Peer pressure on Surfcasters

[Monty]

When I read that a guy calls someone out for mugging them, keeping a short fish, killing fish for no reason, etc., etc. I always want to show my gratitude for saying or doing something.
Peer pressure can go a long way in surf fishing. The more people are saying and doing something about stuff the more these clueless people will learn that what they are doing is not going to be accepted.

So this thread is posting what you or someone does in "educating" others on proper fishing etiquette and discussion about it.

Some things that come to mind:
How to handle fish when releasing them, no kicking
Keeping a short
Killing "garbage fish" for the hell of it
Mugging, fishing to close to some one
Shining a bright light indiscriminately fishing at night
Boats to close, indiscriminately plowing through the area you are fishing
Basically common sense stuff that is not proper etiquette

Remember, common sense needs to be applied, don't get yourself in trouble.

Stuff like Jigfreak the other day, nicely explaining not to take his spot while he is releasing a fish.
A fellow fisherman explaining the do?s and don'ts. Thanks Jigfreak, maybe next time they won't try this again.

Most of the guys I talked to said yesterday was far better. Insane crowds and dillydocks everywhere. The second one guy would unhook a bass 2 others jumped in to fill in his spot. One guy tried to do that to me and I told him I would fillet him if he tried. He ran away like a little girl and moved down the beach. By Saturday it will be dilly city.

[buckethead]

I think some of it has to do with bad parenting firstly. secondly a general attitude of selfishness in our society today.

[hookset]

Killing "garbage fish" for the hell of it
Mugging, fishing to close to some one
Shining a bright light indiscriminately fishing at night

The above are 3 of my biggest pet peeves. You come on a beach at night you should have enough sense to turn off your damn headlights. What some of these idiots do is shine their lights on you and directly on the water and then use the lights to see where you are casting. At night it takes a little time to get adjusted to the darkness. After that you can see fine. When guys do this I have yelled at them and they don't seem to care. Sometimes you can't fix stupid

[Pebbles]

I can't stand it when the boats come in close. There is this one place that we go to quite frequently and the boaters think they own it. They come in so close that you could almost walk out and push them away. Why do they have to fish right there? They have the whole ocean, but NOOOOOOOO, they have to act like they are spooning me in bed.

[surfstix1963]

That's what sinkers are for give a few warning casts then bounce it off the boat.

I can't stand it when the boats come in close. There is this one place that we go to quite frequently and the boaters think they own it. They come in so close that you could almost walk out and push them away. Why do they have to fish right there? They have the whole ocean, but NOOOOOOOO, they have act like they are spooning me in bed.

[DarkSkies]

Pebbles is right...we do fish some areas where we get mugged by boats.....I don't think inlets should be included in that as boats generally have the right of way.....but there are other areas where someone in a boat will see us catching and come up to crowd in on the action. When that hapens, 80% of the time, the issue can be resolved by a simple "Hey Cappy, don't you think you're getting a little close?" Most reasonable Capts will hear, understand, and move off. not looking for a confrontation.....and to me, that's the best way to solve these things, without confrontation....


Sometimes confrontation is unavoidable and the only thing that seems to work.
Surfstix, I do understand the frustration, and have been there, in that moment, I definitely have felt the same way.

However, I don't want to encourage anyone to do that here.....you folks are on your own and responsible for the choices you make....
Monty this is a good discussion, hopefully you will get some more helpful suggestions.

Many of us are silent out there, when it's happening, and IMO that's the best time to handle the issue, out there, in real time.
Thanks to all for your thoughts.

[surfstix1963]

I should have posted that is my last resort but I have been in some scuffles with boat captains that just push my WhopMcKraut button and my attitude changes dramatically I tend not to back down to people like that.Maybe it is bred into me or growing up with 3 older brothers IDK but I generally say what's on my mind.

[surferman]

Mugging, fishing to close to some one
.

Hate it when that happens. There is a mile of open beach and they have to set up right next to you.
What I do when that happens is say dude you have the whole beach you can catch them down there don't crowd me, surfstix I have been mugged by boats too and dark I'm glad talking works for you but there have been incidents where no amount of talking would fix it. About 10 of us were fishing a poiint in the ocean. one boat came by and repeatedly drifted too close. We were yelling at hin and he gave us the finger. Words did not work. So we started bombing him with sinkers. He moved out 1000 feet giving us the finger all the time. A guy like that will never learn.

[BassBuddah]

I think that some of the new folks want to learn. If you take them aside and gently let them know they may be receptive. There are some who wll not listen as has been said. To those you can't reach. It's the same with any situation in life.

[baitstealer]

Stuff like Jigfreak the other day, nicely explaining not to take his spot while he is releasing a fish.
A fellow fisherman explaining the do?s and don'ts. Thanks Jigfreak, maybe next time they won't try this again.

Goog point we should all stand up for ourselves more. Except when the guy is real big like over 6'5" or has a big knife. Then I would be like a silent sheep and only talk about it on here.

[hookedonbass]

How to handle fish when releasing them, no kicking
.

Yeah I hate that!! lots o times it is the guy without waders who is fishing with workboots or sneakers on. When its 40 degrees and windy you need waders! A cheap pair will run you 50. Even if you are poor you can afford them. Please dont kick the fish half of them end up dead that way.

[cowherder]

^^^^ Have seen some of those guys without waders on the beach. Jeans and sneakers lol. That wil stop real quick once the days get down below 40. Good idea monty you should write a book about surf fishing etiquette. Unfortunately as was mentioned tha ones that need to read it the most will not.

[barrys]

The above are 3 of my biggest pet peeves. You come on a beach at night you should have enough sense to turn off your damn headlights.

Do you at least stop when you hit a bump? Could be someone doing the nasty or sleeping one off on the beach. Lights from guys that stay up near the dunes shouldn't bother anyone. Just my .02

[storminsteve]

-^^ Haha funny stuff barry if someone is doing the nasty I want to give them there space! I can't speak for hookset but I have seen the same thing too. At lsland beach have had guys roll up at night with the lights blaring and they don't put them off. They leave the truck running and come out and ask "so whats biting?" ***!!!! Whats biting will be me biting them if they don't shut those effing lights from my eyes. They also do this on moco too. There is a few jetties that if you are fishing them they can sit there shine there lights on and try to see if you are catching or not. Then after you are blinded and they see you are not hooked up they drive away. Whats up with that??????

Don't mean this to criticize what you said- I def agree with you. I also agree with hookset and monty that folks could have a little more courtesy.
A little goes a long way don't you think?

[Monty]

Don't mean this to criticize what you said- I def agree with you. I also agree with hookset and monty that folks could have a little more courtesy.
A little goes a long way don't you think?

A little more courtesy?
How about we carry a Billie club on our belts and when these inconsiderate stooges ask whats biting we take out a couple head lights with the club. Better idea than biting them

[buckethead]

A little more courtesy?
How about we carry a Billie club on our belts

Monty no offense but it seems you may be a bit tense. What about tazers are they ok too?
Hope it isn't too long before you are fishing again.

[Monty]

Monty no offense but it seems you may be a bit tense. What about tazers are they ok too?
Hope it isn't too long before you are fishing again.

Tazers and water likely a bad mix.
When will people "get it" that they should think that what they are doing effects others. And that they should care if what they are doing is negatively effecting someone else.

[Monty]

How about you are fishing, you catch and release a fish.
I guy moves close to you.
He is close enough for you to take a picture of his face and be recognized.
Is it OK to take a pic of him and post it on a site like this and say I was mugged by this guy?

[J Barbosa]

How about you are fishing, you catch and release a fish.
I guy moves close to you.
He is close enough for you to take a picture of his face and be recognized.
Is it OK to take a pic of him and post it on a site like this and say I was mugged by this guy?

Absolutely!

And post is to their Facebook account as well.

[storminsteve]

^^^^^ Monty you are starting to scare me. If you went to island beach in november and took pics of guys who mugged you you might take 100 pics a day. Please God make it so that Monty can get back to fishing soon so he doesn't get arrested.