[colburn]

Went in the ice today. It is just over 3" in the Berlin area. Haven't had anything but yet. Been setup for about half an hour.

[bowhunter095]

Were you out on paper goods pond?

[colburn]

No I almost never fish there. Upper pretty much sucks and on lower the town always comes. I got kicked off the ice at lower once for the ice being unsafe, the I've was so thick I couldn't get an auger through. This was like 3/4 years ago. I went to cresent in southington if you go there be wary past the last hole I drilled straight from the boat launch the ice was just over two inches. All the other holes were over three.

[Gee_Boog]

Thanks for the heads up on Crescent lake. I was planning on hittin that for the first time on ice this year. I've only been twice, beautiful place.

[bowhunter095]

I only asked because I live right between both of those ponds and I saw two young guys out on the upper one yesterday so I stopped to see how they were doing and thought you might have been one of them. They had 3 1/2 inches of ice and had already landed a few sunfish and crappie. They also told me that they were out there a week or two ago and somebody warned them that they may get asked to move because the pond is used for ice skating so they don't want holes everywhere. I've only ice fished that pond once or twice and never had a problem. I normally fish the lower one that your talking about because my friend lives on the pond. When I was younger the cops stopped once or twice to tell us that we should get off. Now that I'm older they don't say a word. I've had them stop and stare at me from the street plenty of times too.

[perfect hook set]

I dont know any thing about either place but, who owns the lower nody of water?

Is it residential?

I ask because, if its city owned then you have no right to be kicked up due to people wanting to skate
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[bowhunter095]

[CatDaddy]

Do any of you guys ice fish the ponds down the tracks from the station? I was wondering if they get safe ice over there. I would love to get some of those big girls on the ice.
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CatDaddy

[bowhunter095]

Are you talking about the ones on the side of route 9?

[CatDaddy]

That pond on old brickyard, yes. But i really want to know about the ones rite off of the trax. The 3 ponds thay are all next to eachother.
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CatDaddy

[PECo]

Seth

That's why you have to look up your town's ordinances and, if necessary, contact the director the town's parks and/or recreation department. No offense to police officers intended (this means YOU, Alan ), but they usually don't know all of the ordinances.

Phil
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Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

[PECo]

Okay, so I couldn't help myself and looked up the Berlin ordinances that pertain to fishing:



It looks like fishing is permitted unless otherwise posted. I'd check the signage around the pond. If there are no posted restrictions on fishing, I'd get the name and telephone number of Berlin's director of parks and recreation, and confirm the lack of restrictions with him or her. If a police officer were to question me, I'd refer the officer to the director of parks and recreation.

Incidentally, the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America pretty much guarantees your right to be in a public park (subject only to very minimal restrictions, like the hours of operation), because it's a venue in which you must be allowed to exercise your rights to free speech and to peaceably assemble, whether or not you actually intend to exercise those rights. Yes, I know it's a fairly heavy-handed argument to make, but it's true. If they were to abridge your rights by prohibiting you from being in the park, you would have grounds for a civil rights lawsuit, although this is not intended to be legal advice.
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Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

[bowhunter095]

Thanks Phil! The only sign that is posted at the pond says 'No skating'. They change this to 'Yes skating' when the town comes down and deems the pond safe although this is obviously not their top priority so it doesn't get done daily. With that said, there are no other signs that say 'no fishing' so I can't understand why they keep kicking people off. It drives me nuts because that pond has the thickest ice in town (A little over 4 inches of black ice) and I can't even fish it.

[perfect hook set]

iF PECO DIDNT CHIME IN i WOULD HAVE THOUGHT HE WAS EITHER ON VACATION OR HIBERNATING LOL MY CAPS LOCKS IS STUCK SORRY

THEY CUT BIG BLOCKS OF ICE OUT FROM WHAT i HAVE SEEN.

THE (I BELIEVE) BASE IT ON AN AVERAGE.

IF THE MOVE ACROSS A POND AND FIND SAFE ICE AT EACH STATION I AM GUESSING THEY ASSUME THAT THE REST IS THE SAME.

I AM SURE IF YOU MAKE A SEPARATE POST FOR THAT QUESTION YOU MAY GET A MORE ACCURATE ANSWER FOR LAKES AND RES.
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[Kilroy]

"Incidentally, the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America pretty much guarantees your right to be in a public park (subject only to very minimal restrictions, like the hours of operation), because it's a venue in which you must be allowed to exercise your rights to free speech and to peaceably assemble, whether or not you actually intend to exercise those rights. Yes, I know it's a fairly heavy-handed argument to make, but it's true. If they were to abridge your rights by prohibiting you from being in the park, you would have grounds for a civil rights lawsuit, although this is not intended to be legal advice." [/quote]

......Right on!