Yellow Jacket Shoals Still Closed To Public Fishing

Shoal bass anglers gearing up to fish Yellow Jacket Shoals need to put the brakes on those thoughts. After hearing that new legislation designed to protect fishing access to navigable streams has passed its final step, some may have thought that section of the Flint River was back open to public access. Although Senate Bill 115 was signed by Governor Brian Kemp this week, the new laws won’t take effect until July 1, 2023. And a Court Order prohibiting public fishing in the privately owned portion of Yellow Jacket Shoals of the Flint River remains in place. Anglers who fish there without landowner permission are trespassing. On March 23, the state settled a lawsuit brought by landowners. As part of the Court Order, the landowners did not contest or oppose the public’s ability to float through that section of the Flint River, but the public cannot fish.

In response to the situation at Yellow Jacket Shoals, SB115 was passed in the very final moments of the 2023 Georgia legislative session. Proponents say the new law could save public fishing access to Yellow Jacket Shoals, but landowners, who formed a partnership called Four Chimneys, are confident the fishing prohibition will remain in place. Brooke Gram, an attorney for Four Chimneys, said, “It is Four Chimney’s position that the Governor signing SB115 does not implicate the Court Order in the Four Chimney’s case or the DNR’s obligations under that Order. We consider the matter closed and have not been informed otherwise by the DNR or the Attorney General’s office. Should the DNR take a position that SB115 impacts its obligations under the Court Order, the DNR would be in contempt of the Court’s Order in the Four Chimneys’ case. More broadly, SB115 did not receive the review and drafting process typical of legislation. SB115’s as-passed language has little practical effect on a property owners’ existing rights on their property. It is my opinion that the State will not prevail if it intends to treat SB115 as somehow altering established Georgia Supreme Court precedent or existing rights of property owners.”

The state has not yet decided how SB115 might affect the Court Order. “We are in the process of conducting a thorough review of all signed legislation related to the department,” said Col. Thomas Barnard, Director of the DNR Law Enforcement Division. “Those reviews are not yet complete, including SB115’s impact on the state’s settlement with Four Chimneys LLLP, but will be completed prior to the SB115 going into effect July 1, 2023.”

Along with signing the legislation into law, Gov. Kemp issued this statement: “Senate Bill 115 seeks to ensure sportsmen have use of Georgia’s navigable rivers. My office has received many calls both in support of and some in opposition to this piece of legislation. After careful analysis, I have signed Senate Bill 115 for the following reasons. One, the state has invested millions of dollars collected through license fees to establish fisheries and boat ramps and to manage recreational fishing populations in our rivers. Two, this legislation does not affect non-navigable rivers or streams or change the definition of navigability. The definition of navigability is codified in a different subsection of this statute: O.C.G.A. § 44-8-5(a). Three, this legislation does not impact the use of water by adjacent landowners in navigable rivers. Four, this statute does not create a private right of action. Any implied private right of action is abrogated by statute. See O.C.G.A. § 9-2-8. This bill allows for the public to hunt, fish, and transit the navigable waters of this state – an embodiment of the principle of sic vos non vobis and a privilege that has been assured Georgians for generations. To the extent some believe it stands for more, House Resolution 519 establishes the House Study Committee on Fishing Access to Freshwater Resources. This study committee will meet between legislative sessions this summer and is the appropriate venue to receive suggested amendments to the language in Senate Bill 115.”