Beach fishing & swimmers

I was fishing the west beach several blocks west of the public beach, alone no other fisherman or swimmers around. Eventually some kids came down and were swimming appx. 50 yard from me no problem. A Gulf Shores beach patrol cop came up to me and said no fishing within 100 yds. of swimmers. I said " I was here first ,for the last hour or so" . He said " it doesn't matter you have to move". By then there was no 200 yd. space open (no swimmer on either side) so I quit. Does anybody know about this or have any input/info? thx jjm

Wow!
I see where this is going VVVV

:-(

Seig Heil---Bend over for the almighty tourist.

That said news to me. Only spot I heard that was a rule was the public beach. I’d call city hall and ask for a copy of the ordinance.

This is what I've been saying about the so-called Shark Fishing Ordinance for years.

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“It shall be unlawful within three hundred feet of the shoreline, or on a public pier, or on a private pier where an unsafe condition is created, on or in waters of Alabama under the jurisdiction of the Marine Resources Division as provided by Rule 220-2-.42, to fish for or target sharks or any species by those methods commonly known as ‘chumming’ or ‘bloodbaiting.’
“For purposes of this regulation, ‘chumming’ shall be defined as the throwing of bait or fish parts into the water to attract fish.

“For purposes of this regulation, ‘bloodbaiting’ shall be defined as the use of blood, chemical or synthetic attractants, fish parts, chicken parts or other animal parts to attract fish or sharks.
“It shall be unlawful, on or adjacent to the waters of Alabama under the jurisdiction of the Marine Resources Division as provided by Rule 220-2-.42, for any person to surf fish for sharks, bow fish for sharks, or fish for or target sharks by any other means from any pier or beach in such a manner that presents an unsafe condition to any beach goers, sun bathers, swimmers, or any other person.”

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It is worded so that any fishing near any beachgoer can be construed as posing a hazard to the touristas.
It is so loosely written that ANY Fishing within 300' of the beach can be prohibited, especially fishing with any type of bait.

And as in this case, we the fishermen will be the ones moving or being cited, all any beach goer has to do is complain.
And Lord forbid you get some tree hugging , bunny loving, granola cruncher who is willing to lie about your actions/words towards them, you could well find yourself arrested.

This exactly why I prefer to surf and/or shark fish in remote spots, e.g. Ft. Morgan, that or I go to Florida where I am the one protected from harassment by law.

Wow! I don't think he was correct, and it's worth checking out. This ordinance was written so as not to attract sharks to the beach and I don't see other species mentioned at all. I don't believe you'd be fishing for sharks or chumming in any manner so as to cause a danger to swimmers, therefore I don't interpret it as a violation of that ordinance. Let us know what y'all find out jjfish.

Jim, did you get the name of the Gulf Shores beach patrol cop?
Please don't post it, but rather PM or tell Todd or Chris and see what they think is best way to handle this.

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Originally Posted by fshntime

Wow! I don't think he was correct, and it's worth checking out. This ordinance was written so as not to attract sharks to the beach and I don't see other species mentioned at all. I don't believe you'd be fishing for sharks or chumming in any manner so as to cause a danger to swimmers, therefore I don't interpret it as a violation of that ordinance. Let us know what y'all find out jjfish.

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Really Todd, you don't? Reading comprehension for the win brother.

"... or any species..."
"...the throwing of bait or fish parts into the water to attract fish."
"...in any manner so as to cause a danger to swimmers"

It's right there, any species and any bait, they can interpret that any way they wish, and they do.
Swimmers have the right of way and you better danged well yield to them.

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“It shall be unlawful within three hundred feet of the shoreline, or on a public pier, or on a private pier where an unsafe condition is created, on or in waters of Alabama under the jurisdiction of the Marine Resources Division as provided by Rule 220-2-.42, to fish for or target sharks or any species by those methods commonly known as ‘chumming’ or ‘bloodbaiting.’
“For purposes of this regulation, ‘chumming’ shall be defined as the throwing of bait or fish parts into the water to attract fish.

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When this law was passed in 2008, that point was brought up that it is too 'loosely' written and can be interpreted to halt ANY fishing at any time from the beach (or pier) at the officer's discretion.

No I did not get his name or badge number. I was so surprised with the situation that it slipped my mind .My bad! thx

And there are other ass'inine aspects to this law, prime example is the 300 foot rule.
You can chum and blood bait all you want 300' off the beach, like sharks can't smell blood from a much longer distance.

I don't know anyone, myself included, that uses chum/blood in our land based sharking, just whole or chunked fish/rays and smaller sharks.
Even large fish/rays chunked don't spread scent more than maybe an eighth of a mile depending on current, and the effective time at distance is short.

Obviously he had bait, but the section refers to chumming" for any species", including sharks. I don't believe bait is chumming. I agree it is poorly written, but sometimes you have to look at the intent. Here, it was written to prevent you from claiming your chummimg for pompano or any other species!

One day on the beach in Panama City I saw a bunch of Ladyfish schooled up about 50 yards off shore. I waded out past some swimmers and hook up. A couple of hooked fish swam towards the swimmers down the beach. Believe me the swimmers will move quickly.

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Originally Posted by fshntime

Obviously he had bait, but the section refers to chumming" for any species", including sharks. I don't believe bait is chunking. I agree it is poorly written, but sometimes you have to look at the intent. Here, it was written to prevent you from claiming your chummimg for pompano or any other species!

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They don't care Todd, the touristas come first.
The road to tyranny is paved with good intentions.

I witnessed this a few years ago. The officer told all the bottom fishermen they had to move due to swimmers, but I was fishing with a lure and he didn't say a word to me. I decided to be safe and ask him if I needed to move also, he said "No, you're not using bait."

I looked at my artificial bait, and at him, and shrugged my shoulders and went back to casting.

I guess I now know what he meant, because that incident left me confused.

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Originally Posted by Viking Guy

I witnessed this a few years ago. The officer told all the bottom fishermen they had to move due to swimmers, but I was fishing with a lure and he didn't say a word to me. I decided to be safe and ask him if I needed to move also, he said "No, you're not using bait."

I looked at my artificial bait, and at him, and shrugged my shoulders and went back to casting.

I guess I now know what he meant, because that incident left me confused.

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yep. gotchas and other lures cast at distance could never hurt anyone.

i swear i'm honestly surprised we still get to fish at all.

That way of thinking is very foreign to me. In Michigan the hunters and fishermen have laws passed to protect them from harassment by other users of the water and land.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CYm25jEWAAAiOU2.jpg

Thanks Finchaser. Now my eyes are burning

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Originally Posted by CarlF

Thanks Finchaser. Now my eyes are burning

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At least this is a family oriented forum, imagine how bad your eyes would be burning if this wasn’t a family oriented forum.

I can say for a fact things are not that way in Orange Beach.
I was fishing this afternoon just west of the southeastern boardwalk at Alabama Point East and despite some people in waist deep water 20 yards farther east that my easternmost rod NOTHING was said by an Orange Beach cop truck (drove by twice and waved), or the cop in the Orange Beach mullie car that drove by three times.

And no, I never got a bite in 4 hours :-(

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Originally Posted by Pier#r

I can say for a fact things are not that way in Orange Beach.
I was fishing this afternoon just west of the southeastern boardwalk at Alabama Point East and despite some people in waist deep water 20 yards farther east that my easternmost rod NOTHING was said by an Orange Beach cop truck (drove by twice and waved), or the cop in the Orange Beach mullie car that drove by three times.

And no, I never got a bite in 4 hours :-(

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As bad as the fish bite has been in Orange beach lately, they probably feel the jokes on us. lol

At least I now know I'm not the only one getting skunked on the east side.

The main reason I am a tourist is for the fishing....I can walk right out of the house and go fishing....while my family swims .....