Big Creek (Dan R. trib. [Stokes Co.])

NCs laws concerning the navigability of NCs stream....

Although riparian owners have certain rights to use water, they do not actually own the water itself. All surface and ground waters are legally 'waters of the State.' The water, plus the fish and other aquatic life belongs to the State. (There is an exception for fish in private ponds if the fish cannot escape to or enter from public fishing waters.) Even when all of the submerged land under a water body belongs to private owners, the State owns the water, although the riparian owners continue to enjoy their riparian rights.

If the body of water that lies over privately owned submerged land can be navigated by any craft such as a canoe or a raft, then the public has a permanent right to use the water surface for all purposes of recreation and commerce, including fishing, whitewater canoeing, etc. It is not clearly settled whether the public's right to use such water bodies includes the right to wade on the privately owned stream bed for fishing or other recreation. When a stream is so small that it is no longer navigable by smaller craft such as a canoe, there is clearly no public right to wade, fish, or otherwise use or enter upon the stream.