SNAGGED! Camera Spots Trespassers On Lake Of The Ozarks Private Dock, Dropping Crappie Bed [VIDEO]

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. — A security camera caught two men apparently trespassing on a private dock Monday while they placed a crappie bed in front of a boater's lift.

Diane Cain captured the incident through a Ring Camera on her dock at the 5 Mile Marker of the Gravois Arm. The two men pulled up to the dock around 4:45 p.m. on Aug. 14 and were gone within a minute. In the video, it appears they are dropping a man-made crappie bed (for fishing) with tree branches into one of the dock slips.

provided by Diane Cain

"Now we have to remove it so it doesn't damage our lift, boat, or dock," Cain lamented. "They're not going to be fishing there."

It's not uncommon for anglers to set brush piles or other manufactured structures in order to serve as "beds" for crappie. The Missouri Department of Conservation even gives tips on how to do it. But it's illegal to set foot on someone else's dock without their permission, and it's just bad boating ethics to drop a crappie bed in someone's boat slip.

For years, docks were a grey-area: not considered real property, the state's trespassing laws didn't apply to someone who stepped onto a dock where they didn't have permission to be. A bill that went into effect Aug. 28, 2021 changed that. Now under Missouri law, it is illegal to trespass on a dock.

For boaters, this means there's no more tying up to — or stepping onto — other people's docks without their permission. (The law makes an exception for seeking shelter on a dock in emergency situations.) The law also prohibits boaters from anchoring within 100 feet of a dock in a way that prohibits boats from getting into or out of the dock.

Violating this law results in an infraction, under Missouri law.