Like I said Snapperking, I'll go anywhere legal. I thought I had permission for those pits, not the first time and won't be the last.

I fished a similar area in Missouri. It took a couple years to track down the owner. Basically the old gravel pits were flooded by an adjacent river and hadn't been worked by the company for over 20 years, but was still under the federal rules for Mine Safety and Health Administration. The owner said I could access the area, but he couldn't give me "permission" without violating MSHA rules and insurance issues. I fished the area for a couple years, but got run off by a game warden one day who saw my vehicle parked outside the gate. I explained the situation, he checked my fishing lic and cooler and told me to leave and not come back. The funny thing is the game warden didn't even know the name of the owner or company.

My favorite nightmare was asking for permission for a small private lake in Texas, then having a guy point a shotgun at me and call the sheriff. The land owner had given me permission but the owners adult son didn't know and wouldn't believe me. After the sheriff go there we drove to the owners house who verified I had permission.

How many times has a dock owner on a public lake yelled or threatened you for fishing his brush pile?

It still beats have water skiers, jet skies and the big bass boats running and gunning spots around you all day while spider rigging on the main lakes.