuts, or crops alongside the roadway. These remain the property of the landowner. The courts have held the public has no right to enter a non-navigable lake or stream from a public roadway any more than to enter the orchards or uplands along such roadway.

However, the Michigan Supreme Court in Cass County Park Trustees v Wendt, 361 Mich. 247; 105 NW2d 138 (1960), ruled that whenever a highway actually and in the natural state of things contiguously borders or ends in navigable public waters, the public has a right of access from the highway by land to the highway by water. The court in so ruling did not differentiate between right-of-way owned in fee, granted by easement, or established by user. In fact, the Cass County Park case, where right-of-way was granted by easement, was not quite as simple as in most cases in that the evidence clearly illustrated that there was also a strip of land between the highway and the water's edge. It was established the strip had been used for public purposes, including the launching of boats, swimming, fishing and parking of automobiles, and that such use had been a constant one. Notwithstanding, the court additionally held that the right of public access to bodies of water bordered or skirted by public roads may be lawfully created by long continued use (prescriptive easement) even across such strip of intervening private property.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/publicrights_22525_7.htm

 

[Tiny Bubbles]

I dove there yesterday with Ted, Dirk, & Scott. Pig Fence is completely gone, and there are some new boat docks in place there. The condo association has their No Trespassing signs posted on everything, but they are only visible from the lake, not from the road. We parked at the convenience store up the road and walked in at Pig Beach. The convenience store manager did not ask us to leave, but asked us to park in the back. Vis was about 20 feet, and the water temp was 49°F.

If I could offer the following suggestions to anyone diving there:

* Park in the back if you're using the party store parking lot.
* Patronize whichever buisness you're using for parking.
* Don't touch the new docks.
* Don't be loud or obnoxious.

I don't know how long we can continue to shore dive there like this but it would be best not to give the locals any reason to complain.

-Ray

 

[cldwdiver]

Glad you guys had a good dive at the ol dive hole.

I was wondering when someone would try to enter there and if they would get any hassle from either the store or the building contractor.
Glad to hear that things worked out well.

I am busy Saturday May 14th, but would appreciate a ring on any other day you want to jump in there again.

 

[salmon_fan]

MY parents live on Lake Fenton, and I have multipe points of access, I pretty sure I can use their pontoon if we all behave(hahha), email or call me and we can go after work, early one morning or on the weekend, but it gets pretty busy out there..

Andrew

 

[diver_paula]

MY parents live on Lake Fenton, and I have multipe points of access, I pretty sure I can use their pontoon if we all behave(hahha), email or call me and we can go after work, early one morning or on the weekend, but it gets pretty busy out there..

Andrew

That's a good way to resurrect a thread!

Paula