Strange but true thread: outrageous behaviors/ statements made by surf fishermen

[DarkSkies]

I had a guy tell me once as I was fishing a spot that the fishing is pretty good here when they are here.

Better than if he had told you that "fishing will only bring you yesterday's fish....as in you had to be here yesterday to catch them"
(courtesy of Finchaser)

[DarkSkies]

Someone sent me this comment made by a guy who says he is half-Indian. I've been sent several racist comments, I thought this one was worth mentioning:


["These guys weren't Spanish either. They were either Egyptian or Pakistani. I know this because I am half Indian. Us browns have the ability to distinguish between different browns."]





Really? A little advice here...go back and ask the person you were referring to where he's from. I bet 2 custom plugs that you're entirely off by a continent.

Mad detective skills you got, bro.

The reason for mentioning this is people are very quick to characterize different ethnic groups as being prone to littering or poaching. I've seen both activities committed by all ethnic groups. The one problem I have with the characterization is that there are plenty of white guys who should know better, do know better, and either litter or poach. I've run across poachers in all shapes and sizes.

You might tend to see more poaching from various kinds of people or ethnic groups, I might agree with that if you were keeping a comprehensive log of observations and times, dates, places, etc, and were out there every day making observations.

But there is a danger in characterizing peoples' behavior according to their race.




Ex: I have a good friend who's Asian, fishes almost every day. A white guy reported him to F&G for fishing 3 rods, and harassed him on a jetty, while the white guy had 4 rods he was actively fishing. My friend had done nothing wrong other than fish 3 rods during the middle of the week on an uncrowded jetty. Where's the fairness in that?

And as for the stereotypical issue of Asians poaching blackfish, sure I've heard and seen it. I've been to Chinatown where every conceivable form of fish is for sale, including surf-caught striped bass, and live blackfish.

And I know that some of the guys making weekly trips to sell those live blackfish in the Asian markets are white guys, contractors with slow seasons, guys on Unemployment.

Some of the most arrogant poachers I have come across have had white skin. The sad thing is that they feel their skin color lets them get away with it.

It's a good thing to slam poachers.

I speak up every chance I get, and dump poachers' short fish if they're still alive. How many of the internet complainers can say that? But if you wanna slam groups of people, make sure you're looking at them all equally.

[dogfish]

Some of the most arrogant poachers I have come across have had white skin. The sad thing is that they feel their skin color lets them get away with it.

And they're probably the loudest complainers about other guys poaching, "its the mexicans, bla bla bla."
You folks are crazy down there. Things are a lot quieter up here.

[bluesdude71]

Where's all the fish, how do I get to them, where should I go..... All these plus more belong to the lazy *** guys who wait for everyone else to find the fish.

[DarkSkies]

I thought about putting this one up in the fishing story of the month, but it's a little foul so I thought it might fit better here.....



As related to me by one of our members.

*************


He was on the beach one day last week, at a particular SH beach. This beach was uncrowded, not many surf fishermen, and no bathers.

It was CLOSE to the nude beach at Gunnison, but not exactly.
(Bet ya can guess where I'm going with this story by now)


There was an older guy, in his 50's or so. This guy was built like a beachball, with fat and fat rolls spilling down everywhere.

While we try to be sensitive to fat people here, as many in America are overweight, that doesn't mean ya have to go the beach and show the world all your fat hanging out, and wear a frikkin SPEEDO!!





So, this portly gentleman is at the beach, while our S&A member is there fishing, minding his own business.

The portly guy starts to take his clothes off. It ends up that his bathing suit of choice is a pink speedo!





To make matters worse, maybe the guy thought he was at the nude beach, maybe he was looking to make "new friends".

Whatever the deal, the guy took his speedo off till he was one mess of jolly blubber and nakedness. That would have been bad enough if he just kept to himself.





But this portly fellow was in a chatty mood and proceeded to chat up the fishermen fishing on the beach, in nothing but the skin he had on when he entered this world.

As he was describing the story to me, my fisherman friend's voice trailed off.....I think he was busy
as those intensely disturbing pictures entered his head as he related them again.






My friend left soon after that for another part of the Hook. He reported it to a ranger, who said next time it happened he would come and arrest the guy.

What a way to cap off a morning of fishing.

[dogfish]

As he was describing the story to me, my fisherman friend's voice trailed off.....I think he was busy
as those intensely disturbing pictures entered his head as he related them again.

Yeah and now my eyes hurt too, thank you so much for posting that and the descriptive pics

[fishinmission78]

If a freaKfag like that ever tried that with me, I would start casting some wild casts, never know what you might accidentally hook.

[Monty]

How you going to release that?

If a freaKfag like that ever tried that with me, I would start casting some wild casts, never know what you might accidentally hook.

[ledhead36]

^^ I would just cut the line and let that one go!

[bababooey]

Catch and release with minimal handling.

[plugginpete]

I
So, this portly gentleman is at the beach, while our S&A member is there fishing, minding his own business.

The portly guy starts to take his clothes off. It ends up that his bathing suit of choice is a pink speedo!





To make matters worse, maybe the guy thought he was at the nude beach, maybe he was looking to make "new friends".

Whatever the deal, the guy took his speedo off till he was one mess of jolly blubber and nakedness. That would have been bad enough if he just kept to himself.





But this portly fellow was in a chatty mood and proceeded to chat up the fishermen fishing on the beach, in nothing but the skin he had on when he entered this world.

This is sick, it's almost like it was sexual harassment by a gay guy.

[CharlieTuna]

Catch and release with minimal handling.

Boy I'm sure glad I don't fish in Jersey anymore. I wouldn't be happy with any "handling" at all.

[DarkSkies]

I was walking off the beach the other night. The moon was getting smaller, and the ambient light wasn't that bad if you let your eyes focus in the dark. My eyesight is getting worse as I get older, so I know what it's like to lean on the use of lighting sometimes.

Even so, you always try to be discreet when others are around, or use the red led if you can.

This guy comes on the beach with a 1 million candlepower flashlight. He was waving it around, and we thought he might be having some kind of trouble.

I walked up to him, said "Hey Bud, are you OK? We saw that light from far away, and I was wondering if you needed help?"

He said:
"Nope, the light is just fine, otherwise how could I see in the dark to get to the beach?"

Brilliant, meanwhile he was blinding everyone whose path he came in contact with.

Here's to you, Bud.

[Monty]

^^^
Fishing early this past Sunday AM I was amazed at the amount of stupidity shown in the handling of flash lights and whatever they were using to light up an area or to actually look into the surf. Inconsideration running rampant.

[DarkSkies]

Monty, you're a great (and diplomatic) observer of people at their worst rudeness and inconsideration. You are so much more diplomatic than I am. I try, but when that doesn't work, I go back to my old ways...





The latest mugging story:

I was fishin a beach a few days ago. There was a slow pick of fish until the tide rose. It was crazy fishin for awhile. Then it slowed to a pick again, and gradually petered out.

Somewhere around 10:30am (I think that internet report naming a specific location was posted around 10am that day ) another 200 guys showed up. They showed up so quickly it was like they all came in on the same bus.

-One of them starts setting up behind me and the area I was fishin in.
-He hurriedly puts his 14', 3-piece rod together. He clips on a storm shad.
Everyone else on the beach was using metal.
-(here's where it's important to observe what other anglers are doing, folks. Storm shads are a great peanut bunker profile, when they're around. The dominant bait that morning was sandeels, and you could see some washed up on the beach)

-There was 15 feet between me and the guy to my left. The guy on the left was fishin with his buddies, kind of together. They were close friends to a well-known NJ fly tyer.

- There was a strong sweep in the ocean that day, meaning we all had to cast mindful of not getting snagged with the guy next to you. The mugger unceremoniously gets to the beach, squeezes in between us without so much as a nod of "what's up", glance, or any recognition. Bear in mind that the whole 2 mile stretch of beach was productive.

- After a few casts, I turn to him and say, "Hey pal, don't you think you're a little close, there's a big sweep out there, and hard to keep the casts straight."

- His answer: "Well you don't own the ocean, do you?!!"

- I tried to diplomatically explain the sweep again, and that we would get our lines crossed.

- His response: "I didn't see your name on this spot of sand."

- At that point I lost my diplomacy...
The guy next to us and his buddies had been having a few side conversations about our new mugger friend. He chimes in and says: " It's called courtesy and manners, guy"

Still, our mugger has no clue.

So, the diplomat that I am, said:
"I just want you to know, that when we get our lines tangled, and we will with us being so close together, that at that exact moment, I'll be cutting your line, and tossing your rig into the Atlantic. Just wanted to be clear about this, and you understand exactly how this will go down. Any problems with that?"

He looked at me like I was Charlie Manson's brother, got quiet, and moved over a bit....

He had the space to his left because the fly tyer's friends at that point had had enough and got ready to leave.




Later on at for the afternoon bite, I ran into the fly tyer's friends coming to the beach again. I apologized for my harsh words. Maybe I was a little too loud?

Nope, my new friend tells me.
He says:
"No way! Someone had to say something, we were just figuring out who was going to be the one to speak to that idiot! I'm glad you spoke up, it was funny as hell, needed to be done. I went and told BP about it, and we laughed for 5 minutes. Thanks!"

So I guess I brightened BP's day. Maybe one day I'll meet him in person, I heard he ties great flies.




Moral of the story:
Don't be this guy....
(I'm posting a pic of him as he runs back to the sand to unhook a short fluke he caught on the shad.) The beach is a public area. We all need to share the space. If I run into this guy again, doing the same thing, I'll be glad to share the face pic under my First Amendment rights.





I don't think it's important who he is. I think the important thing is when you get to the beach, look at what others are doing, be respectful, and try not to crowd people. There's plenty of beach to fish from, and even blitzing fish will eventually move down your way.

And I can't stress how important being courteous is. A "Hello" or nod of the head goes a long way.

I'm not apt to get into conversations with strangers when I'm fishin. Even my close friends, when the bite is on, we don't talk much, it's all about the fishin. But for Pete's sake, remember that a little courtesy goes a long way.


I try to help people whenever I can, especially the newbies to surf fishing. I've helped hundreds over the years, and would give someone the shirt off my back if they needed it more than I.

But rudeness shouldn't be tolerated. The place to deal with it is then and there. If more people spoke up at the time things were happening instead of only ranting on the internet, maybe some people would get the education they need.

And then again, maybe not.

[surfwalker]

Dark, you can only take so much and then you speak or move on. This year has been a difficult one for me as far as doing what I love best, surfcasting, just no time.

In the past I have run into many of these characters and my frustrations have reached the boiling point. At my expense of not catching, I avoid these spots that have been burned to the max. I can't tolerate the inconsideration of some and the loss of enjoyment by the dedicated. Most of the time the inconsiderates are just blitz or spring/fall run types. No idea of the true meaning of surfcasting, just catch at any cost.

I'm afraid it will grow in the future, as the gimme/get me/ I want people grow in numbers. People like the one you met will never understand the meaning of courtesy at the line, they are just out for themselves, shame.

No, I don't own the ocean, but give some distance/consideration and it can be enjoyed by everyone.

[fishinmission78]

I would have been cool to him and given him a chance. If he gave me the crap he gave you I would have punched him in the side of the head and asked him if he could see the sweep then. Dark you have more tolerance then me. I have no patience for a-holes like that ****.

[jigfreak]

Right on. I would have done what fnm did, then beat him with his rod until he ran away. My fishing time is valuable. I won't let a mugger get in my way without confrontation.

[wish4fish]

ah dark yur too mellow what happened to the old dark, the dark i used to know would have throw that guy in the water yur gettin soft dude, lol

[fishinmission78]

Darkskies comments in another thread reminded me of this. Today at Island Beach, there were these 2 young guys fishing for bass. They each had surf stix, about 10', fishing clams with fishfinder rigs and sinkers. Each of their rods had a VS250 on it. Why the frick do you need a VS when you are fishing for bass with clams? What's worse is that earlier in the season, out in the back bay I saw a few dudes with 8' sticks, fishing for the 24" bass that were back there, with VS reels. Clam fishing from shore for bass with VS reels, what has this world come to? Will you be swimming in the wash as you bring in and release these massive 24" schoolies?