Beginning May 23, anglers can once again cast their lines from the Padanaram Bridge at any time of day.

The Select Board on Monday voted 3-2 to reel in the ban it had placed in 2020 which prohibited fishing from the bridge between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

“I think it’s time to return to the norm,” Board Member Shawn McDonald said. “People have waited long enough.”

The ban was initially placed due to an increase in pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the bridge caused by the pandemic.

Vice Chair Stanley Mickelson voted to keep the ban. He said with more people returning outdoors and congregating in the village, he is worried about pedestrian safety.

“They want to be able to walk that bridge,” he said. “They don’t want to have a hook in the back of their head.”

Resident Margo Moore echoed those sentiments, saying that crossing the bridge is “really dangerous when people are fishing.” 

“I’ve personally seen a lot of near-misses of fish hooks,” she said, adding that anglers “become very cross with the people that they are inconveniencing.”

With those concerns in mind, McDonald chose May 23 as the date so town officials could come up with new safety measures — something he said should have been done long ago.

“It’s time to force the town to do something,” McDonald said. “I hate to use the analogy, but it’s time to cut bait or fish.”

Mickelson, meanwhile, said he was skeptical if any new rules could even be enforced.

“Who has the magic badge to say ‘you can’t do this anymore?’” he said. “You’re going to call the cops? They have plenty [more] to do than to worry about some fishermen.”

If safety rules are not followed, McDonald said the ban could be revisited.

“It was closed down once, it can be closed down again,” McDonald said.