Mack bashers and machetes.....

[petekd]

Went to fish Camden Fort with Donal (non forum member) on Sun afternoon. We arrived there to find the place filled with mack bashers. We eventually got ourselves a spot on one of the jetties there that was free and set up and cast out. To our right there was around 8, for want of a better phrase, undesirables, horsing out strings of feathers, in some cases 2 traces tied together (12 hooks.... ) with their cider cans etc. Donal in his infinite wisdom, knowing the mark decided to pop over to their jetty to have a cast or two off the side. I stayed where I was, with no intention of ducking under 12 hook traces and 6 oz leads. It wasnt long before he was into a fish, a strap conger duly landed, much to the merriment of the group. "give us it mister" was all I could hear as he was quickly surrounded by the group. He left his rod sitting on the wall while he popped back to me to get a pair of pliers. What followed next was unbelievable.

From somewhere, one of the undesirables produced a machete with a blade on it at least a foot long..... While we were standing on the other jetty, this kind fellow proceeded to swing machete and rain blows down on the conger until it was decapitated before kicking the writhing body into the sea to the applause of his mates. Needless to say we quietly packed up and left immediately, there was to be no remonstrating or preaching to a group of late teens to early twenties armed with these kind of things and off their face on cider. It begs the question though, why the hell would you bring such a weapon fishing??

It has to be one of the worst sights I've seen in 20 years of fishing. There is no place for people like this on our shores but what are you to do. I was fully aware that one misplaced cast, one remark picked up wrong or some fecker just taking a general dislike to you would have resulted in bother, neither of us are small fellas but you cant start an argument with a bunch of ****** (edited by moderator) like those who have no respect for anything or anyone.

[corbyeire]

that is shocking - the thinking of give it to us after you catching it and then producing a machete - while your backs turned - chronic

this agressive confrontation stuff that seems to be happenening countrywide is going to end badly i feel at some stage.....

[petekd]

Your right, had some dodgy experiences fishing near Kilkee a year or two back. Roll on September and the end of the mack season. All that after what was a close on perfect night on Friday fishing Inch......chalk and cheese.

[Wes]

Same kind of thing happened at the Bailey LH a couple of years back, and this happened to the LH caretaker. Guards were called, carted them off.

A sunny day in Dublin = Avoid Balscadden
Of course there are the legit guys out there, but also the scum that carry out these attacks on fish and people alike.
Really peeves me off, I wouldnt have even hung around, Pete. With idiots like that, they would have started trouble with a bush.

[Bradan]

A feckin machete!!

There are court cases all the time in the local paper for people carrying pocket knives - I'm sure the guards would be interested to know of someone carrying a machete around!

Still can't get over it - a feckin machete!!

[carlbfast]

you say you left quietly,i dont blame you i would have done the same,i wouldnt argue with an idiot wielding a machete,one question though,when you left why didnt u phone the police to let them know what you had seen?

[corbyeire]

the problem there is if its a local mark for you and you want to fish it again - say anything to the guards - and if they act - youll have to forget about fishing there for a long time

[pookie5488]

This is why our sport gets a bad name and all the do gooders that seek a ban will love this as proof why. With this and the pier full of dead doggs near waterfoot these fools will make us all pay in the end.

As for leaving i would have turned tail and got out of there also. You are stuck in middle as you are from area. Reporting it may be the right thing to do but the same fools will be on a mark you fish again.

[petekd]

Prob should have given them a buzz alright but didnt really think of it at the time. As someone mentioned, these reprobates are bound to turn up at some other mark somewhere along the way and I dont need that kind of bother. Cant see a guard climbing down that hill either. All I reckon that would have happened is they would go back to locking the gates at the top then everyone loses out.

[coaster]

as bad as this incident was I find it harder to believe the attitude here as to how to deal with these assholes. The guy with the knife would have to let it down at some stage.
I have grown up with lads like these and in my opinion the worst thing you can do is walk away as they think its OK to do this s*** again and again.
however hard it might be these lads and all like them have to be approached and educated.
Don't get me wrong. I don't see myself as a tough lad but when someone threatens the future of something that I'm passionate about they better duck

[John D]

I admire your attitude coaster.

John D.

[petekd]

Understand your feelings Coaster and agree to a certain extent but I think you have to judge each situation on its merits. One thing I'm not for doing is getting involved in a debate with a bunch of travellers whilst outnumbered 4 to 1 after one of them has produced a big bloody machete from somewhere. I'm not that daft.

As for phoning the guards, I should have done that, just didnt consider it at the time TBH. Although in fairness, my past experiences of contacting guards for situations such as these, usually related to work incidents have left an awful lot to be desired. Its frustrating I know and sickening to see and I fully understand your feelings on it but you have to use a bit of common sense sometimes. No offense mate.

[BigPhil]

you di the right thing on the occasion pete......even with out the machete, if their is a group of guys drunk drunk, they aint gonna listen to you anyhow, more likely to cause you injury as they have no regard for much in life as this shows....i know it aint the norm, but if they had have wanted the eel to eat then i can see through them asking for it, but to just whack its bloody head off and kick it in the water again....just barbaric.

i just hope they catch one much much bigger themselves sometime and it educates them not to mess with a conger if you know what i mean..... like clamping its jaws around their ankle and going for a spin or two back into the sea...!

[Rockhopper]

Peter,

No offence, IMO the one thing you done wrong was stay once you seen them there. I know what its like to go for a short time chuck on a Sunday afternoon. If it had been me, I'd of just turned around and went somewhere else, once I seen who or what they were.

A guy with a machetti has no brain to begin with, reason is never going to be a strong point with such an idiot, you done right to leave and say nothing. I never fish in the dark alone, at least one other with me, and still make sure my fillet knife is at hand.

Sad story Peter, glad you and your friend are OK though.

Tom.

[ColumMc]

You did the right thing Pete, fishing is all about enjoyment and there is not much enjoyment in that environment. I've seen it before, that Fort Camden attracts all kind of degenerates, Why because it's locked up, if it were open then their ghetto would be no more. You should have definitely phoned the Guards or Ted O'Connor in the ISPCA, himself an avid angler. It is an offense to drink in public and carry an offensive weapon. I think the relevant station to Crosshaven is Togher HQ 021 - 4947120.

Me I'd have left right away and no doubt the skangers cars would have been parked nearby, I know you shouldn't but who said you did !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Put it behind ya Pete and move on, these people are only an advert for selective neutering and legalisation of abortion and proof that the Social Welfare system in this country is great.

[phanover]

Pete,

I've got to agree with Rockhopper and ColumMc. I would have turned round and gone elsewhere. I'm glad I decided to give it a skip on Sunday.

Based on the experience of my last 2 outings at Camden I'm becoming less and less enamoured with the place. Sure, the mark fishes great at times. But it has a lot of downsides too...

For starters there's the gate (is it open or not?) and the long walk down (and back up!). When you get down you have to manouvere around the broken pathway that is very dangerous in places. If you can find a spot, you are then on a very exposed and narrow quay, fishing into very deep water with rips tides and no life buoys. Then (as you've said) it often gets seriously overcrowded with mack bashers (especially on the summer weekends). Now throw in the morons like you met plus the late night cider/drug parties and you can cross it off my list. There are other places.

I'm glad nothing more serious happened. Take it as a lesson learned.

Paul

[petekd]

Lot to be said for the relative comfort of a boat.....

[ray]

****why the hell would you bring such a weapon fishing??*******


to cut the heads off strap conger- obviously!

you did not adequately address the issue of why they cut its head off then threw it back I THICK THIS NEEDS EXPLAINED :shock

[carlbfast]

[originally posted by coaster - approached and educated]


so your going to approach a group of underage drinking/probably high ondrugs youths who are wielding a machete and probably other weaponry? catch yourself on mate .....you appraoch people like that who are unpredictable,no matter how much you think you can take them on your gonna get seriously hurt one way or another,remember alchohol fuels peoples tempers,ive seen it in nightclubs myself,the best thing is in this kind of situation is to swallow your pride and walk away rather than land up in hospital having whatever bodypart it is stitched back on

[corbyeire]

ray by the sounds of the description above - they just wanted to hack the conger - dont think the machete was being used for any other purpose or for any particular reason to decapitate it - they kicked it all back in the water...