while fishing the lyre today, on the dnr side of the river, i was unhappy to see that the lower streches of the river were blocked of by a large cable with no trespassing, violaters will be prosectued signs. this was a horrible thing for me to see happen, because there are many holes in the new no trespassing area that i had much sucess in. so i was just wondering to all the lyre river fisherman out there, do any of you know why that part of the river is blocked off, and maybe even who closed it. thanks in advance.

rey,

I feel your pain. Don't know the story 'cause I bailed on the river this year after I heard the private campground was sold and was no longer open either. Sure doesn't leave much river left. Not like there was much to begin with. I would sure like to know more about the situation up there myself. It's sad to see so much access being lost these days. But with the general lack of respect you find out there today is it really any wonder why?

There have been a couple of posts on this already with several reasons listed, I have heard several....you can search them if you want.

However, the bottom line is that both stretches of the lower river are closed indefinitely. The owners are not letting anyone have access. A local flyfishing club had an outing planned there this year, and after hearing that it was closed decided to ask the owner if we could still rent the place.... no go. Better do like the rest of us and start looking elsewhere...

I have fished the Lyre for 30 years and will miss this fine river. They closed on Sept 30th, and I have been told that it will not reopen. I was told third hand it had something to do with insurance and how the people just treated the owners.... one more fine river off the list,,,

Can you say blow out, I thought that there was alot of people fishing the Bogey in a concentrated area, good grief. I guess the recent articles in the very popular publications could have something to do with it, oh wait and maybe the closure of the lower end too. Sure am grumpy about this topic, Ill just have to wait for them to all go home in a few more weeks.Makes me wonder where to draw the line of showing somebody else the enjoyment of fishing, or having a river that you've fished since you were younger competely taken over. And pick up your trash or they may take the rest away.

Is there no access to get to the river. Because I dont think that they can own the river itself. You can hike along the bank and fish and stay within the high water mark if I am not mistaken.

Pat,
There is (or should I say, was) access via a small day park on the east side. But the thick brush and the high gradient of the Lyre make it impractical, if not impossible, to wade very far on winter flows. One of the fun aspects of the Lyre was just trying to keep a fresh fish from heading back out to the salt in that fast knarly water, as there was no way to follow them. Definately not a light line affair. It was one place where fish actually had some advantage. I will sorely miss her.

With access reduced to next to nothing will the hatchery plants continue? Could you imagine having your own private river stocked with steelhead by the wdfw...

some pretty fortunate landowners there. I'm suprised it took this long to close it off....

I spoke with a father in law to the owners and they seem to be fairly reasonable people, just tired of all the years trying to keep the place up, hiring someone to host the campground and keeping the place clean(read bait containers and miles of line, beer cans, etc....pick up your s$#% baitchuckers). I don't have a real problem with them posting signs, etc... what gets under my skin is the cable across the river. For some reason it really gets my hackles up to see that cable. I might have done the same in their situation, on second thought, no I wouldn't. They do have the best drift water on the river, too bad for me.

My son-in-law is a lawyer, I will to get a legal answer to this issue. I don't think they can own the actual river as long as it is navigatable.

I don't know the lyer river at all so i don't know if what i am going to say has any bearing in reality..

They do not own the river, That is to say they have no right to interfer with navigation on the river. If someone wants to float it and the cable caused them to wreck their boat or injure they they would be in for a healthy lawsuit. Even if the rivers is not declared navigable they cannot keep you from floating it!
If it is navigable then it is public property up to the normal high water mark and you can acess it by foot.
Remember all surface water is owned by the people of washington it therefore can NEVER be private property!!!

I have fished the Lyre since long before Jim Norman charged to fish his property. In fact, I used to walk across the old bridge before it was taken out.

I remember fishing with guys like Pete Barns, Betty Barns,and then young Pete, George Raines, Al Lathom, Kenny Creaman, etc.

I have not fished Jim Norman's property since he decided to charge to fish there. I'm that way. (I haven't dug a razor clam since the State started charging to do that, either!)

The legal aspect of whether the Lyre River is navigable water or not, is a mute point, as only a fool would try to float it (too small and very fast).

No doubt that the clean up problem exists...and it's a shame. Nothing tweaks me more than finding empty beer bottles and cans and styrofoam bait containers along the river banks. Line will happen and inevitably I end up winding up line left strung everywhere and shoving it in a vest pocket every single time I go fishing.

And while I hate garbage, I doubt that they shut down fishing because of it, as they charged the people to fish there. I guess if you camped there, the price was included, but every other day you could "buy" your way in for the day. I have no idea what they charged, but I would guess about $10/person? Seems to me that they would miss the income more than patrolling for trash. My $.02.

I suspect that the problem does not come from any of us, and it's a shame we pay the price for the irresponsible acts of others.

5 acers thats why i said my comments might not be applicable in reality because i was unfamiliar with the Lyre and the ability to float or not float it..

It matters not whether this river/stream can be used for boating purposes. It still not a good, safe idea to do so. Anyone wants to contact the local Sheriff dept. I'm sure that this can be resolved in short order. Just my .02 on the subject, I have only fished the river once and that was 20+ years ago.

Whats wrong with fishing the water upstream of the property bieng discussed ? And yes it does suck that fishing access is going away little by little everywhere

The fishing up stream is good also. If you hike far enough(now that the road is gated) you will find the beer cans and bait containers from the disgruntled locals. Right over the beds of spawing steelhead.