What you two are being so willfully ignorant of is the fact that nobody here is faulting the landowners for posting the land, so stop trying to make ti about that.
Even on this very thread, when there was only talk of the posting, the tone was much more, "well that's unfortunate, but it's to be respected". It wasn't until the talk that after the shutdown, that a shop had turned it into their private club that folks cried foul.
In my opinion, that sort of profiteering is just as underhanded as others have made it out to be. That said, you two are correct that it isn't illegal and that if that's how the owner, shop, and any other party involved want to work it, that's their prerogative.
As has already been said as well, though (which you've been happy to ignore), it's also the prerogative of the public to form their own opinions and reactions to the news, and respond as they see fit within the law. A boycott and spreading of the information certainly falls within those limits, and it's going to happen. Combined with the fact that the Erie fishing customer base is so small (compared to a nationwide chain or corporation), and that the continued success of the small shops in the area depend so heavily on their public image within that small demographic, this move, as of now, seems like a terrible business decision, in effect, becoming the enemy of the casual fishermen that make up their customer base, then expecting those same people to continue to patronize their shop when there are plenty of other, equally viable options available who aren't profiting off of the fish they paid for but now the shop is effectively holding for ransom.
To be sure, I'll not darken the door of this shop, and will share the reasons for that with any angler that cares to know why.
True, it's the shop's call, but in the words of the great Jeffrey Lebowski, "You're not wrong...you're just an @$$hole."