Local fishermen plan to continue fighting for access to fish on Corbett Lake, undeterred by recent trespassing charges.
Back on Jan. 17, a group of people were charged with trespassing when they went ice fishing on the lake, which is said to be completely surrounded by private property.
Contrary to other media reports, police did not arrest 13 people that day.
The two RCMP officers who attended the call charged 10 people with trespassing and issued them tickets.
Three members of the Nicola Valley Fish and Game Club continued to fish on the lake after receiving tickets and were given 15 minutes to leave the lake, facing arrest if they didn’t comply, Sgt. Norm Flemming said.
The situation ended without arrests taking place.
Fish and Game Club director Rick McGowan, one of the defiant fishermen, said they crossed over an area that is public land in order to get to the lake, and therefore no one was trespassing.
Flemming, however, said that all the research he and fellow officers with the Merritt RCMP detachment have done suggests there isn’t public access as the entire lake is surrounded by private land, and therefore accessing it is considered trespassing.
Flemming said that he informed the Fish and Game Club back in December that they could be charged with trespassing if they accessed the lake.
McGowan told the Herald they plan to fish out at Corbett Lake again.
“We’re going back, and they’re going to have to drag us off of there, because that is a public property and it’s a public lake,” McGowan said.
