Attacked by an Angler

[chrislyn]

We usually slow right down and stick to the middle. I try and be polite and usually shout something like 'shall I get the chips on ?', especially if they are lads n dads fishing. Usually gets a reasonable response. Some folks just ignore you, to which I say to the captain, in a loud voice 'how rude!!'

[adam1uk]

Slow down, straight down the middle. Can't please all of them, so I stay consistant. And don't worry about them getting their rods out of the way, they are apparantly very expensive, so its their responsibility.

 

That's what I do to -- tickover, down the middle. Unless they indicate that they'd like me one side or the other, in which case I comply where possible.

 

Even worse than being on a boat going through a fishing match is trying to walk up the towpath when they've got all their rods blocking the way. When I delivered our boat to the painter last autumn, I apparently upset anglers on the way there -- and then had to walk back through the match. A couple of them made no effort to get their rods out of the way, and then seemed surprised when I gave the rods a clonk as I stepped over them.

[Doorman]

Hi John

 

Yes joking apart that could have been a nasty incident, its hard to tell if the yob was on drugs or drunk etc from a distance. The only thing i would say to anyone reading this thread is what was instilled into every young bobby including myself during training was that if we ever had to draw our truncheon from our pocket was to use it and remember you have to know your ability as if he had taken the knife off you ( or truncheon ) in my and other bobbys case then it could well be used against you with potentialy fatal consequences. Its a hard call to have to make.

 

Tim

Hello Tim,

 

I read your comment with interest as when I used to run off-licenses and be open till 11pm most nights, the shops were targets for characters like John's assailant. After suffering several attacks, I decided to place a baseball bat behind the counter in each shop and advise the staff to use it if ever they were threatened with violence.

 

After one such event, the local bobby paid us a visit and noticed the recreational equipment behind the counter, then sternly advised me that if ever either I or a member of staff used it, even in self defence, we would be prosecuted for GBH. You can imagine what my reaction was given that on the previous evening, four lady staff members had been dragged around the shop by their hair then squashed into the loo and barricaded in.

 

From that day on the bats were decorated in tinsel and strategically placed behind the counter to appear as some sort of promotional feature. To expect decent people to be left vulnerable to low life without some sort of protection was quite incredible and I felt unreasonable, but, as you say, once armed with such a weapon you have to be prepared to use it otherwise it can be used against you.

 

Anyone who has ever met John or his mate Stan will feel even more anger at what's transpired. To pick on a bloke of John's age, on his own and going about his day was totally cowardly. You wonder whether this git would have been as eager to jump on board a boat full of young guys as he was with John.

 

Sadly, this type of incident is not isolated with our fishermen 'friends'. One of our mates who hails from Wigan (they don't mess about in Wigan), had a similar experience when passing a group of anglers. One in particular was very aggressive from the safety of the bank and fired ground bait at Steve with his catapult. Without reacting initially, he simply cruised on around a bend, moored up, changed his coat to disguise his appearance then returned on foot to the mugs with maggots. Singling out the mouth, he launched both him and his expensive pole into the cut, much to the surprise and somewhat amusement of his mates. I doubt that he'll be as aggressive next time he sees a boater.

 

After recounting his tale, I tried to reason with him that had he have been nice to the fellow following the ground bait experience, all of this could have been avoided.

 

As you can imagine and quite rightly, his answer referred to parts of the male anatomy that dangle between their legs!

Edited May 21, 2013 by Doorman

[Mac of Cygnet]

Anyone who has ever met John or his mate Stan will feel even more anger at what's transpired. To pick on a bloke of John's age, on his own and going about his day was totally cowardly. You wonder whether this git would have been as eager to jump on board a boat full of young guys as he was with John.

 

 

 

I think you paint a rather misleading picture! John isn't a vunerable oldie - I certainly wouldn't like to take him on in one-to-one combat. The 'angler' in the pics must have been off his head (possibly in more ways than one) to act as he did.

[furnessvale]

Hello Tim,

 

I read your comment with interest as when I used to run off-licenses and be open till 11pm most nights, the shops were targets for characters like John's assailant. After suffering several attacks, I decided to place a baseball bat behind the counter in each shop and advise the staff to use it if ever they were threatened with violence.

 

After one such event, the local bobby paid us a visit and noticed the recreational equipment behind the counter, then sternly advised me that if ever either I or a member of staff used it, even in self defence, we would be prosecuted for GBH. You can imagine what my reaction was given that on the previous evening, four lady staff members had been dragged around the shop by their hair then squashed into the loo and barricaded in.

 

From that day on the bats were decorated in tinsel and strategically placed behind the counter to appear as some sort of promotional feature. To expect decent people to be left vulnerable to low life without some sort of protection was quite incredible and I felt unreasonable, but, as you say, once armed with such a weapon you have to be prepared to use it otherwise it can be used against you.

 

Anyone who has ever met John or his mate Stan will feel even more anger at what's transpired. To pick on a bloke of John's age, on his own and going about his day was totally cowardly. You wonder whether this git would have been as eager to jump on board a boat full of young guys as he was with John.

 

Sadly, this type of incident is not isolated with our fishermen 'friends'. One of our mates who hails from Wigan (they don't mess about in Wigan), had a similar experience when passing a group of anglers. One in particular was very aggressive from the safety of the bank and fired ground bait at Steve with his catapult. Without reacting initially, he simply cruised on around a bend, moored up, changed his coat to disguise his appearance then returned on foot to the mugs with maggots. Singling out the mouth, he launched both him and his expensive pole into the cut, much to the surprise and somewhat amusement of his mates. I doubt that he'll be as aggressive next time he sees a boater.

 

After recounting his tale, I tried to reason with him that had he have been nice to the fellow following the ground bait experience, all of this could have been avoided.

 

As you can imagine and quite rightly, his answer referred to parts of the male anatomy that dangle between their legs!

Well said, Doorman.

 

I have posted in a similar vein in the past only to be accused of being a thug by, shall we say, more liberal elements within this forum.

 

One small point of advice for anyone following the baseball bat course. It is much better to try and identify a "weapon" that would live naturally behind the counter. Much easier to defend yourself against accusations of premeditation.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[David Mack]

Even worse than being on a boat going through a fishing match is trying to walk up the towpath when they've got all their rods blocking the way. When I delivered our boat to the painter last autumn, I apparently upset anglers on the way there -- and then had to walk back through the match. A couple of them made no effort to get their rods out of the way, and then seemed surprised when I gave the rods a clonk as I stepped over them.

Its much more fun to cycle through a fishing match...

[carlt]

Its much more fun to cycle through a fishing match...

One of the highlights of my boating life was witnessing a mad hippy lead an even madder Shetland pony through a big fishing match on the Oxford summit.

 

Not one angler complained about the motor and butty we were safely watching from.

[pquinn]

Well said, Doorman.

 

I have posted in a similar vein in the past only to be accused of being a thug by, shall we say, more liberal elements within this forum.

 

One small point of advice for anyone following the baseball bat course. It is much better to try and identify a "weapon" that would live naturally behind the counter. Much easier to defend yourself against accusations of premeditation.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

although it would be a waste to smash a perfectly good bottle of whiskey over a scum bags head you may not get the leverage with an alcopop.champagne maybe?

[Neil TNC]

I understand the reason they leave it to the last minute is because fish can swim ahead of your boat and it increases their chance of a catch. I don't know this to be 100% correct but we have seen fish caught just ahead of a our boat on a couple of occasions.

This frequently happens to us. If we see a fisherman hooking / landing a fish we come out of gear until he has landed it. This normally has the effect of cracking a smile or cheerful response.

The strange thing in Ireland, is a lot of the fishermen are Brit...and they are much friendlier!

[jonathanA]

Well said, Doorman.

 

I have posted in a similar vein in the past only to be accused of being a thug by, shall we say, more liberal elements within this forum.

 

One small point of advice for anyone following the baseball bat course. It is much better to try and identify a "weapon" that would live naturally behind the counter. Much easier to defend yourself against accusations of premeditation.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

one piece of advice i received from the local bobby some years ago, was that my 4 cell maglite could be considered an offensive weapon, where I to use it to hit someone, whereas if it was switched on it would merely be my torch... whilst dealing with marshalling/car parking for a local charity one evening and we had some boy racers trying to cause a problem, guess carrying a big torch during bright sunlight might be difficult to explain...

[furnessvale]

guess carrying a big torch during bright sunlight might be difficult to explain...

Get your story right in your head before anything happens.

 

The torch is issue uniform which you are expected to have with you on duty. You use it in daylight hours to inspect cellars or whatever. Even so, you find it handy for turning over piles of rubbish or similar (carefully making sure you HAVE turned over piles of rubbish with it so that when it is seized for forensic examination it will provide you with corroborating evidence).

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[tosher]

I was advised that if you have a baseball bat make sure you have a ball and a glove as well, say you use it for recreation and are going to practice later.

[Jerra]

As far as I can see from current guidance you are OK provided you use what is to hand to defend yourself. Going and unlocking the gun cupboard wouldn't get by but picking up a knife that happened to be to hand probably would. Certainly I think there is little doubt a mooring pin would be both to hand and a good weapon.

 

It appears the legal attitude to defending yourself has changed in recent years.

 

I found this quite interesting:

 

http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/prosecution/householders.html

[furnessvale]

Somehow, the system is only allowing me to top post so here goes.

 

All good stuff but be prepared for questions like, why was the knife to hand, what is its legitimate use you are claiming.

 

As you say, a mooring pin on a boat roof is about the best thing.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

As far as I can see from current guidance you are OK provided you use what is to hand to defend yourself. Going and unlocking the gun cupboard wouldn't get by but picking up a knife that happened to be to hand probably would. Certainly I think there is little doubt a mooring pin would be both to hand and a good weapon.

[Morat]

As far as I can see from current guidance you are OK provided you use what is to hand to defend yourself. Going and unlocking the gun cupboard wouldn't get by but picking up a knife that happened to be to hand probably would. Certainly I think there is little doubt a mooring pin would be both to hand and a good weapon.

 

It appears the legal attitude to defending yourself has changed in recent years.

 

I found this quite interesting:

 

http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/prosecution/householders.html

The law on self defence has been coming under pressure recently. The PM has made some statements on it as well. The general idea is that if you find someone in your home you should be able to defend yourself without having to be afraid of prosecution for reasonable force - but how it shakes out in practice has yet to be seen.

[John Holden]

The law on self defence has been coming under pressure recently. The PM has made some statements on it as well. The general idea is that if you find someone in your home you should be able to defend yourself without having to be afraid of prosecution for reasonable force - but how it shakes out in practice has yet to be seen.

The law on defence of the home has been perfectly clear for many years. The uncertainty has been caused by sensationalist press who have twisted the evidence to make it look as if law abiding folk have been prosecuted for defending themselves.

There have been plenty of cases where householders haven't been prosecuted for defending their homes, even when people have been killed and no cases where an innocent householder has been prosecuted and found guilty of using excessive force.

[Doorman]

 

I think you paint a rather misleading picture! John isn't a vunerable oldie - I certainly wouldn't like to take him on in one-to-one combat. The 'angler' in the pics must have been off his head (possibly in more ways than one) to act as he did.

In John's case, I can only say that I've viewed him from a short distance at a Marina oop Norf. On that occasion and without wishing to sound disrespectful to the guy, he didn't resemble Mike Tyson. Stan I've had a brief conversation with at a lock in the same area and he didn't appear to be a boxing trainer either.

 

Both blokes appear to be normal boaters who just wish to enjoy their lifestyles without incident. Conversely, I know of several others, whom in the same circumstances, would not have waited for this bastard to jump on board at the first opportunity. They would have pulled over to the bank once the abuse started, gripped the offender and given him a good hiding regardless of how many mates he had with him. It is these type of boaters whom the sod would have thought twice about mouthing off to.

 

Perhaps, with a bit of good fortune, he will meet his match on the next occasion where his mouth engages before his brain!

Edited May 22, 2013 by Doorman

[Doorman]

One of the highlights of my boating life was witnessing a mad hippy lead an even madder Shetland pony through a big fishing match on the Oxford summit.

 

Not one angler complained about the motor and butty we were safely watching from.

Get me that hippy's number!

 

I would gladly hire him when the next national fishing match occurs around here. :-)

[carlt]

 

 

I would gladly hire him when the next national fishing match occurs around here. :-)

He's a she but the pony has long gone I'm afraid.

[billS]

He's a she but the pony has long gone I'm afraid.

burgered?

[Doorman]

He's a she but the pony has long gone I'm afraid.

Even better!

 

I'd even buy her a new pony :-)

[Speedwheel]

 

The strange thing in Ireland, is a lot of the fishermen are Brit...and they are much friendlier!

 

When we took a boat over to Ireland a few years ago the fishermen were a right pain. They kept wanting us to stop and chat with them. They were fascinated by the boat as apparently they hardly ever saw any.

[cotswoldsman]

In John's case, I can only say that I've viewed him from a short distance at a Marina oop Norf. On that occasion and without wishing to sound disrespectful to the guy, he didn't resemble Mike Tyson. Stan I've had a brief conversation with at a lock in the same area and he didn't appear to be a boxing trainer either.

 

Both blokes appear to be normal boaters who just wish to enjoy their lifestyles without incident. Conversely, I know of several others, whom in the same circumstances, would not have waited for this bastard to jump on board at the first opportunity. They would have pulled over to the bank once the abuse started, gripped the offender and given him a good hiding regardless of how many mates he had with him. It is these type of boaters whom the sod would have thought twice about mouthing off to.

 

Perhaps, with a bit of good fortune, he will meet his match on the next occasion where his mouth engages before his brain!

I will be passing your marina in the next couple of days so I will wave just about all I can do at my age Mac thinks I am super human as I set some locks for him last year!!!

[Berengaria]

Surely if anyone gives you grief when you're on your boat, siege tactics would triumph. By that I mean simply pull your boat onto the offside, phone the police, set your video camera going in case they try to chuck stuff at you, and then go inside and make a bacon sandwich.

 

Light your stove and wait for nightfall. I bet they get cold before you do

[Doorman]

I will be passing your marina in the next couple of days so I will wave just about all I can do at my age Mac thinks I am super human as I set some locks for him last year!!!

Lol,

 

Remember to keep one hand on the zimmer and wave very vigorously, whereby we might just see you all the way from Audlem where we now moor online. :-)

 

Surely if anyone gives you grief when you're on your boat, siege tactics would triumph. By that I mean simply pull your boat onto the offside, phone the police, set your video camera going in case they try to chuck stuff at you, and then go inside and make a bacon sandwich.

 

Light your stove and wait for nightfall. I bet they get cold before you do

I've just made a note of your advice and have ordered half a pig and a bread making machine for future use. Also, I always keep my patent leather trainers handy in case I have to do a runner. Far better to run when confronted and live to run another day. Well that's what my Italian marshal arts teacher taught me anyway.