# Unbelievable Disrespect to Fellow Angler



## cowhitey (May 16, 2010)

Warning, A little long but.....It's been 2 weeks since this happened but still can't believe someone would do this.

On Wednesday June 13th I took my 14 year old son and a friend of his who's never been offshore fishing to a private reef 23 miles offshore of OB. This is a great spot and loaded with fish. We've fished it for 5 years and have only seen 3 boats on it during snapper season. I understand that no place is private but its not a public number.

We were there for 40 minutes having a blast catch and releasing snapper since rec guys couldn't keep on a Wednesday. Boys are having a blast. We see a large boat coming our direction fast. I figured they'd steer wide and give us some room but kept coming full bore directly at us. I told the boys to reel in as I'm thinking this guy doesn't see us over the reef. I'm ready to move when he powers it down and pulls up 15 feet! from our boat with 40 people on board all with baited lines dangling. I see it's a OB head boat we see all the time.  I thought maybe the captain was going to tell us something or whatever. He stops the boat and the captain says "drop em". 

I couldn't believe it. There wasn't another boat for 5 miles and he's 15 feet from our 24' boat. I threw up my arms and yelled at the boat a few words of disappointment/expletives. The patrons as well as the deck hands looked shocked too and said nothing. The captain comes out of the control area and asks what the problem is. I said there's an entire ocean and you chose to park on top of our 24 foot boat with 2 young boys with 40 people on board your boat. He asks if we were snapper fishing assuming we're breaking the law and I said yes catch and release. He said we're snapper fishing too and goes back in his perch. 

I put it in gear and was about to circle his boat a few times before leaving but he comes out to video me with his phone. I had 20 lines drifting into me that I could of cut off with the prop but didn't want that mess. We just left and went to a public number 1/2 mile away. Watched him through binocs pull 80 snapper off that reef in 1 hour and point it north to shore.

We had fished this spot 4 other times this year with tons of fish but no big ones like usual. This explained why there were no big fish on this reef anymore like usual. The head boat found it this year. 

I've always respected other boats who were already on a reef and go to another spot to wait until they leave when I'm that far out. I'd feel like a dick pulling up on someone like that. 

I have no problem sharing the spot with another boat if they were friendly and had some kids out there to catch a few fish. Hell opening day I waved a guy over who had 4 kids on his boat and invited him to take turns drifting over the reef as they were 400 yards away on a public number catching nothing. It was awesome watching those kids with bent rods and smiling faces. I could probably understand this head boat too if there were boats on every spot as far as they you can see. 

We have a place in OB and are non residents so don't know the local etiquette. Is this common or something that should be expected considering 23 miles out, mid week, no one around, etc? All the locals I told about this we're disgusted too. I want to believe that this captain was just the exception for being a dick and most would have more respect.

I know there's really nothing that could be done as it's 100% legal but what would you guys of done if this happened to you given the above circumstances.


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## cowhitey (May 16, 2010)

I'm happy to say there is a silver lining to this story. My friend who lives in OB told this story to one of his charter captain friends and he was so disgusted he gave us a private number 15 miles off shore to take the boys to to catch some fish. It was loaded with big snapper. We landed a 23 and 18 pounder and boxed our limit of big snapper in an hour. What an incredible gesture and the kind of treatment we have come to love and usually receive from the great people in OB. A trip the kids will never forget. We will never share these numbers out of respect to the rightful owner.


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

Used to be there was common courtesy where boats wouldn’t run on other boats and crowd each other off a spot. That is no more. I am sure that the charter. captain that pulled up on you has had recreational boats run up to where he was trying to fish and crowd he and his customers. Once that happened a few times common courtesy went out the window. Those.charter guys put down a lot of reefs to keep their business going.

Best thing you can do is build up your numbers and move somewhere else when you see someone like that coming. That’s what I do and I am long gong by the time a boat gets to within a mile or so heading right at me.

There is no common courtesy anymore I just try to enjoy my day and avoid confrontation.


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## Catchemall (May 8, 2018)

Common courtesy has become very uncommon these days. No it's not proper etiquette but I'm still amazed at how many people do it. I had a similar experience except when I held my hands up like you did the guy went crazy, threatened to get on my boat and whip my @**, circled the boat several times, cussing and threatening the entire time. He was obviously a "for hire" and his party, who were older couples, just held their heads down in shame. In retrospect, I should've written his numbers down and called the CG. He was obviously all mouth but trying to board another person's boat without permission is called piracy and they have every right to deter the pirate by whatever means necessary. 
I'm glad all ended well for you. Except for the antics of the other "captain" my guys had a great trip too.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

I missed the boat's name?


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## Joraca (Dec 29, 2007)

I wouldn't have gone out to catch and "release" sow snapper in 120 feet of water.


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## Catchemall (May 8, 2018)

Good point.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

You wouldn't, but he did. Nothing illegal about it. Doesn't change the fact that the head boat guy is a jackass.


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

Question- did you deploy the reef? And if not, has it crossed your mind that possibly that charter captain did in fact deploy the reef and had money and time invested in it, and will fish it regardless if there is a boat on it already or not? I know if I put the time and fuel in to dump something 23 miles out, I'm fishing it devil be damned who is there. Just a thought. No excuse for bad behavior, and if you yourself put it down I'd be pissed too, but it's all public once it's down and I know you get that. Just a thought.


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

Also, you shouldn't have left it. 40 lines in the water was a perfect opportunity for a fly line or knocker rig and get a nice sow on a spinning outfit near the surface. That's free chum. Improvise, keep fishing, keep having fun and don't let it ruin your day.


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## sureicanfish (Sep 30, 2007)

I'd definitely be dragging that boat name through the mud. I have increasingly little patience for rude or inconsiderate people


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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

Dive flag, then throw bags of Alka-seltzer over the side with lead weights so it throws up tons of bubbles.


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

Am I the only one that sees the attitude of the original poster as possibly out of line? The charterboat didn't circle them, try to swamp them, or otherwise run them off the spot. From his post, they simply pulled up and started fishing. Nearby, yes, but nowhere in his post does he mentioned that his safety or those on his vessel was endangered. From what I can tell, the charterboat captain and did nothing to prevent them from continuing to fish. 

Instead he considers circling them, wrapping up 20 lines in his prop, and ruining a bunch of terminal tackle and weights and wasting the time of 20 passengers who had nothing to do with this. He implies that he would have gone forward with this plan had the captain not gotten a phone to record him. 

All because someone else wanted to fish "his" spot.


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## halo1 (Oct 4, 2007)

Lol


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## jack2 (Mar 19, 2010)

i'm outa popcorn. gonna run to dollar general. be back in a bit.:thumbup:
i'm on josh's side.

jack


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

aaaahhhhhh….. 

"Snapper Season" Oh, how I have messed you... The stories you provide are priceless, and make me refuse to fish on weekends or holidays....


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## cowhitey (May 16, 2010)

Yeah Fenderbender we were the one's at fault. You sound like you're the captain in question if that's how you feel. 

I'd say that a 80' ship towering over our boat at 15' away rocking in the waves was a possible safety issue. They also had to go around us to get on the up current side of the reef.

That captain also didn't put down that reef but I agree once it's dropped it's a public number.


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

Never said you were at fault. In fact, I agree it would considered rude to fish right next to another guy that far out. I wouldn't do it myself, but I also wouldn't get as mad as you did if someone did it to me. There are a million run over spots out there, it's not hard to just move on and not let it ruin your day. Have a cool head and have fun and let the kids with you see that aspect of the sport. The best medicine would be a smile and a wave, tie on a fly line, and let 40 people watch you pull up a bigger snapper than they're catching.


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

Hell I have started anchoring up these days. As least I'm stuck on the spot, and if an asshat wants to fish it he has to drift around me. A bag of chum and a limit is usually LT 30 minutes away. Then we fun fish with flylines and whatnot. That's why I fish, for the fun of it and some meat! Bout to fry some up!


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## tbaxl (Mar 13, 2013)

Look st it this way, charter boat capt. is poor at his job and has to hit spots where others are fishing to look good. He probably zapped you once and waited to hit that spot after he had cleaned the others off. I stiil say head boats do more damage to the snapper in a day than i can do in a year.


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## SurfRidr (Apr 24, 2012)

FenderBender said:


> Question- did you deploy the reef? And if not, has it crossed your mind that possibly that charter captain did in fact deploy the reef and had money and time invested in it, and will fish it regardless if there is a boat on it already or not? I know if I put the time and fuel in to dump something 23 miles out, I'm fishing it devil be damned who is there. Just a thought. No excuse for bad behavior, and if you yourself put it down I'd be pissed too, but it's all public once it's down and I know you get that. Just a thought.


I like how people say 'No excuse for bad behavior' while in the same paragraph making excuses for bad behavior.

Sorry that happened to you, but can't say I'm surprised. There is a lot less of the kind of manners my grandfather passed down nowadays, and *especially* when the almighty dollar is involved.



FenderBender said:


> Am I the only one that sees the attitude of the original poster as possibly out of line?


15 feet away in a 40 foot boat is a bit close. But you sound like you are ok with that sort of thing, so what I say won't matter. :thumbsup:


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## SouthernAngler (Oct 5, 2007)

Great control yelling expletives in front of your 14yo son. Fishing future is bright.


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## Getsome (Sep 28, 2007)

Man if being close to other boats scare you, stay away from the Mass when the bait is running!!


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Getsome said:


> Man if being close to other boats scare you, stay away from the Mass when the bait is running!!


There's a difference between a well known public spot at the pass and 23 miles out.


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## Corpsman (Oct 3, 2007)

How did you get the spot in the first place? Is there any possibility that you were fishing his reef?


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## 1dime (Nov 30, 2017)

FenderBender said:


> Question- did you deploy the reef? And if not, has it crossed your mind that possibly that charter captain did in fact deploy the reef and had money and time invested in it, and will fish it regardless if there is a boat on it already or not? I know if I put the time and fuel in to dump something 23 miles out, I'm fishing it devil be damned who is there. Just a thought. No excuse for bad behavior, and if you yourself put it down I'd be pissed too, but it's all public once it's down and I know you get that. Just a thought.



So, is it legal for charter captain to build a reef offshore?? Then again, it could be just a good bit of hard bottom with some relief that the angler found at some point. As previously mentioned, the charter guy is a total jackass POS.


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

I'd be willing to bet he wouldn't have pulled 80 snapper off one spot if you hadn't hopped around cussing him. Charter guys have to look at the long game and it's not in his best interest to fish out a great spot at the beginning of snapper season.


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## tbaxl (Mar 13, 2013)

FenderBender said:


> I'd be willing to bet he wouldn't have pulled 80 snapper off one spot if you hadn't hopped around cussing him. Charter guys have to look at the long game and it's not in his best interest to fish out a great spot at the beginning of snapper season.


The charter guys in OB are big on fishing out public spots and saving their personal spots for the layer part of the season. Between the head boats and market boats Alabama spots are taking a beating . Two years ago the yellow gravel was a great Beliner spot for 6 pounds plus until the commercial boats began targeting them for the restaurants since there was no quota, today everythig is undersized. The charter and commercial owners want to believe they are the stewards of the seas, in reality they are public enemy number one.


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

tbaxl said:


> The charter guys in OB are big on fishing out public spots and saving their personal spots for the layer part of the season. Between the head boats and market boats Alabama spots are taking a beating . Two years ago the yellow gravel was a great Beliner spot for 6 pounds plus until the commercial boats began targeting them for the restaurants since there was no quota, today everythig is undersized. The charter and commercial owners want to believe they are the stewards of the seas, in reality they are public enemy number one.


But, But, But...... I thought there were so many snapper in the GOM we should be able to keep what we want when we want?


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## SnapperSlapper (Feb 13, 2009)

How many snapper you reckon you and the kids killed while catch and releasing in 100+’ of water?


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## 2RC's II (Feb 2, 2012)

SnapperSlapper said:


> How many snapper you reckon you and the kids killed while catch and releasing in 100+’ of water?


Where the heck u been for years? Blast from the past if this is the original SnapperSlapper!


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## SnapperSlapper (Feb 13, 2009)

Still around, still fishing. Just best not to post on internet forums.


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## 2RC's II (Feb 2, 2012)

SnapperSlapper said:


> Still around, still fishing. Just best not to post on internet forums.


Bahaha. Miss your humor.


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## fishnfool (Oct 2, 2007)

Corpsman said:


> Is there any possibility that you were fishing his reef?


Please explain the logic in it being “his reef” From my understanding if it’s beyond the high tide line it’s fair game. I’ve dropped “things” on the bottom before. At the point they are dropped, they are no longer “my things”.


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## tbaxl (Mar 13, 2013)

Realtor said:


> But, But, But...... I thought there were so many snapper in the GOM we should be able to keep what we want when we want?


I have never said that. The for hire sector got they wanted, us against them, i am all for management and really like the weekends only in Alabama. Maybe we should all be on the same page?


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## SurfRidr (Apr 24, 2012)

Corpsman said:


> Is there any possibility that you were fishing his reef?


No. No possibility.


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## cowhitey (May 16, 2010)

SouthernAngler- I can understand your point. Not sure how old you are or if you have teenagers now but they have heard far worse than my 2 cuss words used everyday they log in online or listen to music. I'll agree I could of been more diligent in my words but it was far from damaging these kids. 

SnapperSlapper- I guess if you weren't there you can only speculate. I doubt any of the 4 snapper we caught free lining with live bait in the top 10' of the water column were harmed. They all swam away just fine. We purposely weren't fishing down 100' for that reason.

Corpsman- Just like myself and others have said once you drop it it's not yours so not sure what your point is? I do know it wasn't his reef originally as I know the guys who dropped it. Even if I was on a public number I would of expected that this head boat wouldn't pull up on top of us 23 miles out with not a boat in sight for 5 miles. 

I guess I was just brought up a little differently and even on opening day of snapper season would never pull up to 15' of any boat and think what I was doing is fine. There are plenty of other spots.


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## H2OMARK (Oct 2, 2007)

I'm just curious who's running an 80 footer out of OB......


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## cowhitey (May 16, 2010)

Sorry, my estimate on length was wrong. It's 65'.


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## H2OMARK (Oct 2, 2007)

SnapperSlapper, I still remember the video of the "mongo tarpon". Still chuckle about it.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

cowhitey said:


> Sorry, my estimate on length was wrong. It's 65'.


Which means that you looked the boat up. What's her name?


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## Joraca (Dec 29, 2007)

In other posts, there is indication that his condo is on Ole River, near the Ono Bridge, and that he sees the offending boat regularly.

Here is one that docks near the Flora Bama and is 65 feet long. It would apparently have to go by his place to get in and out.

http://alabamacharterfishingassociation.com/Product/Miss-E


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## wudduk (May 17, 2017)

I had one of those same party charter boats with about 50 people on board do the same thing with me a couple of weeks ago. Dont know if its the same boat, but pulled right up on me on a "private wreck" and started fishing. Didnt say anything to them but wanted to. That spot is pretty much ruined now. This was out of OB but cant remember the name of the boat.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Joraca said:


> In other posts, there is indication that his condo is on Ole River, near the Ono Bridge, and that he sees the offending boat regularly.
> 
> Here is one that docks near the Flora Bama and is 65 feet long. It would apparently have to go by his place to get in and out.
> 
> http://alabamacharterfishingassociation.com/Product/Miss-E


Pretty sure that boat docks at Zeke's. There's not any 65' head boat running down Ole River. Still could be the boat though.


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## Joraca (Dec 29, 2007)

It was on Ole River today. 

I saw it idle eastbound behind the Bella Luna condo (about a block west of the Flora Bama) with a load of fisherman at about 1:25.


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## boomshakalaka (Dec 4, 2012)

SnapperSlapper said:


> How many snapper you reckon you and the kids killed while catch and releasing in 100+’ of water?


Probably not near as many as you kill every year.


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## mudskipper (Oct 3, 2007)

I've had two bad charter boat experiences...….I was the only boat around for miles both times when a big charter came and got right next to me and dropped a ton of lines...….tangled up my top water lines and stirred up the water and shook my boat...….

the first time I got out my air horn pointed it at the boat (15-20 feet away) and blasted it every 30 seconds......people were yelling at the captain to move and covering their ears......he moved 

the second time I wasn't even on a spot.....just anchored deep chumming with lines out back.....he got right next to me and they all dropped lines.....as soon as he pulled off I pulled anchor and followed him the entire day making sure to park the same distance to him as he did to me......he went in early, probably because he didn't want to give up anymore spots :whistling:


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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)




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## 2RC's II (Feb 2, 2012)

Boat-Dude said:


>


Did this once. Don't run over to look at one of these. The first wake is 9' and after you recover from that in your 23 footer the second wake is 9'.


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