Angry fisherman at Sherman Island County Park - Playpen

[dasey]

The other guy's car was an Infinity G-35 coupe.

[dasey]

Afo,

Did you get a response from the Sheriff's office today?

[moni]

I also had a run in with this guy at the end of last season 2006. I got tangled in his line and could not get out of it as I was drifting into the tules in front of the beach next to kite beach. It was across my arms and I tried to separate from it. I could not so I had to cut his line. I kited for awhile and noticed that he was on the beach watching me and pointing. So I came in to talk to him. I told him I had no choice and I would pay him for his hook and line. He wanted $25. I had a feeling this guy was trouble. I did not want him slashing my tires later so I paid him and tried my best to befriend him. I told him we are all brothers here and need to lookout for each other. He seemed satisfied. As I was leaving he hooked another kiter and started yelling.


Moni

[jse]

[afolander]

I filed a report last Friday over the phone with a Sacamento County Park ranger, Kathleen Utley, a supervisor there.

The general office number for her and the rangers that have law enforcement jurisdiction at the park is (916) 875-6672.

I think she was waiting for me on the fisherman's plate number before filing the report, which I gave to somone today at the phone number above. I intend to post the report number when I get it.

If I chose to press charges (I'm not at this point) the fisherman would be charged with 'brandishing'.

Thank you for talking to the fisherman and following up with the call to the Sheriff when this happened.

[afolander]

Dasey,

The incident report has not been filed yet. You have an opportunity to get your interactions with 'angry fisherman' documented if you call Kathleen Utley, ranger for county parks, at (916) 875-6672.

When I spoke with her this morning, Kathleen apparently lost her notes from our conversation last week, so we had to do it all over again.

Unprompted by any remarks I made, she stated that hunting and fishing get priority over other activities (such as windsurfing) in the park, including the playpen area, because their fees paid for the park's creation.

I did mention to her how I tried to avoid the fisherman (e.g. I always came in and out from reaches upwind of the flags marking the rocks). I did not try to debate her as to where I think most of the current revenue comes from: windsurfers and kiters.

[kurtmagness]

[swchandler]

The thing we have to remember is that delta users are quite different in nature. I don't want to give some users a leverage here, but the nature of use and history is quite important.

One thing that I find particularly problematic about the whole delta scene is the amount of glass and disgarded debris. That's my root issue. While fisherman can be different in their interests, I would hope that they can see my perspective regarding the quality of the shoreline.

There's a real problem overall, and there's clear evidence of that. Fisherman, in an effort to avoid windsurfers and kiters, need to focus on location. From my experience, the available room and realistic alternatives do exist.

As I see it, competing interests don't need to be at odds.

[hunwil1984]

Why don't you all get together and pound him one day...he probably won't come back.

I mean you said he was what, like 5' 4'' and 120 lbs unless this little guy is a ninja it shouldn't be too hard...

[afolander]

The angry fisherman and I co-existed at park yesterday. His name is Tony Nguyen (aka Mad Tony from San Jose). When I arrived a Sheriff deputy had reportedly just cited his wife for not having a fishing license.

Mad Tony had his truck and another vehicle parked on top of the white carpet we often use for rigging with his pole / fishing line going straight out from the rocks (midway between the entrance station and the beach) into the Playpen about 80 yards (way past the flags) by his estimate.

There has been follow up . . . Mad Tony let me know he was aware that I had filed the knife brandishing complaint and he hollered that he was not afraid of me. I declined his offer for me to pay him off for allegedly breaking his line when this all started. His tactics this time were to refuse my 'Would you mind?' request to reel his line in if I was sailing by or move his rod towards the flags (he was there first). When I asked him what he would do if my fin inadvertently cut through this fishing line again while I was out sailing, he did not answer, but he did go down and talk to the park hosts.

I decided not to push my luck and upon launching, tacked upwind in a narrow band from the beach launch along the grassy area to the point. I then sailed way upwind of the flags on my reaches and Mad Tony left soon anyway, about 10 minutes after the only other sailor out at the time started up and was going much closer to shore on his reaches . . . he had extended an olive branch to Mad Tony before launching.

The bad news, later confirmed by the park hosts (Bob is a regular windsurfer too) is that the park is in fact owned by CA fishing, wildlife, and game. Playpen is not, as many of us would like to view it, a windsurfing park. Mad Tony has apparently been coming here for years, and as illogical as this may seem, the hosts are required to support Mad Tony's 'rights' to set up fishing lines in the Playpen sailing lanes, even if the area is congested with windsurfers.

While I would expect Mad Tony to lose his park access privileges if he starts a fight or goes postal again, i.e. when fins inevitably cut through his fishing lines when we plane into the beach from the river, I am concerned that the CA Fishing, Wildlife, and Game bureaucrats that effectively own the park could start taking steps to limit our launch access privileges in the future if windsurfers start being viewed as part of the problem.