I have the Seahawk II inflatable used once to float a two mile strech of the Willimantic River, foray onto a couple of ponds/lakes, and to realize one of my bucket list items to launch off the beach at Cape May NJ and catch a fish.



Another bucket list item to be discussed later will be to float, with paddles and fishing poles, sections of the Farmington River not navigable by motorized boats. This will be later when the air and water is warm enough so getting wet will not be an issue.

The question I am asking here is what are the regulations if any governing floating rivers or waterways where the shorelines are posted? If there are relevant regulations, is there a list of permitted raft float-able waterways? I imagine the size of the waterway would factor into whether it would be legal or not to float a particular river.

As long as you launch and take out at legal sites the Farmington is wide open once your on the water. The stretch between RT. 4 in Farmington and the Pinchot Sycamore in Simsbury is nice , no real fast sections . It's a nice ride if the river is at normal or low level .

Keith: from your #656181 - January 02, 2005 post: "The surface of public bodies of water are accessible for recreational (fishing, boating, etc.) purposes. Property owners may own the bottom in areas such as small streams and rivers. If they do, you would be trespassing if you walked in the portion of the river they own. They can not keep you off the surface."

Is this 11 year old policy still valid? Also, with regard to raft-able portions of the Farmington/Shetucket rivers, if floating through shoreline posted areas, is is legal to step out of the raft into the water, tie to an in-stream boulder, drop an anchor, or must one stay in the raft afloat at all times?

I asked the question because I wanted to kayak down Pendleton Hill Brook to Spalding Pond (where I want to fish) in North Stonington.


From: Neal Hagstrom [mailto:neal.hagstrom@po.state.ct.us]
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 7:26 AM
To: McCutcheon, James E CIV STSC Groton
Subject: Re: Sir,

Hi Mr. Mcutcheon;
The Intermittent sections refers to stocking not access. Riparian law in Connecticut is different from most other places. By default you are trespassing on all private property if you have not gotten prior land owner approval. In addition, In Connecticut the landowners own the stream bottom. That said, the areas we stock are sites were either its public land or the landowners have agreed to allow fishermen in. You should still check with the landowners as a courtesy. Now the idea of wading etc. If you are wading and enter a new owners property- you are trespassing. The boating is a little more hazing. Some rivers are Navigable and depending on whose definition of Navigable you use makes a big difference. since the state owns the water people argue they should be able to canoe through a river "over" the private stream bottom. In practice I have heard of many people who have been cited for trespassing for doing this. If you have to get out a boat to portage, it drags the bottom etc you would be technically trespassing. Also, Landowners can put up fences etc across the stream to further block access down a river. Bottom line unless you have a clear corridor of permission down the river to the pond you are probably out of luck. My experience has been that if you approach landowners the vast majority will allow you to fish or boat through their property. Sorry I can't give you a clear answer than that. Call me if you have more questions Best Regards;

Neal Hagstrom
Senior Fisheries Biologist

The key word appears to be navigable. What is the definition?