Fisherman snags diver

[DennisS]

Fisherman throws jig at divers, catches one | fisherman, divers, report - News - Northwest Florida Daily News


Fisherman throws jig at divers, catches one
Comments 32 | Recommend 0
August 18, 2009 7:28 AM
Wendy Victora
Daily News
ESCAMBIA COUNTY -- Charges are pending against a fisherman who "intentionally hooked" a diver, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report.

The dive boat had gotten to the site of a Russian freighter wreck after the fisherman was already set up, the report said.

That angered the fisherman, who threw a jig twice at two divers when they surfaced nearby. On the second cast, he caught one of the diver's wet suit and ripped it on the arm.

The fisherman told the FWC officer that he hadn't been trying to hurt the divers, but wanted them to know they were on his spot.

 

[drbill]

I guess the important question is whether the diver was of legal size?

Actually I can understand the angler's anger since he was first at the site. It seems to me the divers were exercising a lack of courtesy, although I don't have a clue how large this wreck is.

 

[RICHinNC]

I was diving in the Carib one time and I see a fish off about 30 feet in front of me. At the same time I see something long and thin straight up and down. By the time I figure out it was fishing line, the fish had taken the bait and was caught.

I SWEAR the fish had a ....What the **** .....look on his face as he was jerked to the surface.

 

[mdax]

I can't imagine being on the surface while someone tried to hook me intentionally. For sure I would behave in a equally violent manner once I boarded their vessel...

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I've seen fishing jigs several times while diving ... some of our most popular dive sites are next to fishing piers, and while there's a 150-foot restriction to keep divers away from the piers, a good angler can easily toss a dart or buzz-bomb farther than that.

I had one guy intentionally trying to snag us while we were doing maintenance on the rope that is placed along the bottom to let divers know the boundary of the "forbidden zone". When I snagged and cut his line the fishing dude got all upset and wanted me to "return his property". I told him I'd left it on the bottom, but if he wanted I could call the local police and we could discuss whether or not I should go back and retrieve it. He declined my offer.

Recently one of my diving buddies got bonked with a downrigger ball ... luckily it hit his tank, rather than his head ... which would've really hurt.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[N2Baja]

The 'reader's comments' to the article are worth the read. Aside from the jokes (which are pretty funny) most are siding with the fisherman, since he was anchored there first.

Though I don't condone what the fisherman did, I agree with DrBill and think it was, not only discourteous, but irresponsible of the dive boat to anchor so close and put their divers in a potentially harmful situation.

 

[gypsyjim]

Everyone was in the wrong here it seems to me. Fisherman was there first and has a reasonable expectation the divers will respect this, but he certainly stepped across the line by snagging and damaging the diver's suit.
As someone else mentioned the fisherman is actually quite lucky that a diver didn't accidentally damage his anchor line, and set him adrift. It's called escalation, and both parties can play that game!

 

[bsee65]

There are very few activities that don't have their shares of discourteous idiots and a-holes. There's no doubt that divers who set up within range of a fisherman are in the wrong. No doubt. We can condemn the fisherman for taking the approach he did, but we can't defend the divers at all.

If I were responding to such an incident as a member of law enforcement, I'd have to persue charges against the fisherman if the divers wanted it, but I'd also find some charges to file against the divers who created the situation. The most likely result is that everyone goes home angry and no one ends up in court.

 

[Jayde323]

I've been on dive boats in the past where unfortunately we are not the first on site, sometimes there are boats there fishing. The captain just moves onto the next site. There was once where the fishermen were still on a desired site after we had moved on earlier in the day, so the captain radioed the other boat asking if they could take a break for about an hour. Luckily the guys were about to take a break for lunch and only asked we give a fish report when we surfaced. We were able to dive and everyone was happy at the end of the day, especially the fishermen after our reports of a large school of pompano in the other side of the wreck.

A while back, my husband and I were diving while my father in-law stayed on the boat. Close to the end of our dive we heard a boat motor over our heads. We look up just as they were dropping lines in the water just feet from us. We end the dive and my father in-law tells us the boater had no clue about dive laws. As he was trying to tell them they had to keep 300' distance, the boater was pointing down telling my father in-law we were right under his boat. The guy thought he was being helpful.

A little education and politeness goes a long way.

 

[imwright1985]

both sound at fault, divers shoulda been further away, but fisherman shouldnt have pitched jig, that turns it into assult charges potentially. Its possible current pushed divers towards his boat too which would take away some of their fault