Date: August 21, 2005
To: PFIC Message Board
From: pinfish
Subject: Why pier fishing can suck
Like my politically correct title? anyways:
1. poachers.
2. noisy - I don't want to hear your radio, your jock banter, scaring away the fish splashing throwing out water, dropping buckets etc. especially when i was there first. shut tf up!
3. litterers, especially letting your children throw trash into the water. especially when the trash can is right behind you.
4. smokers - smoke upwind!
5. casting over your line, letting the current drag your line over everybody's hogging up the area
6. "AWWWWW! Why you let it go!!!"
7. several poles for one fisherman
8. wildlife abuse - not throwing back fish if your'e not going to keep it. kicking it. taking your long time to go remove the hook. giving it to kids. torturing it. etc
9. lowlifes like prostitutes and jock drunks
10. the bum rush method of crowding your fisherman neighbor with your posse, setting up to his right or left, then stealing his spot when goes to fetch something or rebait.
almost picked a fight because of #10, last night.
Posted by angrybeav
Well look on the bright side at least nobody gets seasick right where your fishing like on a boat, it gets pretty annoying when at least 10 different people puke right next you.
Posted by CaffeineHigh
Thanks for reminding me how pier fishing is like...I haven't fished on the pier in about a year!!! But then again, I haven't really fished for the last year, maybe 2-3 times surf fishing the whole last year, that's all... but I do agree with you on those 10 things you mentioned...
Posted by aquagym
Addendum to the list, Idiots who skateboard and ride bicycles out on the pier when signs posted tell them not to. Especially the ones who rent the bicycles and cant ride straight and knock over your chair and tackle box...
Posted by bigfoot
I think all of us have encountered this sort of thing at one time or another. I've run into several anglers on this board who have told me that for these reasons they've largely turned away from piers. Many of them have also stopped posting reports here, because the very people responsible for #1-10 are lurkers on this board who leech information and won't give back.
I won't post reports on some places I've fished or intentionally generalize the area I fished in—I try to make my reports just informative enough so that people who have put enough time into fishing the same area know what I'm talking about. I figure if they're that into it, there's a good chance they are conscientious fishermen.
I try to minimize it by fishing from shore, away from other people, most of the time. When I do fish on the pier I try to tell myself that I just can't get worked up over everything. Invariably I do, though. On almost every outing you see something legally or ethically objectionable.
#6 nails it...totally. My friends and once had our sweet revenge by fishing a particular part of Fort Point Pier that was proving extremely productive for perch and other species. Oh, the delight of catching and releasing perch after perch (and a particularly nice looking monkeyface prickleback eel) surrounded by people who are catching nearly nothing, but keeping everything that they catch. I can't tell someone to throw back a 2" brown rockfish, but I can rub their noses in it when I catch a nice 9" striped perch, make sure they're watching as I unhook it, and then daintly let it go. Do that a dozen times in front of him and a guy feels like an idiot for keeping a 2" rockfish...and I didn't have to tell him a thing. Maybe then he'll realize that skill as a strategy is better than saturation, and quality is better than quantity.
Posted by DSRTEGL
Another one of two... Stupid tourist questions -and- Stupid tourists that knock over your gear trying to take a picture of YOUR fish... Unclesteve knows all about this personally as a tourist knocked a brand new, first time fished rig of his last years banging up the gold frame and side plates. Derek
Posted by oldsaltsoul
Were you at Pacifica? I will not fish there any more because every time I have gone #10 occurs, I sympathize with your frustration
Posted by MinnowMagnet
One time when I was at the Alameda rock wall there was this kid about 8 and he did not catch any was mad and I was unhooking a 35" leppie he kicked my rod and broke the tip off and when looked over to see what happened I got bit by the shark then tossed the shark back and then he kicked my tackle box and broke off the handle then went to the guy perching next kicked and broke his rod and kicked his bucket and his 4 big perch got knocked in the water then we went over and told his dad and he said, "Oh well that’s your problem." I also see people when the catch small shark, rays and they just toss then toss them in the rocks and leave them there to die.
Posted by yf_croaker
How do you handle something like that...without having to beat up an 8 year old? I don't know what I would of done. As soon as I am old enough to drive, I'm going to go fishing at LEAST four times a week.
Posted by theldios
Why pier fishing can be fun—
Friends, lots of fish to be had and the #1 reason, Friends.
The chance to go out and socialize with your fellow pier rats.
I Do it every day. I live and fish Imperial Beach pier almost everyday (sorry fishing been so sad lately no reports to make)
And after a while you start to see the same people there day in and day out just like you. Why not be nice put on a happy face and start up a conversation. After a while you may find you like the guy.
Lucky for me IB is a long pier so if the kid crowds get to much for me I can always move to one of my other fav spots along the pier.
It's not always bad except for #10 that one can get rough and the only thing on your list that really really, really I mean really bothers me.
Did I mention that #10 really bothers me?
Well I am rattling now lol
Just remember even with all that going on the pier is not really that bad.
Posted by Red Fish
Is it just me? I don't let anyone ruin my day. That is giving that person too much power. I even ignored people when I was Minnowmagnet's age fishing on Berkeley Pier. Funny thing, I think most people thought I was deaf, when actually I was just a non-responder. No one would ever guess the big-talker I am today that I totally ignored people as a youth (I was in my own world).
Learn to tune people out or go to a more quiet pier or one where it is nice and clean like Paradise where DSRTEGAL fished this past week. As long as you are not in one of the Fisherman's Wharf piers in San Francisco, you rarely get questioned by tourists.
Posted by pinfish
What really happened. I was about to yell at the guy when my rod got a big hit. I was holding it, so while I set the hook and fought it, I told the guy, "go ahead!" (to take my spot he was stealing) and I left him to catch one of the several hookups that night. So yeah, I kept my cool in the end. My sister was with me along with a lot of tourists.
Posted by Red Fish
Cool heads prevail as Songslinger always tells me. I think it was Songslinger that told me that? But good advice nonetheless. I was not any big fighter in my youth but my older brothers wouldn't pass up a fight. But, I wouldn't back down (sometimes you have no choice if you are attacked). That is why I probably ignored people too (it's safer that way). The WORDS you say can get you into trouble. Best to just let an idiot keep talking to himself. This is coming from a (40) year old.
Posted by cayucosjack
All very true. But now do a list of all the reasons why pierfishing rocks and you'll see it is bigger I bet.
Life as a whole is just the same way. You've just gotta take the bad with the good. All your complaints are about the people not the act. Most of them come down to simple common courtesy and I agree that on a whole our society is missing that. Like Redfish says just let it go. It does no good to stew about it. It'll consume you if you do. Next it's going to the movies, a raider game, a concert, out to dinner, at a club, etc. Most of your complaints are valid for any situation that brings different people together. Don't change your lifestyle, if so you let the social terrorists win hehe. Just relish in the fact that you are a better fisherman than these other schmucks and above all a better person.
Posted by tackleholic
11. When a new concession opens up that adversely affects your pier fishing. Redondo Sportsfishing Pier is what I have in mind, you'll be fishing and now all these stupid yellow plastic paddle boats with tourists come right by the pier, crossing your lines, to "watch" you fish. They should be banned from the harbor. Makes me want to throw out a rig with some old floating fly line out as a sacrafice.
12. Snaggers, in So. Cal. at about every pier with Corbina in the shallows, you get these bums trying to snag them.
13. Lack of fish due to heavy pressure and the "fill-up the 5-gallon bucket if you can" mentality, no matter how small the fish.
Other than that, I enjoy watching all the diversity, tourists, and wierdos that roam the pier as long as they don't mess with me. Everyone I've fished next to on piers has been really nice this year, haven't run into any jerks yet I'm glad to say, but I usually only fish the piers when it isn't packed elbow to elbow.
Posted by prometheus
Snagging most fish is legal though. If you want to complain about it then complain about the law, not the people doing it.
Posted by Albert
#4 #9, PROSTITUTES????, Where do u fish??, I wanna go there!!.AHHHH- Dude get real !! you're fishing on a "PUBLIC" pier, not your private island, I'm with you on many things, but nothing is perfect, we're living in a crowded state, and piers are not exempt.
Posted by StripeSideChaser
I enjoy tourist questions! I simply always look for the "right" answer. Once, I was fishing at Berzerkely and an older woman came up and started asking questions. My favorite question was "Is this pier safe to walk on?" (I was sitting at the very end, 3000 ft out). I told her, "no, I'd never take a chance on walking out here". Took her a few minutes, but she finally realized that I had most likely "walked" to where I was fishing. I also enjoy drunk tourists... especially the guy that ate one of my pile worms to impress his equally drunk girlfriend.
Take your pleasures where you find them.
To: PFIC Message Board
From: pinfish
Subject: Why pier fishing can suck
Like my politically correct title? anyways:
1. poachers.
2. noisy - I don't want to hear your radio, your jock banter, scaring away the fish splashing throwing out water, dropping buckets etc. especially when i was there first. shut tf up!
3. litterers, especially letting your children throw trash into the water. especially when the trash can is right behind you.
4. smokers - smoke upwind!
5. casting over your line, letting the current drag your line over everybody's hogging up the area
6. "AWWWWW! Why you let it go!!!"
7. several poles for one fisherman
8. wildlife abuse - not throwing back fish if your'e not going to keep it. kicking it. taking your long time to go remove the hook. giving it to kids. torturing it. etc
9. lowlifes like prostitutes and jock drunks
10. the bum rush method of crowding your fisherman neighbor with your posse, setting up to his right or left, then stealing his spot when goes to fetch something or rebait.
almost picked a fight because of #10, last night.
Posted by angrybeav
Well look on the bright side at least nobody gets seasick right where your fishing like on a boat, it gets pretty annoying when at least 10 different people puke right next you.
Posted by CaffeineHigh
Thanks for reminding me how pier fishing is like...I haven't fished on the pier in about a year!!! But then again, I haven't really fished for the last year, maybe 2-3 times surf fishing the whole last year, that's all... but I do agree with you on those 10 things you mentioned...
Posted by aquagym
Addendum to the list, Idiots who skateboard and ride bicycles out on the pier when signs posted tell them not to. Especially the ones who rent the bicycles and cant ride straight and knock over your chair and tackle box...
Posted by bigfoot
I think all of us have encountered this sort of thing at one time or another. I've run into several anglers on this board who have told me that for these reasons they've largely turned away from piers. Many of them have also stopped posting reports here, because the very people responsible for #1-10 are lurkers on this board who leech information and won't give back.
I won't post reports on some places I've fished or intentionally generalize the area I fished in—I try to make my reports just informative enough so that people who have put enough time into fishing the same area know what I'm talking about. I figure if they're that into it, there's a good chance they are conscientious fishermen.
I try to minimize it by fishing from shore, away from other people, most of the time. When I do fish on the pier I try to tell myself that I just can't get worked up over everything. Invariably I do, though. On almost every outing you see something legally or ethically objectionable.
#6 nails it...totally. My friends and once had our sweet revenge by fishing a particular part of Fort Point Pier that was proving extremely productive for perch and other species. Oh, the delight of catching and releasing perch after perch (and a particularly nice looking monkeyface prickleback eel) surrounded by people who are catching nearly nothing, but keeping everything that they catch. I can't tell someone to throw back a 2" brown rockfish, but I can rub their noses in it when I catch a nice 9" striped perch, make sure they're watching as I unhook it, and then daintly let it go. Do that a dozen times in front of him and a guy feels like an idiot for keeping a 2" rockfish...and I didn't have to tell him a thing. Maybe then he'll realize that skill as a strategy is better than saturation, and quality is better than quantity.
Posted by DSRTEGL
Another one of two... Stupid tourist questions -and- Stupid tourists that knock over your gear trying to take a picture of YOUR fish... Unclesteve knows all about this personally as a tourist knocked a brand new, first time fished rig of his last years banging up the gold frame and side plates. Derek
Posted by oldsaltsoul
Were you at Pacifica? I will not fish there any more because every time I have gone #10 occurs, I sympathize with your frustration
Posted by MinnowMagnet
One time when I was at the Alameda rock wall there was this kid about 8 and he did not catch any was mad and I was unhooking a 35" leppie he kicked my rod and broke the tip off and when looked over to see what happened I got bit by the shark then tossed the shark back and then he kicked my tackle box and broke off the handle then went to the guy perching next kicked and broke his rod and kicked his bucket and his 4 big perch got knocked in the water then we went over and told his dad and he said, "Oh well that’s your problem." I also see people when the catch small shark, rays and they just toss then toss them in the rocks and leave them there to die.
Posted by yf_croaker
How do you handle something like that...without having to beat up an 8 year old? I don't know what I would of done. As soon as I am old enough to drive, I'm going to go fishing at LEAST four times a week.
Posted by theldios
Why pier fishing can be fun—
Friends, lots of fish to be had and the #1 reason, Friends.
The chance to go out and socialize with your fellow pier rats.
I Do it every day. I live and fish Imperial Beach pier almost everyday (sorry fishing been so sad lately no reports to make)
And after a while you start to see the same people there day in and day out just like you. Why not be nice put on a happy face and start up a conversation. After a while you may find you like the guy.
Lucky for me IB is a long pier so if the kid crowds get to much for me I can always move to one of my other fav spots along the pier.
It's not always bad except for #10 that one can get rough and the only thing on your list that really really, really I mean really bothers me.
Did I mention that #10 really bothers me?
Well I am rattling now lol
Just remember even with all that going on the pier is not really that bad.
Posted by Red Fish
Is it just me? I don't let anyone ruin my day. That is giving that person too much power. I even ignored people when I was Minnowmagnet's age fishing on Berkeley Pier. Funny thing, I think most people thought I was deaf, when actually I was just a non-responder. No one would ever guess the big-talker I am today that I totally ignored people as a youth (I was in my own world).
Learn to tune people out or go to a more quiet pier or one where it is nice and clean like Paradise where DSRTEGAL fished this past week. As long as you are not in one of the Fisherman's Wharf piers in San Francisco, you rarely get questioned by tourists.
Posted by pinfish
What really happened. I was about to yell at the guy when my rod got a big hit. I was holding it, so while I set the hook and fought it, I told the guy, "go ahead!" (to take my spot he was stealing) and I left him to catch one of the several hookups that night. So yeah, I kept my cool in the end. My sister was with me along with a lot of tourists.
Posted by Red Fish
Cool heads prevail as Songslinger always tells me. I think it was Songslinger that told me that? But good advice nonetheless. I was not any big fighter in my youth but my older brothers wouldn't pass up a fight. But, I wouldn't back down (sometimes you have no choice if you are attacked). That is why I probably ignored people too (it's safer that way). The WORDS you say can get you into trouble. Best to just let an idiot keep talking to himself. This is coming from a (40) year old.
Posted by cayucosjack
All very true. But now do a list of all the reasons why pierfishing rocks and you'll see it is bigger I bet.
Life as a whole is just the same way. You've just gotta take the bad with the good. All your complaints are about the people not the act. Most of them come down to simple common courtesy and I agree that on a whole our society is missing that. Like Redfish says just let it go. It does no good to stew about it. It'll consume you if you do. Next it's going to the movies, a raider game, a concert, out to dinner, at a club, etc. Most of your complaints are valid for any situation that brings different people together. Don't change your lifestyle, if so you let the social terrorists win hehe. Just relish in the fact that you are a better fisherman than these other schmucks and above all a better person.
Posted by tackleholic
11. When a new concession opens up that adversely affects your pier fishing. Redondo Sportsfishing Pier is what I have in mind, you'll be fishing and now all these stupid yellow plastic paddle boats with tourists come right by the pier, crossing your lines, to "watch" you fish. They should be banned from the harbor. Makes me want to throw out a rig with some old floating fly line out as a sacrafice.
12. Snaggers, in So. Cal. at about every pier with Corbina in the shallows, you get these bums trying to snag them.
13. Lack of fish due to heavy pressure and the "fill-up the 5-gallon bucket if you can" mentality, no matter how small the fish.
Other than that, I enjoy watching all the diversity, tourists, and wierdos that roam the pier as long as they don't mess with me. Everyone I've fished next to on piers has been really nice this year, haven't run into any jerks yet I'm glad to say, but I usually only fish the piers when it isn't packed elbow to elbow.
Posted by prometheus
Snagging most fish is legal though. If you want to complain about it then complain about the law, not the people doing it.
Posted by Albert
#4 #9, PROSTITUTES????, Where do u fish??, I wanna go there!!.AHHHH- Dude get real !! you're fishing on a "PUBLIC" pier, not your private island, I'm with you on many things, but nothing is perfect, we're living in a crowded state, and piers are not exempt.
Posted by StripeSideChaser
I enjoy tourist questions! I simply always look for the "right" answer. Once, I was fishing at Berzerkely and an older woman came up and started asking questions. My favorite question was "Is this pier safe to walk on?" (I was sitting at the very end, 3000 ft out). I told her, "no, I'd never take a chance on walking out here". Took her a few minutes, but she finally realized that I had most likely "walked" to where I was fishing. I also enjoy drunk tourists... especially the guy that ate one of my pile worms to impress his equally drunk girlfriend.
Take your pleasures where you find them.
