Angry fisherman at Sherman Island County Park - Playpen

[gregorvass]

The rules of engagement are as follows.

Untill he lays hands on you , you can not assault him. You must demonstrate that you attempted to get away more than 20 feet preferably in front of witnesses. If he continues to follow and engages you than you are allowed to take him out to the point were he no longer attempts to engage.

California has very "funny" rules best to consult area lawyer.

Maze "pepper spray" or a stun gun are legal and I recommend them highly. Yet, one must still apply the above principles.

Also try to have someone with a camera monitor him. This will hold in court.

Best of Luck!

P'S' Do you want me to send my daughter? Sound like she would ruin this puffter.

[madspaniard]

[isobars]

Dirty Harry trumps the Karate Kid every time.

\m/

[donlord]

I'm the person who "made peace" with the fisherman. What I did is to park and rig right next to him, and I walked purposely over to talk to him. I told him I'd be windusrfing in light wind in the flood, and would do my best to stay upwind of him. I said sometimes if the wind dies I might get close to his line or even snag it.

He was friendly, appreciative, and mentioned that "the other guy" hadn't even apologized for running into his line. He seemed just to be looking for "respect". He may have been fishing there long before the windsurfers became active.

He did not stay very long, and there were no problems.

Of course, there's no excuse for knife pulling, but I don't believe that will happen if you do not seem to be against him. No matter what you might feel, be his friend and you'll avoid a hassle.

[nealpar]

[dasey]

Dlord, nice, and I mean this seriously, you may have avoided a dangerous situation. I was there when “the other guy” ran into the fisherman’s line. I don’t believe the line was cut by the fin. It was pulled. The windsurfer was out pretty far, but the fisherman was casting way out with heavy weights. The windsurfer had no idea he had pulled the line. None. When the windsurfer passed by again, the fisherman cast at the windsurfer, and this was deliberate, obvious and he made sure his buddy was watching when he did it. This initial incident was not about lack of respect; the fisherman gave no opportunity for the windsurfer to make any apology before he tried to hit him with his line, weight and hooks. This was about a fisherman trying to injure another person. I was there and saw it happen. Read some of the early posts.

[eric415]

Wow!!!! Theres quite a bit to say after reading all this. Let me introduce myself, I am that other guy with the "souped up car" as described in the earlier posts. I am just amazed at how paranoid and way overblown this whole thing has turned out. There are also quite a bit of facts that were distorted and left out also. I hope you all remember that there are always 2 sides to every story. I am not here to have an internet squablle just to set things straight so everyone can enjoy this place. The one thing that really surprised me was this childish behavior about let's all get them, lets blast him..etc. Most of the people I have met out there have been actually quite nice, I'm just surprised to read a few still have the mentality of a High School thug. Why would you even say something like that, on an open forum, which nearly implies your intent to commit murder? Not too smart and actually, a death threat last I checked is against the law. (don't worry, I'm a bit older now, I'm not going to taddle) How would saying something like that further your cause for a safe place to enjoy? I personally have not had a problem with even one person there and felt fairly safe, now after reading this, I feel like I'm a target there. This kind of mentality is really just ignorant and going to turn a place like this unsafe. If everyone is just respectful of one another, there would not be any of these issues.
Feel free to ask me anything and if you want some of the crucial missing details , I will gladly share them here or if you see me out there. Just keep in mid that you are not getting the full story from the previous posts.
I hope you all can enjoy this place and not worry about any of this drama which is just blown way out of proportion.

[madspaniard]

nothing that has been said here can be compared to your friend pulling out a knife on somebody. Last time I checked is against the law. Did your friend really pull out a knife?

[eric415]

You are right, nothing that has been said here is an excuse to pull out a knife, but this is not the complete story. You need to be open to understanding what really happened. Ask yourself why when someone called to check the report from the authorities, they stated that there was falsified information? The police had talked to more people than just me, Tony and the 2 windsurfers involved. There were actually a few cars in that parking lot with people waiting for the winds to pick-up more so they could get out on the water, they were witnesses to what happened too, and we were not the only ones that the officer spoke to. Also, this thread makes it sound like it was many incidents with many people, spread out over time rather than with 2 people and that it all happened within an hour or 2.

[johnl]

Keep in mind, if you decide not to go forward with the prosecution, nothing will happen from the police. I speak from experience (25 years as a cop). A report will be taken and filed and NOTHING will be done. The only way to get something done is to prosecute. This way if he has a history, then he will be punished. if not, then most likely he will just be put on probation, BUT at least this way if he violates his probation (they could even have terms on it for him to stay away from the windsurfing area) the cops when called can arrest him on site.

I would strongly suggest taking it to the next step. This guy sounds like he is either a little nuts (technical term), or has some serious anger issues and we will all have to deal with him next year....