Date: September 29, 2006
To: PFIC Message Board
From: paul_e_ester
Subject: Battle Brewing Between Surfers, Anglers Near Pier
SAN DIEGO — Territorial conflicts are mounting at the Oceanside pier, where tensions are rising between surfers and fisherman.
Fishermen want more enforcement of the current restriction against surfing within 100 feet of the pier, while surfers have suggested reducing the distance to 50 feet. They would also like fishermen to stay west of the bait shop that stands about halfway down the pier.
An Oceanside City Council committee became especially interested in the issue after a Memorial Day incident in which a fisherman stormed from the pier to confront a surfer. There were no arrests or injuries.
NBCSanDiego.com
Fishing vs. surfing
CHARLIE NEUMAN / Union-Tribune
OCEANSIDE – “It’s great fishing here,” Otis Henderson of Oceanside said as he stowed his gear after a morning’s angling on Oceanside's pier. “You just don’t want to catch a surfer,” he joked. Henderson said tensions have mounted between surfers and fishermen as the population and popularity of both sports have risen.
As an angler dangled her fishing line off the Oceanside Municipal Fishing Pier a surfer dropped into a wave. City officials wonder what they can do to ease conflict between the growing numbers of fishermen and surfers.
“We can share” was the assessment yesterday by surfer Brett Gylling from Fallbrook of a seemingly increasing territorial conflict between those who come to enjoy the Oceanside pier with a fishing pole and those who bring a surfboard.
City officials are asking what they can do to ease the tensions.
Ray Duncan, lifeguard manager, will review the problems with the city’s Harbor and Beaches Advisory Committee at 3 p.m. today.
The committee’s interest has been piqued by a Memorial Day incident in which a fisherman stormed from the pier to duke it out with a surfer, but Duncan said there were no arrests and he knows of no subsequent physical altercations.
Duncan said he wasn’t ready to recommend any changes to city codes but would discuss some of the suggestions from both sides of the issue.
Fishermen, he said, want more enforcement of the current restriction against surfing within 100 feet of the pier.
But that’s where the best waves are, surfer Gylling said.
Years ago, there were no such restrictions. Duncan said when he first started working as a lifeguard for the city in 1961, surfers were allowed to zoom through the pier’s pilings, an action now banned as unsafe.
The mandatory 100-foot distance from the pier irks some surfers, while some fishermen such as Henderson say the city should put buoys or lifeguards in the surf to enforce the limit.
Surfers have suggested reducing the distance to 50 feet and requiring fishermen to stay west of the bait shop that stands about halfway down the 1,900-foot pier. That way, they wouldn’t snag surfers coming to shore on a good wave.
Duncan said he doesn't think that kind of restriction can be placed on the anglers because it’s officially the Oceanside Municipal Fishing Pier and money from state agencies to build it specified its use for fishing.
Surfing inside the 100-foot limit isn't always done purposely, Gylling said as he waited to wash off his board yesterday.
Sometimes, he said, waves and currents simply pull surfers off course.
Fisher Jim LeGrand said he doubted that was the case when he snared a young surfer with his line Tuesday and got an obscene gesture in return. He said the surfer was paddling out within 20 feet of the pier.
The Harbor and Beaches Advisory Committee, which meets in council chambers at 300 N. Coast Highway at 3 p.m., also will discuss proposals to ban smoking in Oceanside's parks, on its beaches and in its harbor.
Posted by Ol Dirty Basser
RESPECT.
Fishermen should try not to hook surfers, and surfers should avoid areas where people are fishing. If you’re fishing near the surf line, don't expect to be able to fish too far from the pier. If you’re surfing, don’t get too close to the pier, and don’t take waves that break towards the pier, if people are fishing.
The problem is that people get so into the whole “I have a right to be here” thing that they don’t use common sense. Surfers and anglers fight for every inch to either side of that 150 ft. line (and sometimes beyond it), when they should really just use good judgment. It's not about feet or inches, it’s about personal space. I think both sides need to make that easy effort to avoid unsafe situations instead of always trying to cash in on what's “rightfully” theirs.
Surfers often have the mentality of taking risks in hopes of getting a good wave. It’s just the nature of the sport. If there’s a perfect right breaking toward the north side of a pier, and people are fishing that area, just let the wave go. Surf the lefts or find another peak. If you decide that it’s worth it to you to try and take that wave anyway, don’t be mad if you end up with a hook in your side. Own up to it.
Likewise, anglers that see a surfer headed toward your line, try to maneuver your line away, and possibly recast, even if you’re within the legal zone. I guarantee that a hook that’s in a surfer won’t catch any fish.
Posted by TheEmptyBucket
I know that the nature of people in a given place is to get more competitive as the population density increases (lived in NYC area for many years) but we will have to figure out a way to overcome that or self-destruct because the population is probably not about to decrease any time soon.
Where I live now is just a perfect example. Population density low, traffic low and conflicts over space almost non-existent. If I see another angler in my spot I am not upset about it — I usually will say hello before heading to my next spot.
Whenever I go up to the Bay Area to fish it’s a totally different vibe. People get COMPETITIVE for those good spots.
Posted by Sin_Coast
Agreed. There are only a couple spots around here where I actually see other people fishing. And when I do find someone fishing at or near one of my spots—I actually get excited. I want to talk to them and see what’s up... maybe learn a thing or two and maybe teach them a thing or two.
But I’m talking about fishing... not surfing. Localism can be a major problem when surfing. Or... attempting to surf. Regardless, treating others with respect is usually the way to go. Just use common sense. PK
Posted by pescare
If respect was the answer, life would be so much easier. It’s not, and we need the rules and laws. One hundred feet is not a lot of beach, and I can’t see the surfers welcoming the anglers if the situation were reversed.
Posted by ogreen
Well said. An elegant answer to the ‘fish somewhere else’ reply.
Posted by jettyjockey
Hmmm!?!?....LOL!!...I’ve never foul hooked a surfer before with a 4/0 hook, or hit one with an 8 ounce pyramid sinker. But on a serious note, yes, this seems to be a problem with more frequency. It's totally unfair that they (the surfers) have all the ocean and still want to encroach on our fishing territory. It’s not called a “fishing pier” for nothing.
Posted by toejamb
Common sense, common courtesy. I get irked as much as the next guy when some mongoloid surfer or swimmer gets too close the pier where I’m fishing. There was a time I used to clear my lines to avoid tangling or them, but now my feeling is, if you insist on surfing right next to a FISHING PIER, the problem isn't me — it’s you. And you assume the risk of being caught in my line or being impaled on one of my hooks. If it happens, TS.
That being said, if you show up to the pier and some surfers are floating around close to the pier, don't set your gear up right on top of them. Move on, fish another spot. The surfers aren’t going to hang around forever and you can claim the spot once they’re gone.
I’ve seen things get a little contentious at Hermosa. Once it was a surfer that came up to the pier to exchange words with a group of anglers. Another time it was an angler who went down to the water to confront some surfers. Both times, backdown-alarity ensued. So un-necessary. It's a big damn ocean and cooler heads should have prevailed.
With apologies to Burt Bacharach, what the world needs now is a little common sense and common courtesy.
Posted by dompfapops
I don’t like to surf fish with a bunch of folks in the water scaring away all the fish and bait anyway. And most the surf contests are held right at the piers like in Huntington and other places. I don’t know Oceanside pier all that well but it’s probably the same story. Fish somewhere else.
Date: October 1, 2006
Posted by Trogdor
Slight update on Oceanside surfer/angler battle
UNION-TRIBUNE September 29, 2006
OCEANSIDE – City officials want to know how other cities with a pier handle conflicts between surfers and fishermen.
At a meeting of the Oceanside Harbor and Beaches Advisory Committee yesterday, lifeguard manager Ray Duncan said he wants to survey how other jurisdictions regulate activities around their piers before recommending any possible changes in Oceanside.
A city ordinance requires surfers to stay 100 feet away from the Oceanside municipal pier. It was vigorously enforced in the 1980s, but not since then, Duncan said.
He said a confrontation between a fisherman and a surfer on Memorial Day emphasized the fact that sometimes both are focused on the same bit of water — where bottom-feeding fish dwell and the waves break the best.
Commissioners questioned Duncan but suggested no changes to the regulation.
– Lola Sherman
Posted by pinfish
If the zone is 100 feet, then the fishermen shouldn’t be casting further out either me thinks
Posted by eddog
Yeah but I think a hook will win though so they should be careful because different things can happen ex... fisherman cast less than 100 ft and surfer catches wave and runs into line and get hooked... ouch and hopefully its not a leader of one of those snaggers that usually fish the surf area... just my 2 cents
Posted by Amo_ Pescare1
Six ounce sinker usually does the trick........
Posted by piemel
Stupid
Posted by jettyjockey
One hundred feet is not long enough!! The only reason why they (surfers) surf near the piers is so they can “show off” to tourist on the piers. Next thing you’ll know is they’ll want to jump off the piers, cause they’re too lazy to swim back to catch the next wave. I’ve seem them do that on the Pacifica Pier (here in Northern Cal) and it’s not even amusing!
Posted by 1014
Nah... maybe to impress other surfers in the lineup, but its never to impress the tourists. Sometimes piers provide really good waves like acting like a point or allowing sand to build up a bar for the break.
Posted by piemel
That is absolute and utter bullcrap... It’s obvious that you have never surfed because otherwise you would never write something so insanely stupid.
I love fishing and I love surfing...We all need to learn how to share the water... nobody OWNS it and your comments are not very helpful at all... last thing we need is to have MORE regulation.
Posted by jettyjockey
You’re correct, I'm not a surfer, so excuse my remarks from ignorance.... and I apologize to all other surfers who were offended by my remarks.
But my experience with a couple of surfers led me view it this way. I had two unfortunate incidents when I was down in Southern Cal fishing the jetty along Seal Beach and another occasion at Dog Beach near Huntington. At the Seal Beach incident, one guy gave me the look and finger as he launched right in front of me, and the other at Huntington, the surfer actually threatened me saying I better not hook ‘em. Another incident happened up here in Northern Cal when I was plugging for bass but had to stop as a bunch of surfers just decided to surf where I and a couple of guys were fishing. I’m thinking, there is so much water out there, why do you need to encroach on our little space.
Posted by piemel
There are bad apples amongst both groups of people... I just think it would be better to avoid the language that is being used in this thread on a public forum because it will only make the situation worse...
Remarks like “a 6 oz sinker will do” like somebody posted in this thread are not going to be helpful at all.
One of these days you will need a surfer to help you out (for example) jumpstarting your car and vice-versa..
Date: October 8, 2006
Posted by Trogdor
More news on Oceanside angler/surfer battle
City tries to ease tension after anglers, surfers fight
By Alex Roth
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 8, 2006
OCEANSIDE – Adam Beutz sometimes packs scissors in the sleeve of his wet suit when he paddles out to surf at the Oceanside Pier. The scissors come in handy when he needs to cut through someone’s fishing line.
Adam, 16, a Vista High School junior, has been surfing the pier for several years, and he has been snagged by fish hooks and tangled in fishing lines more times than he cares to count. On Memorial Day, after Adam was forced to free himself from a line by gnawing through it with his teeth, he and his friends got into an argument with the fisherman who cast the lure, leading to a fight on the beach.
Such is life at the Oceanside Pier, where surfers and anglers have jostled and sparred for decades over who has rights to the same small swath of ocean. Now Oceanside is studying its ordinances to see if anything can be done to reduce tensions between the two factions.
At 1,954 feet in length, the Oceanside Pier is the longest wooden pier on the West Coast. Dozens of anglers line its edges on any given day, their bait buckets filled with mussels and squid, their rods dangling over the frothing surf. The croakers that swim in the shallows are a particularly popular catch. “They melt in your mouth when you cook ‘em,” said Zack Oller, 46, an Oceanside construction worker who fishes at the pier several times a week.
Surfers say the pier produces one of the best waves in North County. With every big swell comes a steady supply of barreling water. Although a local ordinance requires surfers to stay at least 100 feet away from each side of the pier, the best place to catch a wave is often at the edge of the pilings — a temptation too great for many surfers to resist.
“When the wave is good there, it’s really good,” said Scott Prestie, 44, a surfer who happens to be a captain with the Oceanside Fire Department. “It's just something you can’t pass up.”
When the waves are pumping, surfers head out in droves, even if they have to navigate a forest of dangling fishing lines. When paddling from shore, they tend to stay as close to the pier as possible to get the benefit of a rip current near the pilings.
Arguments are a daily occurrence. Surfers say anglers purposely cast in their direction. Fishermen accuse surfers of deliberately slicing their lines.
“They’re all over the place, like flies,” fisherman Bob Sugita, a Vista security guard, said one recent morning, standing on the pier and motioning toward the surfers bobbing in the waves below.
Nate Pitcher, 25, said he nearly came to blows with an angler who hooked his wet suit and yanked him off his board. Pitcher paddled to shore to confront the fisherman but backed off when the man pulled out a fishing knife.
“It’s an everyday problem,” Pitcher said of the tension between the two groups.
Open hostility between surfers and anglers long has been an issue at many piers in Southern California, although Oceanside's problem appears to be the worst in San Diego County.
At Imperial Beach, surfers routinely ignore the ordinance that requires them to stay at least 20 feet from the pier. In 2003, partly out of concern for the safety of surfers, the Imperial Beach City Council banned bow-and-arrow fishing on the pier.
At the Ocean Beach pier, surfers are supposed to maintain a distance of at least 75 feet, but they often disregard the rule so they can “shoot” the pier, meaning surf underneath it from one side to the other. Conflicts at the Ocean Beach pier are rare because anglers fish the deeper water, while surfers catch waves closer to shore, said San Diego lifeguard Lt. John Greenhalgh.
Over the years, Oceanside officials have considered and rejected a number of proposals to remedy the problem, none of them particularly practical or safe. One idea – using buoys to create a demarcation line – would pose a danger to surfers because their leashes could become tangled in the buoys.
At the Sept. 28 meeting of the city's Harbor and Beaches Advisory Committee, Oceanside lifeguard manager Ray Duncan said he would study the problem and see whether the situation could be improved.
The city could increase the buffer zone to 200 feet, Duncan said, or pass an ordinance mandating that anglers and surfers use the water on alternating days. Commission members seemed reluctant to make such drastic changes.
Many surfers say the city should restrict fishing to the outer half of the pier, which would ease tensions because the best waves are closer to shore.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the anglers say that proposal is ridiculous. The best croaker fishing is close to shore, they say. They point out that the pier – which was built in 1925 and significantly expanded in the 1980s – was constructed specifically for anglers. Its official name is the “Oceanside Municipal Fishing Pier."
It was the Memorial Day fracas involving Adam Beutz, his friends and some irate anglers that prompted city officials to take a fresh look at the problem.
Even before the confrontation, the Vista High student said, his patience with the anglers had been wearing thin. The previous year, Adam had been hooked by three lines at once, with one barb digging so deep into his toe that he had to paddle back to shore to get it removed.
On Memorial Day, Adam was hooked again, leading to the argument with the fishermen. Before long, one of Adam's buddies was standing on the beach, exchanging punches with one of the anglers.
By all accounts, Adam’s friend got the worst of the fight. Police didn’t file any charges, partly because witnesses gave differing accounts of what happened.
“Half of them said it was the surfers’ fault, half of them said it was the fishermen’s fault,” Oceanside police Sgt. Sean Sullivan said.
Carolyn Krammer, a local real estate agent who runs the annual Surf for the Sea competition at the pier, said she doubts the problem will ever go away. The two groups have been at each other's throats for years, Krammer said. In the old days, anglers would stand on the pier and toss bottles and cans at the surfers below.
“I've seen guys up there just laughing away,” Krammer said. “They try to hook you, like you're a fish.”
Oller, who has been fishing the pier for two decades, insists it is the surfers who instigate most arguments, yelling and cursing at the anglers above.
Even though he has been screamed at more times than he can remember, Oller said he always resists the temptation to cast his line in a surfer's direction.
“I wouldn't know how to fillet one of those,” Oller said.
Posted by mel
I don't get it. If there are already ordinances stating that the surfers had to stay whatever number of feet from the pier, I thought that meant that they had to stay that amount of feet away from the pier. I must be missing something here. Oh well.
Posted by Northern Boy
Yeah it seems very, very, very simple doesn’t it. Surfers have to stay “x” number of feet away from the pier. They don't.
Posted by Trogdor
Exactly. It's so simple. Enforce the regulation. Boom, problem solved.
Posted by Jelorian
They already have solution in place, they just don't enforce it. Now they are gonna waste more money and more time trying to figure out what to do when all they need to do is enforce the regulation. Go figure.
Posted by sdchemist
Maybe the surfers should start a movement to get the “Oceanside Municipal Surfing Pier” built. Then there wouldn't be any confusion as to which piers are for fishing and which ones are for surfing.
To: PFIC Message Board
From: paul_e_ester
Subject: Battle Brewing Between Surfers, Anglers Near Pier
SAN DIEGO — Territorial conflicts are mounting at the Oceanside pier, where tensions are rising between surfers and fisherman.
Fishermen want more enforcement of the current restriction against surfing within 100 feet of the pier, while surfers have suggested reducing the distance to 50 feet. They would also like fishermen to stay west of the bait shop that stands about halfway down the pier.
An Oceanside City Council committee became especially interested in the issue after a Memorial Day incident in which a fisherman stormed from the pier to confront a surfer. There were no arrests or injuries.
NBCSanDiego.com
Fishing vs. surfing
CHARLIE NEUMAN / Union-Tribune
OCEANSIDE – “It’s great fishing here,” Otis Henderson of Oceanside said as he stowed his gear after a morning’s angling on Oceanside's pier. “You just don’t want to catch a surfer,” he joked. Henderson said tensions have mounted between surfers and fishermen as the population and popularity of both sports have risen.
As an angler dangled her fishing line off the Oceanside Municipal Fishing Pier a surfer dropped into a wave. City officials wonder what they can do to ease conflict between the growing numbers of fishermen and surfers.
“We can share” was the assessment yesterday by surfer Brett Gylling from Fallbrook of a seemingly increasing territorial conflict between those who come to enjoy the Oceanside pier with a fishing pole and those who bring a surfboard.
City officials are asking what they can do to ease the tensions.
Ray Duncan, lifeguard manager, will review the problems with the city’s Harbor and Beaches Advisory Committee at 3 p.m. today.
The committee’s interest has been piqued by a Memorial Day incident in which a fisherman stormed from the pier to duke it out with a surfer, but Duncan said there were no arrests and he knows of no subsequent physical altercations.
Duncan said he wasn’t ready to recommend any changes to city codes but would discuss some of the suggestions from both sides of the issue.
Fishermen, he said, want more enforcement of the current restriction against surfing within 100 feet of the pier.
But that’s where the best waves are, surfer Gylling said.
Years ago, there were no such restrictions. Duncan said when he first started working as a lifeguard for the city in 1961, surfers were allowed to zoom through the pier’s pilings, an action now banned as unsafe.
The mandatory 100-foot distance from the pier irks some surfers, while some fishermen such as Henderson say the city should put buoys or lifeguards in the surf to enforce the limit.
Surfers have suggested reducing the distance to 50 feet and requiring fishermen to stay west of the bait shop that stands about halfway down the 1,900-foot pier. That way, they wouldn’t snag surfers coming to shore on a good wave.
Duncan said he doesn't think that kind of restriction can be placed on the anglers because it’s officially the Oceanside Municipal Fishing Pier and money from state agencies to build it specified its use for fishing.
Surfing inside the 100-foot limit isn't always done purposely, Gylling said as he waited to wash off his board yesterday.
Sometimes, he said, waves and currents simply pull surfers off course.
Fisher Jim LeGrand said he doubted that was the case when he snared a young surfer with his line Tuesday and got an obscene gesture in return. He said the surfer was paddling out within 20 feet of the pier.
The Harbor and Beaches Advisory Committee, which meets in council chambers at 300 N. Coast Highway at 3 p.m., also will discuss proposals to ban smoking in Oceanside's parks, on its beaches and in its harbor.
Posted by Ol Dirty Basser
RESPECT.
Fishermen should try not to hook surfers, and surfers should avoid areas where people are fishing. If you’re fishing near the surf line, don't expect to be able to fish too far from the pier. If you’re surfing, don’t get too close to the pier, and don’t take waves that break towards the pier, if people are fishing.
The problem is that people get so into the whole “I have a right to be here” thing that they don’t use common sense. Surfers and anglers fight for every inch to either side of that 150 ft. line (and sometimes beyond it), when they should really just use good judgment. It's not about feet or inches, it’s about personal space. I think both sides need to make that easy effort to avoid unsafe situations instead of always trying to cash in on what's “rightfully” theirs.
Surfers often have the mentality of taking risks in hopes of getting a good wave. It’s just the nature of the sport. If there’s a perfect right breaking toward the north side of a pier, and people are fishing that area, just let the wave go. Surf the lefts or find another peak. If you decide that it’s worth it to you to try and take that wave anyway, don’t be mad if you end up with a hook in your side. Own up to it.
Likewise, anglers that see a surfer headed toward your line, try to maneuver your line away, and possibly recast, even if you’re within the legal zone. I guarantee that a hook that’s in a surfer won’t catch any fish.
Posted by TheEmptyBucket
I know that the nature of people in a given place is to get more competitive as the population density increases (lived in NYC area for many years) but we will have to figure out a way to overcome that or self-destruct because the population is probably not about to decrease any time soon.
Where I live now is just a perfect example. Population density low, traffic low and conflicts over space almost non-existent. If I see another angler in my spot I am not upset about it — I usually will say hello before heading to my next spot.
Whenever I go up to the Bay Area to fish it’s a totally different vibe. People get COMPETITIVE for those good spots.
Posted by Sin_Coast
Agreed. There are only a couple spots around here where I actually see other people fishing. And when I do find someone fishing at or near one of my spots—I actually get excited. I want to talk to them and see what’s up... maybe learn a thing or two and maybe teach them a thing or two.
But I’m talking about fishing... not surfing. Localism can be a major problem when surfing. Or... attempting to surf. Regardless, treating others with respect is usually the way to go. Just use common sense. PK
Posted by pescare
If respect was the answer, life would be so much easier. It’s not, and we need the rules and laws. One hundred feet is not a lot of beach, and I can’t see the surfers welcoming the anglers if the situation were reversed.
Posted by ogreen
Well said. An elegant answer to the ‘fish somewhere else’ reply.
Posted by jettyjockey
Hmmm!?!?....LOL!!...I’ve never foul hooked a surfer before with a 4/0 hook, or hit one with an 8 ounce pyramid sinker. But on a serious note, yes, this seems to be a problem with more frequency. It's totally unfair that they (the surfers) have all the ocean and still want to encroach on our fishing territory. It’s not called a “fishing pier” for nothing.
Posted by toejamb
Common sense, common courtesy. I get irked as much as the next guy when some mongoloid surfer or swimmer gets too close the pier where I’m fishing. There was a time I used to clear my lines to avoid tangling or them, but now my feeling is, if you insist on surfing right next to a FISHING PIER, the problem isn't me — it’s you. And you assume the risk of being caught in my line or being impaled on one of my hooks. If it happens, TS.
That being said, if you show up to the pier and some surfers are floating around close to the pier, don't set your gear up right on top of them. Move on, fish another spot. The surfers aren’t going to hang around forever and you can claim the spot once they’re gone.
I’ve seen things get a little contentious at Hermosa. Once it was a surfer that came up to the pier to exchange words with a group of anglers. Another time it was an angler who went down to the water to confront some surfers. Both times, backdown-alarity ensued. So un-necessary. It's a big damn ocean and cooler heads should have prevailed.
With apologies to Burt Bacharach, what the world needs now is a little common sense and common courtesy.
Posted by dompfapops
I don’t like to surf fish with a bunch of folks in the water scaring away all the fish and bait anyway. And most the surf contests are held right at the piers like in Huntington and other places. I don’t know Oceanside pier all that well but it’s probably the same story. Fish somewhere else.
Date: October 1, 2006
Posted by Trogdor
Slight update on Oceanside surfer/angler battle
UNION-TRIBUNE September 29, 2006
OCEANSIDE – City officials want to know how other cities with a pier handle conflicts between surfers and fishermen.
At a meeting of the Oceanside Harbor and Beaches Advisory Committee yesterday, lifeguard manager Ray Duncan said he wants to survey how other jurisdictions regulate activities around their piers before recommending any possible changes in Oceanside.
A city ordinance requires surfers to stay 100 feet away from the Oceanside municipal pier. It was vigorously enforced in the 1980s, but not since then, Duncan said.
He said a confrontation between a fisherman and a surfer on Memorial Day emphasized the fact that sometimes both are focused on the same bit of water — where bottom-feeding fish dwell and the waves break the best.
Commissioners questioned Duncan but suggested no changes to the regulation.
– Lola Sherman
Posted by pinfish
If the zone is 100 feet, then the fishermen shouldn’t be casting further out either me thinks
Posted by eddog
Yeah but I think a hook will win though so they should be careful because different things can happen ex... fisherman cast less than 100 ft and surfer catches wave and runs into line and get hooked... ouch and hopefully its not a leader of one of those snaggers that usually fish the surf area... just my 2 cents
Posted by Amo_ Pescare1
Six ounce sinker usually does the trick........
Posted by piemel
Stupid
Posted by jettyjockey
One hundred feet is not long enough!! The only reason why they (surfers) surf near the piers is so they can “show off” to tourist on the piers. Next thing you’ll know is they’ll want to jump off the piers, cause they’re too lazy to swim back to catch the next wave. I’ve seem them do that on the Pacifica Pier (here in Northern Cal) and it’s not even amusing!
Posted by 1014
Nah... maybe to impress other surfers in the lineup, but its never to impress the tourists. Sometimes piers provide really good waves like acting like a point or allowing sand to build up a bar for the break.
Posted by piemel
That is absolute and utter bullcrap... It’s obvious that you have never surfed because otherwise you would never write something so insanely stupid.
I love fishing and I love surfing...We all need to learn how to share the water... nobody OWNS it and your comments are not very helpful at all... last thing we need is to have MORE regulation.
Posted by jettyjockey
You’re correct, I'm not a surfer, so excuse my remarks from ignorance.... and I apologize to all other surfers who were offended by my remarks.
But my experience with a couple of surfers led me view it this way. I had two unfortunate incidents when I was down in Southern Cal fishing the jetty along Seal Beach and another occasion at Dog Beach near Huntington. At the Seal Beach incident, one guy gave me the look and finger as he launched right in front of me, and the other at Huntington, the surfer actually threatened me saying I better not hook ‘em. Another incident happened up here in Northern Cal when I was plugging for bass but had to stop as a bunch of surfers just decided to surf where I and a couple of guys were fishing. I’m thinking, there is so much water out there, why do you need to encroach on our little space.
Posted by piemel
There are bad apples amongst both groups of people... I just think it would be better to avoid the language that is being used in this thread on a public forum because it will only make the situation worse...
Remarks like “a 6 oz sinker will do” like somebody posted in this thread are not going to be helpful at all.
One of these days you will need a surfer to help you out (for example) jumpstarting your car and vice-versa..
Date: October 8, 2006
Posted by Trogdor
More news on Oceanside angler/surfer battle
City tries to ease tension after anglers, surfers fight
By Alex Roth
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 8, 2006
OCEANSIDE – Adam Beutz sometimes packs scissors in the sleeve of his wet suit when he paddles out to surf at the Oceanside Pier. The scissors come in handy when he needs to cut through someone’s fishing line.
Adam, 16, a Vista High School junior, has been surfing the pier for several years, and he has been snagged by fish hooks and tangled in fishing lines more times than he cares to count. On Memorial Day, after Adam was forced to free himself from a line by gnawing through it with his teeth, he and his friends got into an argument with the fisherman who cast the lure, leading to a fight on the beach.
Such is life at the Oceanside Pier, where surfers and anglers have jostled and sparred for decades over who has rights to the same small swath of ocean. Now Oceanside is studying its ordinances to see if anything can be done to reduce tensions between the two factions.
At 1,954 feet in length, the Oceanside Pier is the longest wooden pier on the West Coast. Dozens of anglers line its edges on any given day, their bait buckets filled with mussels and squid, their rods dangling over the frothing surf. The croakers that swim in the shallows are a particularly popular catch. “They melt in your mouth when you cook ‘em,” said Zack Oller, 46, an Oceanside construction worker who fishes at the pier several times a week.
Surfers say the pier produces one of the best waves in North County. With every big swell comes a steady supply of barreling water. Although a local ordinance requires surfers to stay at least 100 feet away from each side of the pier, the best place to catch a wave is often at the edge of the pilings — a temptation too great for many surfers to resist.
“When the wave is good there, it’s really good,” said Scott Prestie, 44, a surfer who happens to be a captain with the Oceanside Fire Department. “It's just something you can’t pass up.”
When the waves are pumping, surfers head out in droves, even if they have to navigate a forest of dangling fishing lines. When paddling from shore, they tend to stay as close to the pier as possible to get the benefit of a rip current near the pilings.
Arguments are a daily occurrence. Surfers say anglers purposely cast in their direction. Fishermen accuse surfers of deliberately slicing their lines.
“They’re all over the place, like flies,” fisherman Bob Sugita, a Vista security guard, said one recent morning, standing on the pier and motioning toward the surfers bobbing in the waves below.
Nate Pitcher, 25, said he nearly came to blows with an angler who hooked his wet suit and yanked him off his board. Pitcher paddled to shore to confront the fisherman but backed off when the man pulled out a fishing knife.
“It’s an everyday problem,” Pitcher said of the tension between the two groups.
Open hostility between surfers and anglers long has been an issue at many piers in Southern California, although Oceanside's problem appears to be the worst in San Diego County.
At Imperial Beach, surfers routinely ignore the ordinance that requires them to stay at least 20 feet from the pier. In 2003, partly out of concern for the safety of surfers, the Imperial Beach City Council banned bow-and-arrow fishing on the pier.
At the Ocean Beach pier, surfers are supposed to maintain a distance of at least 75 feet, but they often disregard the rule so they can “shoot” the pier, meaning surf underneath it from one side to the other. Conflicts at the Ocean Beach pier are rare because anglers fish the deeper water, while surfers catch waves closer to shore, said San Diego lifeguard Lt. John Greenhalgh.
Over the years, Oceanside officials have considered and rejected a number of proposals to remedy the problem, none of them particularly practical or safe. One idea – using buoys to create a demarcation line – would pose a danger to surfers because their leashes could become tangled in the buoys.
At the Sept. 28 meeting of the city's Harbor and Beaches Advisory Committee, Oceanside lifeguard manager Ray Duncan said he would study the problem and see whether the situation could be improved.
The city could increase the buffer zone to 200 feet, Duncan said, or pass an ordinance mandating that anglers and surfers use the water on alternating days. Commission members seemed reluctant to make such drastic changes.
Many surfers say the city should restrict fishing to the outer half of the pier, which would ease tensions because the best waves are closer to shore.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the anglers say that proposal is ridiculous. The best croaker fishing is close to shore, they say. They point out that the pier – which was built in 1925 and significantly expanded in the 1980s – was constructed specifically for anglers. Its official name is the “Oceanside Municipal Fishing Pier."
It was the Memorial Day fracas involving Adam Beutz, his friends and some irate anglers that prompted city officials to take a fresh look at the problem.
Even before the confrontation, the Vista High student said, his patience with the anglers had been wearing thin. The previous year, Adam had been hooked by three lines at once, with one barb digging so deep into his toe that he had to paddle back to shore to get it removed.
On Memorial Day, Adam was hooked again, leading to the argument with the fishermen. Before long, one of Adam's buddies was standing on the beach, exchanging punches with one of the anglers.
By all accounts, Adam’s friend got the worst of the fight. Police didn’t file any charges, partly because witnesses gave differing accounts of what happened.
“Half of them said it was the surfers’ fault, half of them said it was the fishermen’s fault,” Oceanside police Sgt. Sean Sullivan said.
Carolyn Krammer, a local real estate agent who runs the annual Surf for the Sea competition at the pier, said she doubts the problem will ever go away. The two groups have been at each other's throats for years, Krammer said. In the old days, anglers would stand on the pier and toss bottles and cans at the surfers below.
“I've seen guys up there just laughing away,” Krammer said. “They try to hook you, like you're a fish.”
Oller, who has been fishing the pier for two decades, insists it is the surfers who instigate most arguments, yelling and cursing at the anglers above.
Even though he has been screamed at more times than he can remember, Oller said he always resists the temptation to cast his line in a surfer's direction.
“I wouldn't know how to fillet one of those,” Oller said.
Posted by mel
I don't get it. If there are already ordinances stating that the surfers had to stay whatever number of feet from the pier, I thought that meant that they had to stay that amount of feet away from the pier. I must be missing something here. Oh well.
Posted by Northern Boy
Yeah it seems very, very, very simple doesn’t it. Surfers have to stay “x” number of feet away from the pier. They don't.
Posted by Trogdor
Exactly. It's so simple. Enforce the regulation. Boom, problem solved.
Posted by Jelorian
They already have solution in place, they just don't enforce it. Now they are gonna waste more money and more time trying to figure out what to do when all they need to do is enforce the regulation. Go figure.
Posted by sdchemist
Maybe the surfers should start a movement to get the “Oceanside Municipal Surfing Pier” built. Then there wouldn't be any confusion as to which piers are for fishing and which ones are for surfing.