Another Brainless Pro Fisherman

[megafish71]

Went out for a fish on Friday arvo out from Cairns. Found a good patch of bait holding in a current line over large lump of rock so the lines were out for a troll trough the area, wasn’t long and a good Spaniard was raised, needless to say another pass was in order. Just as the lines were set again I noticed another boat approaching the area rapidly, as this boat got closer I noticed it was a pro torut boat and at that time the operator must have noticed the large school of bait on the surface and he changed direction to weave through the bait school and disperse the bait. Bait fish jumped everywhere as he continued to weave through the bait, he then continued on and motored along past us (with in a few meters of my boat) as soon as he past the stern of my boat he veered hard to port and cut straight across our stern, in doing this he caught both of our lines up on his outboard and took off straight across the reef shallows, end result two spooled reels and two new lures lost. We took off and followed this brainless prick catching up with him in the shallows. I asked the jerk what his bloody problem was and all he could says was we should f*#k off as we are not allowed to be within 500mtrs of a commercial fisherman and this was his patch of reef. Well that didn't go down well with me and the temptation to jump ship a belt this looser into submission was hard to control, so I gave him a bit of a spray and decided to call Fisheries to report the incident. To cut a long story short I have a couple of the Fisheries officers coming to take a statement from me this afternoon as they are keen to take this up with this particular pro fisher. Will let everyone know what comes of this.

Cheers Ron

[Jack_Lives_Here]

What a wally - would have have taken all the restraint I could muster to not go the knuckle on a goose like that.
His patch of reef huh - didn't know they were selling - ya think he bought it off ebay??
Be keen to hear what the Fisheries say and if they take any action.

[aussiefool]

Good on Ya Ron, it's clowns like that NEED to be put ashore for a while... [smiley=behead.gif]and a long while at that. I think you did the right thing reporting it to the fisheries [smiley=2thumbsup.gif] [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

[Hookem_Herby]

I just hope that Fisheries reward you for doing the right thing Ron. Violence wouldn't have resolved the problem or fixed his attitude, let's hope that fisheries sting him with a big fine or suspend his license - maybe that'll learn him. IDIOT!

Sorry to hear about the ruined fishing trip, at least you got one. ::) :P
Keep us in the loop as to the outcome. 8-)

Cheers,
Herby

[Fishin_Dan]

The hand operated drills (The old school ones you have to wind manually) will work & drill underwater.... ;) :-X

[MIKOS]

Ron,

Sounds like a d!ckhead.You dont need that hey.I hope that he damaged his gearbox seals with your fishing line ;D ;D

MIKOS ;)

[bugman]

Ron,

Well done on reporting the incident. Keep us informed on what the outcome is. Interesting to see another pro going for the "Can't come withing 500m".

What a laugh.

Brett

[CQ_Fisher]

stories like that make my blood boil >:(

[INDULGENCE]

Well done Ron
Will you ask Fisheries if this guy broke Maritime law as well.I think there are rules to prevent this sort of thing happening at sea.

Wally

PS: Not this dope but a real Wally

[dfox]

I had a resent confrontation with a container ship that resulted in an investigation. Marine incidents are taken quite seriously, especially if your safety was at risk. I filled in a statement and had several interviews with an officer, i could have taken it further but didnt.
Regardless of whether this bloke was a pro or not isnt the issue, the unsafe manner in the way he approached and the risk of collision are what are of concern. Good luck ron, at the very least youll give him a fright and something to think about...foxy

[SeaHunt]

I like the drill idea. ::)

[bidkev]

Good on yer Ron. Taking the time to file a report will hopefully result in safer waters for all of us.

kev

[Billo]

you did well Ron ..many a man would atleast have found the sinker box :-X
Hopefully the course of action you chose to take will take him off the water !
Look forward to hearing of the results

[Black_Rat]

.....Marine incidents are taken quite seriously....

Correct me if i'm wrong somebody but I think any incident (on water) reported to Queensland Transport had to be investigated #:-/ ??? I think there are forms at Department of Transport for Reporting Marine Incidents ??

Damo.

[Thunderbird]

Keep a slingshot onboard.. [smiley=engel017.gif]

[megafish71]

Some of you guys have hit the nail on the head. The fisheries Inspectors only have a couple of things to follow up on regarding the incident, and this things if proven only carry a small penalty points against the licence holder, however they were going to talk to guys at MSQ (Marine safety Qld) as the manner in which the jerk operated his vessel has raised some serious safety issues. Fisheries believe there is a better chance of some sort of prosecution this way

Will keep you posted

Ron

[Spaniard_King]

Ron,

Definately MSQ is the go, these guys are serrious :o

Good luck with the investigation, but I think the punnishment will stil fall short of fitting the offence.

Garry

[sempre]

Mega , you got to get bigger sinkers , do you know how hard and fast you can throw them...


sam...

[stubi]

What a ########!!! [smiley=oops.gif] Can I say ######## on this site?[smiley=policeman.gif]

Seriously, well done mate. The bruise you could have given him would have cleared up in a couple of days, but maybe now the consequences of his stupidity may last a little longer. For the safety of everyone on the water I hope so!!!

See ya, Stu

[stubi]

Ahhhh Haaaaa :o Obviously I cannot say ######## on this site [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

[cooky]

I hope that he damaged his gearbox seals with your fishing line

You showed great restraint not resorting to violence. Not sure how I'd be in the same situation. Nothing worse than someone purposely wrecking a nice day out - particularly when you were relaxing, enjoying the day, doing no harm.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I noticed after trip on Sunday braid wrapped tight around prop shaft. Haven't removed as yet, however wondering if you could clarify the damage potential and how do I test or know if damage present?

[Daintreeboy]

Pity you didn't get a photo or two off Ron, what a tosser. Well played on the reporting side of things.
Cheers, Mark.

[bazzaman]

where were u fishn ron? I havent seen too many pro boats out!

[Reidy]

Mate you did well to hold back but knowing commercial fishermen, it would only be a court case, he was probably on drugs :o, hope he loses his ticket ;). They have a bad tendency of thinking they own the whole ocean.

Hope he gets served

[mr_stinker]

give him no slack line,he had no right to do what he did
i have no time for these people

[nonibbles]

Onya Ron, just hope he doesn't keep being a Deckhed and that you and yours remain safe. Will be interested to find out how things go.

[baldyhead]

Ron did you get a foto of the primary vessel and/or the dory and or its rego Nos. Post them on this site. Do you know who he is...post that info too. I would be very interested to know who this bugga is. Whatever you do dont assault these bastards as you will be the one in the sh*t. A better idea is a piece of 3/4" garden hose in the stern of the vessel whilst the vessel is tied up @ the pig pens. This is the only thing that these bastards understand. And you do it in broad daylite and no one will take any notice of you....cheers baldy

[Big_unit]

I dont know how you guys keep so calm, I cant. Mind you my attitude has landed me in the poop quite a few times, maybe I should take a page from your books. Anger management courses dont work.

Cheers
James

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

There is always someone who will try to spoil your day. it happened to me in a fishing comp june this year. 40 knots of passing boat not 30 metres behind my boat saw my 2 troll lines both cut off. I just shook my head as this fool hammered past. he'd watched me trolling for 1 and 1/2 days and he knows i was trolling that morning also. (Glass conditions). I'll let him know what i think next time i see this local bloke at the ramp. His mate in another boat was also trying to catch a big mackerel in the same location, hence the reasoning i believe for his dirty tactics. Jealousy is a curse, and Silence is Golden sometimes, and having a 35 kg spanish on board prior to this incident puts the icing on the cake i reckon. It also sets the cat amongst the pigeons at weigh in time!!
I'm a firm believer in the old....'what goes around comes around!!'
and better still, if u say nothing, you will just be walked on next time!!!, so i like to stick my head out when i see something not quite fair and just!! There are fair ways to approach matters, nothing better than smartly letting someone know what they have done wrong. Calm voices gets through to people, yelling abuse only gets blocked out by another verbal counter attack. Quietly spoken words often get the message through , and quite often an apology gets returned!!
Johnny M

[westie]

Guys i am not a whimp when it come to saying things, BUT there is a propper action to take in this sort of situation and that is NOT Sling Shots or throwing sinkers. These are DANGEROUS WEAPONS and you need to remember this.
What will hurt more is the hip pocket stuff like facts and photo's,discription of persons rego,boat type,times, contact VMR if you don't have a phone and ask them to log your complaint time, and contact Police, the main thing is get as mush Info as possible for the authorities and be truthful and stick to the facts.
If verbal contact is made take times and locations along with what they said, Ron has done the right thing as these pro's do not play by the book.

This also applies to ALL marine mishaps not just Pro's

If taking off after them and they try to run you down give a running report to VMR as they may be able to record you coments and more so VIOLANCE should not be an option as it will be turned back on you,no matter how many there is in your boat.

I know the Law has it's flaws but in the long term it should be FIRST choice

[Argle]

Lets hope he gets what he deserves, bloody pros that think they own the seas are one thing but to recklessly endanger another craft is another matter entirely. Good on you for reporting it Ron

Cheers

[NEWBY]

Megafish I gotta tell ya mate that you would be one of the most forgiving people I have ever heard of. Unfortunately, my temper would have got the better of me and I would have kicked the living crap out of the fella and bugger the consequences. As he is eating through a straw for a few weeks he will surely be aware of the consequences of his actions. Next time he wanted to stuff someones weekend up, he will think twice and go about his way. Just the thought of doing it again would make his jaw ache.
As far as I am concerned, that would have constituted an act of war and would have been dealt with accordingly. Your a good man and you did the righty and I truly hope the prick is prosecuted to the absolute maximum the law allows because he did put you in a possible life threatening situation. The lunatic obviously needs to be banned from the waterways. (And YES, I do need anger management classes or at the very least, prozac to calm me)

[roz]

Ron,

A pro fisher tried the 500 metres thingo on us once, thats got to be a load of rubbish.???

Also, do distance off offences apply in open waters, or just enclosed?

Roz

[slacky]

I was fishing the edge of the reef at high island off cairns when 25 ft mackerl cruiser trolled a full circle around me at a distance of 6m. Ihad to pull my line in and was worried that his heavy lines would catch my motor .I just couldnt believe what had happened.Ill be ready next time. ;) ;) ;)

[FNQCairns]

For some reason I am conditioned to bullship behavior on land and shake it of fairly easily but I have a lot of trouble controlling my blood pressure when in recreation and doing no harm, anyone or anything (gov?) who chooses without a good and valid reason to rob me of the most important aspect!..... well I am yet to be able to deal with those assaults like I can in the workplace etc.

Like any mongrel dog it will only do what it can get away with, if the odds change it is out of there or it was never seen!

One word Camera! Even a fairly basic digital looks like it could be capable of recording a MPEG if held the right way.

Ever since a commercial boat tried about the same on me in Port Stephens now every time any commercial vessel approaches me like within 60-80m I take a pretend MPEG ;) I am sure this has forced a steering correction on a couple of boats in the past! 8-)

The sad thing is that unless there was an impartial witness nothing at all will come of your complaint, the laws says so.

Ron well done and I bet that big prop of yours could push some water into the air with a cranky fisho behind the throttle ;D ;D ;D [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

cheers fnq

[megafish71]

The sad thing is that unless there was an impartial witness nothing at all will come of your complaint, the laws says so.



cheers fnq



Your dead right FNQ, but I do have an impartial witness, he just seems reluctant to give a formal statement to the investigators at this stage. He is a fishing tour opperator and I think he maybe worried about being bullied by these jerks. Its a sad world we live in when people are intimidated into remaining quiet when they witness something unjust being done. But I spose he spends a lot of time on the water and has a very high chance of running into these grubs out there, I don't think I'd like a to have a run in with somebody like that if I had a boat of paying clients on board either. So I spose the ball is really in his court now.

Will keep you posted

Ron

[Burley_Boy]

Wonder if you can put in a small claims court claim for the loss of your fishing gear and associated costs of a ruined fishing trip? Be an interesting exercise that is a real pain in the arse for the bugger.

[Big_Ren]

I didn't realise that a commercial licence gave you the right to own a patch of reef and behave like a learner driver. Silly me. Restraint is the ultimate test of patience. You did well Ron. I sincerely hope the bureaucracy see fit to make an example of this piece of spineless pond slime! >:(

[DALEPRICE]

good luck and i hope the bugga
gets what he deserves.
dale

[makomaniak]

Behaviour like this should be reported. Experienced fishermen pro or not do not behave in this manner. It would seem to me that this guy lacks experience and is probably new to the game.
regards.
Makomaniak

[Flyseyes]

Me and a mate were skooching up a well know river in the gladstone region and a pro had his net across a creek at low tide. didnt see it but heard and felt it when we hit it.

[Dug]

Rocket propelled grenades spring to mind with this idiot but you did the right thing I would be reporting him to the police for malicious damage as well as fisheries and transport.

[Big_unit]

Any further development on this yet ??

Cheers
James

[megafish71]

Any further development on this yet ??

Cheers
James

Nothing further on this at present. However I did have a call from a bloke from MSQ reguarding this today, but when I returned his call he was out of the office and won't be back till tomorrow. I'll let you know the outcome of this call tomorrow.

Ron

[Mad-One]

Any news yet??

[itreallywas]

Yeah I wanna hear about him getting nailed !!!

[baldyhead]

Ditto previous post Ron?

[Mad-One]

Still nothing???

[Mad-One]

Still nothing??? :-?

[kitty_cat]

ME LIKE THE DRILL IDEA AS WELL

[baldyhead]

>:( >:( >:( >:( ??????????

[poss]

The w!nker must have his brother working out of mackay as a pro don't like to put them all in the same basket but rude, arrogant, and think we owe them a living!!!

[megafish71]

Well at the end of the day nothing has come of this, basically an incident has been recorded against the licence holder, this is to see if this guy is a repeat offender. I wonder how many times somebody can do something like this before some action is taken against them. Looks like if your a pro fisherman you can do as you like and don't need to give a stuff about the law as both fisheries and MSQ are toothless tigers if your a pro fisher. I'd bet my ass if a rec fisher was reported doing something like this to a commercial fisho they would through the book at them. I am becoming very pissed off with these continual double standards in legal system. Next time I wont be reporting anything, might just have to sort it out with the jerks there and then.

Ron

[bidkev]

<snip>

Next time I wont be reporting anything, might just have to sort it out with the jerks there and then.

Ron

That's not the way to go Ron, as frustrating and as futile as the correct way may seem to be. Why put yourself at risk when you are in the right?

Although I'm responding to this thread in particular, this may stand other members in good stead when they are involved in disputes.

May seem like hard work but If it were me, I would pursue it further. If I didn't get satisfaction via fisheries and MSQ then I would get the local police on board. They may say it is not within their jurisdiction but if you explain that your life was put at risk, then I'm sure they would make a telephone call to ensure that it is followed up appropriately.

Also.......(and it is amazing how quickly things move when you get them on board).......take it up with your local polly and if he/she doesn't get action, your state polly. Years of having served in the Trade Union Movement and involvement in local politics has proved this course of action as essential if you are to get results. Recently, I've had problems with the Dep't of Families (now Dep't of Child safety), where either they wouldn't act, or acted inappropriately, and within 24 hrs of writing, the proverbial brown stuff had hit the fan and all of a sudden everyone was listening and on board.

The best way to get action when writing a letter is to make several copies and at the bottom of the last page write "copies to:" then list all the persons that you think you would like to get on board. This would be people like your MP, opposition MP, Police Commissioner, editor local paper, The Fishing Party etc. Try and think up a list of people who may help and if this list contains people of opposing political persuasions, competing media (newspapers, tv stations) etc, so much the better. If your MP realises that you have informed the opposition then they will feel forced to act in case the opposition does so and the MP is then asked why they didn't.....makes for a nice bun fight behind the scenes and nothing works better that one party trying to score points over another ;D It's amazing how those who would otherwise not be interested in your case, become absolutely absorbed in it, if it means the opposition can't score points against them ;D To get things done when you're up against it, you have to be mischievous ;D

cheers

kev

[megafish71]

I know your right Kev, just venting >:(, not impressed with the whole thing. I must say that at no time were the authorities interested in even trying to get me some compansation for the loss of takle, surely if an incident was to be kept on file then there should be something done to replace my lost tackle. Don't get me wrong, if I lost the gear to an unstoppable fish so be it, but to loose 2 x 300mtr spools of 80lb braid and 2 brand new lures @ $28.00 ea to a bone head doesn't impress me at all. At least if I had snotted the prick I would have felt better, even if was only in the short term. Perhaps the ###### would think twice about doing it again.

Sorry guys just venting.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.

I am starting to believe it myself. ;D

I know I did the right thing by reporting it.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.
I know I did the right thing by reporting it.

There, I feel better now. :D

Ron

[bidkev]

I know your right Kev, just venting >:(, not impressed with the whole thing. I must say that at no time were the authorities interested in even trying to get me some compansation for the loss of takle, surely if an incident was to be kept on file then there should be something done to replace my lost tackle. Don't get me wrong, if I lost the gear to an unstoppable fish so be it, but to loose 2 x 300mtr spools of 80lb braid and 2 brand new lures @ $28.00 ea to a bone head doesn't impress me at all.

<snip>
Ron

If he was found to have acted negligently then he would be made to recompense you. Give what I say a try Ron. You've got nothing to lose except a bit of your time. You may feel better now, but it will niggle away at you if you think you haven't explored every avenue.

cheers

kev

[FNQCairns]

Ron, many thousand times a day there is no-one looking after good people, this last 10 years our country has lost the plot, just look at sydney lately, whats the common denominator!!- The liberals have done wonders for our mobgroup/combined and even some peoples individual moral code! ::)

You have just been marginalised.

Anyway are you in the fishing party? if a person doesn't have the power/connections/money to stick up for themself they don't have a voice.

Try TFP to rattle a sabre for all recfisho's with a phone call to whoever you were mostly dealing with, then they could possibly follow with a simple press release. I will happily state my past anecdotal problems with commercial fellows for TFPs record.

cheers fnq

[ahjayem]

Ron

My sympathies to you. We had a similar incident to what you’ve described happen to us when fishing off Townsville a few years back. We had no gear damaged or lost though. My son’s fiancé took the matter up by phone and letter with the semi-government authority which owned the boat. The end result was two written apologies.

Whilst over a month has past since the incident, I feel that a few letters, especially the “copies to …” as suggested by Kingtin even at this stage would not go astray. We all know that the wheels of government do turn slowly. You would need to be able to provide details of the incident; eg time, date, location, the officers names (if possible) to whom you reported it, details of the other vessel, etc. Also, be sure to include the relevant state parliamentary Ministers for Fisheries and Maritime Safety on your list though, as they have to reply to your letter! There is nothing worse for a state government employee to have to do than reply to a Ministerial query about an alleged incident. PM me if you need a hand to put things together.

Tight lines

RJM

[Ozwald]

Ron
Just a short note to echo the very eloquent posts of Kingtin and Ahjayem - I would definitely write to the relevant State Minister. Having been required to prepare ministerial replies on a couple of occasions its interesting to see the number of very senior people who read through the reply and cross check the facts with various government departments. So if you can get a letter into the Minister's in-box it may trigger some action. If the Minister fails to reply then the local member comes into play - providing he is in opposition to the Govt!
Oz

[uripper]

Can't help but wonder what 2 x 300mtr spools of 80lb braid #could do to prop shaft seals
- on this occasion lets hope for the worst #8-)

[baldyhead]

Ron to get any satisfaction from the QDPI & Fisheries re the incident you have to take a few necessary steps.

A Stat Dec (true and to the point without any gloss) of the incident with as much info as required to identify the culprit, including quotes of the value of the gear destroyed.
A 2nd Stat Dec of the reporting of the incident to the QDPI & Fisheries officers complete with their names, dates and any other revelant info.(no gloss).

Then you write to the Minister of QDPI &F and put him "ON NOTICE" giving him 28 clear days to respond to your "NOTICE".

You include the Stat Decs making reference to them in your letter and you put the Minister "On Notice" to answer your concern of where and why nothing will or was done re "the incident".
You must keep a copy of all documentation.

I recently had to do this type of letter involving a departmental Officer...I emailed the Minister and advised that the Originals were in a registered envelope and on its way.
I received a reply to my email and a Gold Embossed letter from the Minister within 2 days and I can tell you that by using the "SYSTEM" that they use (against us the peasants) "AGAINST" them (by way of notice) that they definately take immediate action and will conduct an investigation into the matter very quickly.

Stick ONLY to the FACTS.

If you have a witness or two get them to write a Stat Dec regarding what they witnessed and include it too.
When you get your Stat Decs signed, go to your Clerk of the Courts Office and get he or she to witness your signature and ask for the Court Seal to be stamped on these Documents.

If your complaint is two fold ie, Brainless Pro & inaction by QDPI & F Officers, set this out separately in your notice.

This is a pain in the arse to do but WELL WORTHWHILE in the long run.

cheers baldy ;D

[Hairymick]

I like the sinker idea,- with a few modifications, only a quarter pound snapper lead tied to a 50 pound handline. Swung round your head a few times with a tail of about a metre as hard as you can.
Let it go in his general direction, it will be approaching the velocity of a .38 special by then and will be enough to make anyone think twice.

regards,

Mick