Fishermen vs. Divers

[blue-tonic]

I have only had fishermen out one time while diving. We were with students and it was not a fishing area. We nicely asked them to leave but later caught them just a little further down the way. I was in the water by this point but was told they were run off. :martian:

 

[Zia]

Seems to me that if you dive in this area towing a surface marker buoy (lit if it's a night dive) then the fishermen will know where you are and cast in another direction. If they still cast lines over you, I think you're well within your rights to cut their lines.

 

[james croft]

The worst incident I was involved in was in NC at the wreck of the Huron. It is a beach dive about 800-1000 feet from the beach. There was a group of divers on the wreck with a marker. A boat came over and I observed them putting chum in the water over the divers and one fisherman was actively trying to snag them. As I was on the surface the skipper asked me if I was with the divers below. I told him I was not and he began to cuss and said the divers were going to run the fish off the wreck. He then stole the dive marker and some clip on weights hanging from the bouy. I used my knife to scratch his boat numbers onto my reel and left. I got back to the beach and called the law. The man was contacted by the police, the property recovered and the Coast Guard notified. The skipper was a licensed six-pack operator. Hope he lost his license.

 

[scubadobadoo]

The worst incident I was involved in was in NC at the wreck of the Huron. It is a beach dive about 800-1000 feet from the beach. There was a group of divers on the wreck with a marker. A boat came over and I observed them putting chum in the water over the divers and one fisherman was actively trying to snag them. As I was on the surface the skipper asked me if I was with the divers below. I told him I was not and he began to cuss and said the divers were going to run the fish off the wreck. He then stole the dive marker and some clip on weights hanging from the bouy. I used my knife to scratch his boat numbers onto my reel and left. I got back to the beach and called the law. The man was contacted by the police, the property recovered and the Coast Guard notified. The skipper was a licensed six-pack operator. Hope he lost his license.

Good for you. What an idiot that guy is. I hope he lost it too. I think messing with a dive marker should be a felony, if it isn't. His actions were very close to attempted murder in my book.

 

[SteveC]

Fishermen have been known to try to snag divers!

 

[scubadobadoo]

Fishermen have been known to try to snag divers!

At that point that are no longer fishing, they are attempting to kill a human even if they are too stupid to realize it.

 

[ams511]

At that point that are no longer fishing, they are attempting to kill a human even if they are too stupid to realize it.

Agreed, I could not have said it better myself.

 

[Diver_Wulf]

One of our regular dive spots is just off a local dock that is very popular with the fishermen, myself included (we often fish at the dock after the dive). Most of the time the people that fish there are very nice people and will pull in their lines while we get in the water and pull them in again when we are ready to get out. This one time however we were suppose to be diving with a group and arrived a little late after most of the group was already in the water. Me and my buddy walked down to the dock to see what was going on before gearing up, there were these three fisherman there laughing and when we got down to the dock they called us over, said that they were trying to snag the divers (not knowing that we ourselves were divers), we said "how nice" or something and went back to the truck and geared up, on our way back down we put our masks down and hurried by so they would not see it was us and got into the water. Once in the water we traced their lines down to the bottom tied them all together in a huge knot and took thier pretty lures for our own gear. They were not there when we surfaced but from what we were told they were pretty mad, but hey its not nice to try to hook a diver :no, since then we have seen these guys two more times, they apologized and said what asses they were, and have been really pleasant ever since.

 

[fisherdvm]

As an avid fisherman myself, I would have to apologize for the average IQ of a fisherman. It doesn't take much to hook a line and cast it into the water. So I think you can forgive some of them, and can not trust that they might not intend to hurt us.

Just like driving on the road, we have to be on the defensive, and avoid situations whenever possible.

 

[glugo357]

I don't think I would make a good fish filet! Maybe good sharkbait. I stay away from the fisherman.