Let’s just get one thing nice and sparkling crystal clear. Many fishermen surf, and many surfers fish. This is not an “us versus them” goaded bunfight.
No. This is about common sense, and mutual respect. Two things the world has always been sorely lacking in, but these days the lack is more obvious than ever.
And in the context of our marine lifestyles, these two often disparate groups can clash. But they really, really shouldn’t. If they just applied the above common sense and mutual respect.
This article was inspired by several of Trident’s compadres, two of whom had separate but similar incidents with fishermen on two different days – in the same place.
“Fishing” by pianowow is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Fishing vs Surfing Round One:
Incident Number One took place on a halfway decent day. Trident arrived later, to hear about said incident from bystanders as well as the surfer in question. The surfer was enjoying the fun conditions even while some brain damaged fisherman the size of King Kong was casting his line among the throngs of surfers, seemingly unaware of how much hurt and devastation he could cause. Cue: the surfer in question. He takes a wave, only to ride over said gorilla’s fishing line. Quote: “every turn I did resulted in the doos’s line getting more wrapped and entangled around my fins.” The gorilla must’ve thought he’d landed Moby Dick. Unfortunately for him however, upon finishing his ride, the surfer justifiably flipped his board over and cut Donkey Kong’s line with said fins. Purposefully.
Cue King Kong bellowing and raging at our surfer like he was denied the ascent up the Empire state building. It could have become really nasty, really quickly. It didn’t, but the animosity will no doubt continue to simmer.
“Fisherman Tosses his Net” by D-Stanley is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Fishing vs Surfing Round Two:
Another incident happened the following day, with a different surfer at the same darn spot. Fishermen once again casting in amongst the surfers, seemingly oblivious to their plight. Or – do it on purpose. Come on fishing enthusiasts – when you have an entire deserted stretch of beach to fish – why choose to do it in the one small area where the surfers congregate? Please explain it to Trident. At this particular spot, we’ve yet to see anyone actually catch a fish, but hey. Anyhow, in this instance, the surfer had back-up – and managed to chase the fishermen away with some well chosen verbs and adverbs but once again, injury could’ve occurred.
Fishing vs Surfing Round Three:
The third incident Trident would like to mention happened to this author personally. We arrive at the above mentioned spot (yes, the THIRD incident this year at the same spot), only to see a few fun but fairly arbitrary waves – but fishermen once again into the lineup. The fisherman in question would have made the thugs in Deliverance look well bred, and Trident was incensed – to the point of nearly going up to them and telling them in no uncertain terms to **** off. We didn’t. Instead, we went ahead and enjoyed our session. Afterwards, just about to drive off, one of the other surfers came up to us and frantically asked if we had jumper cables for a stalled car. Trident has said items, so we said “sure. Where’s your car” The oke said it wasn’t for him, but for another gentleman. “Who?” We enquired. “That oke,” he replied, pointing at the rejection from Deliverance. “Not a chance,” we said. We drove off, cackling maniacally as the fisherman was stranded with his dead car and regrets.
His moer.
Any altercations with fishermen? Do you fish as well as surf? Tune us folks.
