What would you do???

[Captain Michael Buffington]

I think it was an honest mistake. If he was pulling the pot or cutting off gear just to cut it off then you might say something but this sounds like a simple mistake. You don't want to make the Capt's life harder. The commercial guys don't deal with things like you and I do, they tend to be a little extreme. I know someone that was threatend to be "Zooed" by a commercial guy. I don't know what "Zooed" is but it sounds bad.

Yeah that sounds like an atomic wedgie type of revenge

Mike

[Roddy Hays]

I always thought being "Zooed" meant having the parts of you that made you a human - REMOVED.

Generally I assume this scenario involves an inarticulate piece of metal-ware, a dark corner, and bits of scalp.

As to the pot-line, I've seen it from both sides. The sporties should note the numbers, tell the guy involved and offer some sort of re-compensation for the effort involved in the recovery. Most times the commercial guys are just grateful to get the numbers.

The commercials (apart from off Cape Point in the late 70's) would never knowingly leave long ends. They have no wish to lose their gear. On the other hand if word gets back to them that something has happened and they then find the guys later, then the piece of ironwork under the blanket in the back of the car gets unwrapped.

What would I have done ? Taken the numbers, noted the name on the potflyer, found the sporties when I got ashore, given them all the info and simply suggested that it might be an idea if they contacted the commercial boy first - you can never be really angry with someone who calls to apologise and gives you the numbers of where something has happened.

Is that what you did ?

[nicerack]

Thanks for the info... I did take numbers down ... An accident is an accident, doing the right thing is what i am looking for.. we all srew up and a 100 off is a long way from home. I just fail to see where this becomes acceptable.. now I hope the party involved did as suggested and contacted the commercials.. I just think it sucks to get into a sitution like this over a couple fish...I could not sleep at night knowing I damaged someones stuff and not do the right thing. We sporties get a bad wrap sometimes and I think the Commercials do too it takes two to dance~!

[algdog]

Why would a commercial guy want his gear wrapped in someones wheels? I know they don't want people to tie up to their gear over night but I have never heard of someone putting gear out to try to foul up someone.

Pots have been boobie trapped here in the northeast for a few years now. just last month I passed a pot on the upcurrent side saw some tuna fish busting down current, turned and had to do quite a bit of juggling to not run over the 200ft of 3/8" poly line tied off to the pot. not on the surface but 5 ft under the water, we did snag a line on it and backed to it and undid our line, there seemed to be a small weight on the lost end to keep the poly line under the water in the current.
the commercial guys do this so if anyone tries to tie off they get the line caught in their props.
lots of people have been tangled up by these ropes.
could not blame the captain of this boat if he ran over the booby trap and tangled up the props
I too would send the gear into the deep, I would not have cut it though just tie it off and drag it into oblivion , that boobie trappin lobster guy could kiss my ass.
ropes hanging on pots , there to intentionally foul a passerby's props, is poor business. it's way too far offshore to be mess'in around with someone's boat.

[canyongear]

Hmmmm..

We have retrieved floating cutoff highflyers and brought it home and made a call to track down the owner to state we had the floating gear..marked the numbers for good measure, in hopes the other end was still in good posistion.

The highflyer and balls were put up on the bow out of the way and lashed down.

[terr]

I have a different take on the "boobie traped" pot. I grew up fishing offshore on sport boats out of NJ. The usuall procedure for tying up to a pot for the night was to take a old dock line or peice of poly, tie one end between the high flyer float and the counter weight and the other end to our bow cleat. If it was calm enough in the am we tryed to remove the line from the high flyer. If it was rough or we were in a rush we coiled it up and tryed to place it on the radar reflector. Of course even if I did get it on the reflector it was unlikely to stay there for long. It falls off of the radar reflector and streams out down current, giving one the "boobie traped pot".

Obviously this was a BAD IDEA. I now know that there are better methods to tying off, and more importantly that tying off at all,without permision, shows (I think) a lack of respect for the gear owner. So I think that when a sport boat gets tangled in a line coming off of a high flyer, 1; there is most likely another sporty to blame, and 2; this should be a lesson learned: DON'T TROLL PAST A POT CROSS CURRENT! That high flyer is Always going to be down current of the polyball. You will have much greater control going up current (less so down) than across. As a mate I have snaged numerous pots because the Capt. tryed to get the baits close to the pot going cross current.

[ebcaw]

i am the owner of several offshore lobster boats does the polyball say the numbers 310472,250776,240847,147563.

[burricane]

I think I'd mind my own business instead of being the busybody of the Canyon

i'm with this guy