Fishing Allowed: A Fly Project Initiative

Words by Sam Wike

I grew up with the freedom to explore. At age 10 I would leave the house on my red Schwinn mountain bike, in a town called West Bend, Wisconsin, which is located along the Milwaukee River, and I wouldn’t get back home until evening. 

I didn’t have a cell phone, my mom didn’t really know where I was going, but I knew I had to be home by 6. She would give me $5 to stop by Hardee’s, which is where I normally threw down on a $1 cheeseburger. I saved the rest of my cash for two other regular stops; the Barton Bait Shop and Mills Fleet Farm, where I’d spend the remaining $4 on lures or baseball cards. 

Looking back, I must have bothered the heck out of the owner at Barton Bait Shop. I must have spent at least an hour of each day asking him questions about fishing Ragner Park and the Milwaukee River, or helping customers get chubs out of the minnow tank. 

I explored a lot of fishing spots and became a downright assassin on 25-inch northern pike that patrolled under the dam on the Milwaukee. I never remember, even once, being told that I couldn’t fish somewhere, and I never saw a sign that said, “No Fishing”. I didn’t see them in neighborhoods, and I didn’t see them in HOA communities, and for sure I never saw them in city parks. 

Fast forward to today. I have three boys, who are 5, 9, and 11, and it would be difficult to offer them the same freedoms I was allowed a kid...a bike, a license to be gone all day, and my burden of not knowing what’s going on or if they are okay. However, we do go fishing...a lot. 

On a recent trip to Miami, Florida, where House of Fly filmed a short film on fishing peacock bass, which are everywhere in the city, we noticed the No Fishing signs, and began to feel as if fishing is a “criminal” act. Every HOA, city park, and neighborhood has a sign saying, “No Fishing”. We did go fishing, though, as you can see in the video, and while it is not illegal to fish where we did, there were patrols that kicked us out everywhere we went. 

I believe Miami could be the best inner-city fly-fishing community in the United States, with its unlimited waterways and canals, and amazing fish targets, such as peacock bass, largemouth bass, snook and tarpon. All are likely players on nearly all the city’s waterbodies. The problem is this: all the anglers, including young aspiring anglers who use bikes as transportation, know they aren’t really supposed to be fishing those posted waters. So, we got to thinking: What can we do about this?

I went to a creativity conference once, and the speaker was an illustrator expressing what an important role designers and illustrators have in influencing change. We called a company that makes most of the No Trespassing/No Hunting signs that we see in the United States, and had them make our own House of Fly custom “Fishing Allowed” sign.

If you are a property owner who’s okay with sharing your access to rivers, canals, lakes, streams, ponds, or any other body of water that could open the door for people to explore, this is the sign for you! House of Fly provides these "FIshing Allowed" signs at $2.99 and there is space for property rules, contact numbers, and any other details about using the property or trail responsibly. We appreciate you considering hanging up one of these signs. By doing so, you'll provide a tremendous experience to responsible outdoorsmen and women and, especially, a youthful generation that dearly needs access to outdoor places and the freedom to explore, develop, test their independance, and learn.