# Tickets for (Wading) at Lesner Bridge



## VA_Fisher (Jul 24, 2007)

Just a reminder to EVERYONE to be careful about wading in the immediate Lesner Bridge area. If you haven't paid attention there are now signs in the area (some are hard to spot due to bridge pilings so LOOK around carefully) and VA Beach police will ticket if they happen to catch you, the same applies to swimming unless you are past the sign on the west side of the bridge that says swimming is allowed. As always have your paperwork like fishing license etc together if you are required to have one since the police will check those as well.

I learned the hard way about the wading issue so please pass the word on to anyone you know that likes to fish in that area. Fishing itself there is NOT PROHIBITED so if you get a ticket for "Fishing where prohibited" which is a violation of VA Beach city code ordinance 6-24 you may want to take pictures of any signs in the area and fight the charge after you read the signs VERY CAREFULLY hint, hint. There is a separate charge in chapter 6 of the local ordinances which is a 6-17, Wading where prohibited which is what you probably should be charged with if you are caught wading. 

By the way if you are interested and go to the official VA Beach city website there are links you can follow in the courts section that will take you to the online version of the code for the city, from what I remember chapter 6 deals with boating and beach or fishing violations. Official copies or portions of the code can be purchased from the court as it is a requirement that they make it available to the general public.

Please don't take this as legal advice as I am not a legal professional just an average joe's opinion and real life experience on info you should look into whether or not you get a ticket, the stuff is public information and may help keep you out of trouble.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD,
VA


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## Rockstar (Jun 23, 2004)

Good luck fighting it... signs or not, in there eyes your a resident and you should understand the law. Wouldn't want yah out there in that basin interrupting those boaters... just kidding, it's for your safety :--| Striper season will be interesting down there eh?


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## TugCapn (Jun 18, 2007)

*Idiots*



VA_Fisher said:


> Just a reminder to EVERYONE to be careful about wading in the immediate Lesner Bridge area. If you haven't paid attention there are now signs in the area (some are hard to spot due to bridge pilings so LOOK around carefully) and VA Beach police will ticket if they happen to catch you, the same applies to swimming unless you are past the sign on the west side of the bridge that says swimming is allowed. As always have your paperwork like fishing license etc together if you are required to have one since the police will check those as well.
> 
> I learned the hard way about the wading issue so please pass the word on to anyone you know that likes to fish in that area. Fishing itself there is NOT PROHIBITED so if you get a ticket for "Fishing where prohibited" which is a violation of VA Beach city code ordinance 6-24 you may want to take pictures of any signs in the area and fight the charge after you read the signs VERY CAREFULLY hint, hint. There is a separate charge in chapter 6 of the local ordinances which is a 6-17, Wading where prohibited which is what you probably should be charged with if you are caught wading.
> 
> ...


I have dealt with VBPD for years as a commercial fisherman, they are all IDIOTS, most don't need to be in the boats or on the beach in the first place..licensing is required by the STATE and should be policed by VMRC or Game Wardens....just my .02 worth


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## FishinAddiction (May 9, 2006)

i didnt know the PD could write a ticket for fishing w/o a license......isnt that what VMRC and Game Wardens are for?


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## Billy J (Aug 3, 2006)

*yea*

if the police can ticket then we need to report violations to them also just naybe


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## CrawFish (Sep 23, 2003)

PO's are law enforcer. If you break the law, you'll be enforced. At least that's how I understand it.


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## tom_s (Oct 20, 2006)

FishinAddiction said:


> i didnt know the PD could write a ticket for fishing w/o a license......isnt that what VMRC and Game Wardens are for?


Oh yeah..VBPD wrote me a ticket at the 2nd island for not having my license with me.Had one,just left it in my freshwater box.Made me wait in court for 3+ hours just to dismiss it.Haven't fished without one on my person since.and I agree the law should be enforced,but the VB cops SEARCH for anything that could even resemble a violation,while the real lawbreakers carry on business as usual.


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## baitslingin (Jul 31, 2005)

dem VB PIGS is just doin there jobs. ive had some be azzes and some be cool.some tow my truck and some just park it for me(on my free trips downtown).ive had a few write tickets for beers on the beach and a few just seeing if they were in glass bottles.
obey the laws and 99% of the time youll be ok


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## Rockstar (Jun 23, 2004)

I recently asked about this on another site, does anyone know if this effects the entire Lynnhaven Inlet? This is really going to screw things up for kayakers or people wading elsewhere.

I think it's outrageous that you shouldn't be able to wadefish the Lynnhaven Inlet at ALL. I would be happy if they made some sort of PFD mandatory... make sure everyone is safe, and still havin' fun.


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## redneckranger (Jan 19, 2006)

still the boaters would complain and whine and bitch and moan that we are disrupting them


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## okimavich (Nov 13, 2006)

CrawFish said:


> PO's are law enforcer. If you break the law, you'll be enforced. At least that's how I understand it.


I believe it's similar to traffic law enforcement. If you break a *State* traffic law, the *local* PO are able to enforce that law.


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## VA_Fisher (Jul 24, 2007)

I honestly understand the safety issue with wading there in the immediate Lesner bridge area, especially the boat channel area. You know the way the current can rip through that area it does create a safety hazard. Some guys from work apparently have seen signs further inside the inlet that also prohibit wading so they basically avoid the area. I know one thing I don't think I will ever go back there, just not worth it and there is usually a lot of boat traffic at the times I go there, don't know if the city put the boat channel there on purpose? 

Incidentally it seemed that fishing while kayaking under the bridge was fine since I didn't see any kayakers get ticketed. The signs I saw in that area say that you can't prevent a vessels passage so a kayaker could technically get into trouble if he/she does that. You also can't cast within a certain distance (i think 50ft) from a passing vessel which makes sense, so in that case a shore fisherman and a kayak fisherman can also get into trouble that way. I forget the exact wording of the signs.

Oh and you might not believe it Rockstar but I fought the ticket and DID win. The ticket stated specifically 'fishing where prohibited' and if you read the signs none of them say fishing is prohibited and according to the city code of VA Beach it needs to be posted if you are ticketed with THAT SPECIFIC OFFENSE otherwise the officer(s) have nothing (signs) to support their claim. In court the judge said that the burden of proof of guilt lies with the prosecution (officer(s)) and they had no evidence to show/prove that any of the signs said specifically 'no fishing' and I did have photos of what the signs said (and they don't say 'no fishing' which was an absurd claim since if that was the case EVERYONE fishing there would've been ticketed) as well as a copy of the section of the city code that said it has to be posted. Overall it doesn't make sense for law ENFORCEMENT to not know the laws they are enforcing.

I do agree that they are just doing their jobs and yes I have dealt with some that are very professional and nice and some not so I can't paint them all with a wide brush.

The bad thing is that the officer(s) now know that they made a mistake and probably won't make it again. 

I think the fishing regulations say that a person must produce and have the license(s) on his person if asked to produce them by any officer of the peace it doesn't seem to rule out a regular city officer versus a game warden.

There was a short article a while ago in the Pilot that discussed the wading issue and there is a local group called Virginia Coastal Access Now VCAN that voices the public opinion and probably does more that I don't know of since I don't know a lot about them. The pilot article said that the public works dept was looking into the issue and were looking into whether or not exceptions could be made for wading fishermen but I doubt the city will give in. Please search online for the whole real article its worth the couple of minutes it takes to read it.

VA


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## Rockstar (Jun 23, 2004)

I fought a 'skateboarding in a prohibited area' a few years back, even went as far as videotaping my skate to show that there were no signs that enforced this law or where I could skate. Mind you I was cruising on a 6ft' longboard... definitely not ripping up curbs or trashing property. There reasoning behind charging me was because I was a local and I should KNOW the laws.  I think I paid $85, court fees, and a misdemeanor offense on my criminal record.


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## baitslingin (Jul 31, 2005)

well i guess all our little fishin holes will be closed soon  VB.gov.us.sucschit


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## TugCapn (Jun 18, 2007)

*Wading in Lynnhaven*



Rockstar said:


> I recently asked about this on another site, does anyone know if this effects the entire Lynnhaven Inlet? This is really going to screw things up for kayakers or people wading elsewhere.
> 
> I think it's outrageous that you shouldn't be able to wadefish the Lynnhaven Inlet at ALL. I would be happy if they made some sort of PFD mandatory... make sure everyone is safe, and still havin' fun.


The signs you guys are seeing are posted only for the areas where there are dangerous currents and steep drop-offs. I think it's 50-100 yds. on outside of bridge and all the shorline inside extending around corner along channel into City boat ramp. The rest of Lynnhaven does not apply, you can wade off sand flats and all along marshes or any place not posted prohibiting it. At one time there were signs on both sides of bridge showing the number of drownings and names. I believe the sign showed 18 deaths before being removed several years ago. I personally saw a young girl swept off the edge by the pilot boat station and her body was found 3 days later floating in front of Duck-In, that was back in late 70's....PEACE OUT.


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