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And the war continues - Montauk surf war

7K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  jon006 
#1 ·
I watched one of these bums at the ditch run over some old mans line numerous times until he managed to break the old gent off. apparantly he wasnt supposed to fish the Ditch / aka the surfer beach.

Link to East Hampton Star.com Article
 
#2 ·
Re: And the war continues

Jim, this is a time eternal thing. I don't know why we have to butt heads with the butt heads but there it is. If they are surfing, I will not fish in that area, however, that is not the case with them surfing where I'm fishing... no respect, .... guess we gotta live with it....
 
#3 ·
Re: And the war continues

I have never heard of such a thing. But I etnd to fish in the surf free environs of the South Shore and Cape Cod Canal.

I have no idea what I would do. Or where to begin.

I saw the Ditch, and thought Canal. The things I have seen there when lines get crossed and cut by boats...
 
#5 ·
Re: And the war continues

We had a problem with jet ski's a few years back. It's gone now because the state now mandates minimum distance from shore regulations on the idiots that used to jump the waves right on the beach. Guy's would bring large pencils with the hooks removed and a spare rod.........................
Use your imagination..............................
They tended to go elsewhere, after a few near misses.
 
#6 ·
Re: And the war continues

They take over the whole beach in droves Gunny. There are hundreds of them. And they want to move furthur east. If they decide to infringe down there it could get ugly.
 
#9 ·
Re: And the war continues

Thanks Bass kid
Ny Post
It seems the surfers are showing in droves down there. stay tuned.

SURF-TURF WAR

'BOARDERS' VS. ANGLERS FOR L.I. SEAS
By SELIM ALGAR

KEEPING IT REEL: Surfers teem around
the Montauk Point coast over this past weekend
as an angler waits hopefully for
the fish to bite

KEEPING IT REEL: Surfers teem around the
Montauk Point coast over this past weekend
as an angler waits hopefully for the fish to bite.

August 27, 2007 -- It's a totally gnarly dispute - pitting surfer dudes vs. surf fishermen.
And the ticketing of a surfing legend's fiancée for illegal wave riding on the north side of Montauk Point, L.I., has only further stoked tensions between the area's anglers and its burgeoning community of wave riders.
The two groups are tussling over use of a small strip of shoreline in an area that prohibits surfing but allows surfcasting.
The fishermen claim that surfers make it impossible for them to freely throw out their lines into the water and that the boarders also drive fish from the coveted fishing destination.
Surfers, asserting a natural right to use the shore resource, have flouted the prohibition and benefited from lax enforcement for several years. But increased complaints from anglers have led to an increase in patrolling and ticketing of surfers in recent months.
Longboarding legend Terry Simms, 48, of California, said he was hassled and trailed by a parks officer earlier this summer. His fiancée, Nancy Opitz, 38, said she had finished surfing in late July when a patrol car pulled up behind her vehicle and gave her a ticket.
"Nothing like this happens in California," Opitz said of her citation, which wound up being dismissed on a technicality last week.
"Montauk is not just a fishing town anymore."
But the fishermen disagree. "This is really the last area we have left," said Jay Blatt of the Montauk Surfcasters Association.
Blatt said that casting heavy lures and sharp hooks out into a crowd of surfers puts them in danger.
"The two activities are not compatible in the same area," he said.
Blatt said surfers have successfully petitioned to open up all other areas of Montauk for surfing and are gradually squeezing out fishermen.
"This is a fishing town. It has been for centuries," he said. "But they think they should be able to surf any time, anywhere, anyplace. They're out to usurp us."
Tom Naro, chairman of the Eastern Long Island Chapter of the Surfriders Association, said the fishermen are being alarmist.
"We're not trying to exclude anybody," he said. "But no one user group should have the spot to themselves."
Naro also dismissed Blatt's claims that surfers scare away fish and that they are regularly hooked by wayward casts.
"You have to want to hook a surfer if you're going to hook him," he said, saying that the two activities can co-exist safely.
New York State Parks spokesman George Gorman said a meeting is planned on the issue in the coming weeks and that the surfers are actively fighting to have the prohibition lifted.
He noted an increase in organization on the part of East Coast surfers. "They grew up and became attorneys," he said.
 
#10 ·
Re: And the war continues

Even though I really haven't had much experience fishing here, I got my first taste of annoyance of jet ski riders at Nut Island. Most boaters keep their respective distance from the pier but these douche bag jet skiers just don't seem to get it. They would just pass by closer and closer and later on, they were pretty much at the distance where they could touch my lines and hear me cuss them out. I don't know if these people just get automatically stupid when they see an angler fishing near by but it was pretty annoying experience. Just my 2cents on this matter.:whistle:
 
#12 ·
Re: And the war continues

Round 2 The Battle continues
From surfline a popular surfing online magazine.



"Illegal Surfing" Tickets Issued in Montauk
August 31, 2007
(First appeearing in the Montauk Pioneer.)

Well, you thought that the issue about a ticket being dismissed by Judge Rana of East Hampton for riding a surfboard off of Montauk Point was over, but it isn't. On Saturday, August 25 just days after the news came out about the dismissal of the surfing ticket, another 12 tickets were issued to 12 separate surfers that were surfing at the North Bar in Montauk. The tickets have enraged the surfing community of Montauk, who are highly organized thanks to an organization known as Surfrider, which has members all over the East End and are a powerful economic and political force in the community of Montauk.
A common myth here in Montauk remains the misconstrued belief that the region's legions of fishermen and its dedicated tribes of surfers are at intense odds against each other in a constant and epic battle over access to particular pieces of The Point here at The End of the island. Don't get us wrong, as fun as it would be for us to describe a physical conflict between the two groups, with descriptions of tumultuous tales of the clashing of boards and reels or images of those coming under fire from a slue of bait or wax, the fact remains that there just is not that much of a battle to begin with, but instead more of a back-and-forth banter of words. After all, these are the laid-back fishermen and easygoing surfer dudes and dudettes of the East End .
The real clash appears to be between the surfers and the NYS Parks commission. They appear to have blatantly responded to the dismissal of their ticket by issuing a dozen more.
This all started in June, and appeared to be over when two weeks ago over 20 members of the Eastern Long Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation were on hand to watch East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana decide to throw out a ticket that was originally given to surfer Nancy Opitz (visiting from the borough of Brooklyn) for using "an artificial swimming aid" in the area north of Montauk Point- locally known as the North Bar right near the town-owned Turtle Cove area. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation originally cited Opitz with the bizarre ticket two months ago on June 16. The ticket was dismissed due to a lack of "furtherance of justice" when the Suffolk County District Attorney's office opted out of prosecuting Opitz for the alleged crime. According to a statement from the District Attorney's office, the prosecution was not followed up due to the fact that the officer who issued the ticket "wrote down the incorrect section of the law."
Considering this history of disagreement, the incorrect labeling on the ticket cited to Opitz almost fueled a fire in the argument to ban or allow surfing near the north region of Montauk Point area, but fortunately it did not. However, it did appear to have sent a message to the NYS Department of Parks and Recreation, who knowingly issued 12 more tickets of the exact same nature to surfers in the exact same area.
It would appear that the surfers simply want to surf. Most fishermen in Montauk have agreed that surfcasting and surfers can exist harmoniously, with many surfcaster throwing their lines out at Ditch Plains, one of the most popular surf destinations on the planet. This incident comes after only a few short years of debate over allowing surfers to have access to the Camp Hero area just southeast of the Lighthouse. The debate inspired the formation of the Surfing Advisory Committee and a tested policy of prohibiting surfers from riding the breaks at Camp Hero from September 6, 2004 through November 1 of the same year unless the surfers were in the water between the hours of sunrise and 11 a.m. This prohibition was originally meant to prevent any clashes between surfcasting fishermen and any surfers who were using the same waters. However, after no arguments or battles ensued, the prohibition hours were lifted and all were allowed back in the waters to ride the waves whenever they wished. Ever since, there have been no further reports of conflicts between the fishermen and the surfers (that we know of).
The aftermath of the citation and eventual dismissal of the ticket continue, and the Surfrider Foundation plans to fight these new tickets that were issued for surfing.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation plan to meet with the Eastern Long Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation as well as the Montauk Surfcasters Association within the next coming weeks.
 
#13 ·
Link
Surfers, Casters Face Off
Montauk Point access is still under dispute
By Timothy Small
(09/20/2007)
Members of the Surfrider Foundation's eastern Long Island chapter met with representatives of the Montauk Surfcasters Association and New York State parks officials last week at the State Parks headquarters in Babylon to discuss the issue of access to the north side of Montauk Point State Park.
"I'm not sure if progress was made," George Gorman, the Long Island regional director for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, who attended the private meeting, said on Tuesday. "It was disappointing we didn't reach a compromise."
The debate over access to Montauk Point's north side, also known as North Bar, is not new. In recent weeks, however, the Surfing Advisory Committee to the Parks Department, which was formed by Surfrider in 2004 in an effort to legalize surfing at Camp Hero to the west of Montauk Point, has actively pushed the state to legalize surfing on the north side by contesting tickets surfers have been issued for violating the park's "no surfing" rule at North Bar.
Yesterday, in East Hampton Town Justice Court, surfers and surf-access advocates showed their support for five surfers contesting charges for surfing on the north side on Aug. 25. The defendants, who are represented by Joseph Giannini, an attorney and longtime advocate of surf access to the north side of the Point, were ordered to file a motion arguing that the statue they allegedly violated is invalid.
All five surfers were ticketed for violating Section 377.1(H) of the State of New York Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations. That statute "prohibits swimming, diving, bathing, or wading in swimming pools or other waters or walking upon the frozen surface thereof," on state parks property except in areas designated for those activities. Mr. Giannini believes this statute does not apply to surfing.
On Aug. 15, similar support was given to Nancy Optiz of Brooklyn, who was also ticketed for surfing on the north side on June 16. That charge was dismissed in the "furtherance of justice" because the officer who issued the ticket cited the wrong section of the law.
A meeting between the opposing groups was agreed to before Ms. Optiz's ticket was dismissed. The Surfing Advisory Committee believes surfers and surfcasters should be able to share the north side. Members of Montauk Surfcasters Association believe the north side should remain designated solely for surfcasters.
The surfers' objective in meeting was to discuss the possibility of opening access to surfers at the contested spot. "We went in with open minds as to how this would be accomplished," Eugene Alper, the former chairman of Surfrider's eastern Long Island chapter and a member of the Surfing Advisory Committee, wrote in an e-mail on Monday.
An interim policy such as the one implemented at Camp Hero before surf access was granted all year round there was one form of compromise suggested, he said. That policy, which served as a trial period to demonstrate there were no conflicts between surfers and fishermen, prohibited surfing from Sept. 6, 2004, through Nov. 1, 2004, except from sunrise to 11 a.m. Because there were no reported conflicts during that time, surfing was allowed entirely.
For several reasons, members of the Montauk Surfcasters Association are not willing agree to a compromise on the north side. The safety of surfers and the liability of surfcasters is one concern.
"The problem is that we are going to be casting what amounts to lethal projectiles in the waves where those fish are, and if there are 200 surfers in the water at the same time that there are 500 casters casting out, this is a recipe for disaster," Jay Blatt, the communications director for the Montauk Surfcasters Association, said on Tuesday.
"Surfers want to go out and have a good time, and by contrast, so do surf fisherman," Mr. Blatt said. "But we can't enjoy ourselves knowing that if we accidentally hook a surfer, we can be hauled into court for a multimillion dollar lawsuit."
By opening access to surfers on the south side, many surfcasters feel discouraged from fishing there, opting for the north side instead. "We feel that by allowing surfers on the south side, in many instances, we're effectively disenfranchised because we cannot enjoy our sport," Mr. Blatt said. "It's tantamount to restricting us completely."
Surfers argue that when they share the water with surfcasters, there is no clash between the two groups. "If anything," Mr. Giannini said, "surfers make it safer," referring to instances where surfers have rescued surfcasters.
The surfcasters' organization is responsible for creating the illusion that the two groups don't get along, Mr. Alper said, who remarked that their headquarters are UpIsland. "They said that Camp Hero would be a disaster if they allowed surfing there," he said. "That claim was 100 percent false. Now they're saying the same thing about the North Bar."
Katherine King, a Montauk resident since 1989 and surfer for over 15 years, said she has never once had an issue with surfcasters anywhere around the lighthouse. Mr. Alper also said in his 40 years of surfing in Montauk he has never witnessed a conflict.
Contrarily, Mr. Blatt said he has accidentally hooked three surfers in his 10 years of fishing.
Celebrating Montauk's fishing history and securing its tourism economy, which is heavily predicated on Montauk's world-class fishing, is another incentive to continue denying surfers access to the north side, Mr. Blatt added. "Many fishermen believe the north side, just one beach, should be set aside in perpetuity to celebrate Montauk's contribution to surfcasting. We hope people will recognize the historical significance of setting aside one beach to celebrate Montauk - the Harvard Business School of fishing."
Surfers proposed numerous other interim compromises, such as a 90-day trial period to see how shared use would work, and a policy that would allow surfers to use only a specific area of the park, Mr. Alper said, but the surfcasters were not willing to budge.
"I can't see any compromises," Willie Young, the president of the Montauk Surfcasters Association, said on Tuesday. "Nothing suggested by them is feasible and we have nothing feasible to offer them."
Though little if any progress was made in resolving their differences, the meeting was useful because both sides got to hear directly from one another, Mr. Gorman said. The Parks Department agreed to analyze the proposals made by the surfers, he said. In the meantime, the department's police will continue enforcing the no-surfing rule on the north side.
 
#17 ·
One single mile of fishing only area on the entire east coast (possibly west coast as well) and they can't leave be.

Wait til one of these idiots hits a bait guys braided line that's stuck on a rock. If it gets him in the neck it could slice his throat to the spine.

And the politicians that are backing the surfers have no idea that this danger even exists.
 
#18 ·
The surfers have just as much of a right to the ocean as fisherman. One thing i would like to point out is that conditions that favor surfing are also generally unfavorable to surf fishing. (ie. offshore wind, low tide, large swell) the only time that surfers would even go to this spot is when the wind is south and the rest of Montauk has onshore winds (more favorable for fishing). So logically when the North Bar is ideal for fishing somewhere else is surely to be better for surfing and vice versa. There shouldn't be so much conflict. Both user groups have common interests in conservation of our shoreline.
 
#19 ·
I tend to disagree slightly with this statement. Surf fishermen are concerned with the preservation of not only the shoreline but also the fish and other aquatic wildlife in the area. Surfers currently are only interested in the preservation of access rights to the shoreline, not preservation as a whole. This is based on my experience with both groups.

I would also like to point out that contrary to your statement about the conditions, there are plenty of surfers that unknowingly surf in area's that are prime for striped bass becasue they do now know any better, so surf conditions isn't acting as much as a buffer between the two groups.
 
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