Harassed by homeowners (Sammamish)

[showpro]

What's with these people? We're quietly fishing for perch (me and my 12 y.o. boy) and these people have nothing better to do but harangue us. They even went so far as to send someone out in scuba gear to bang on the bottom of the boat.

Their claim was that they didn't want us tied off to an old, broken stump 25 yards from the shore. First guy said, "because it attracts more fishermen." Second guy said, "I'm cool with it, but if you give me lip like you're doing I'll call the cops." WTF? He was the one who came out on his SeaDoo to argue with me. He claimed it's illegal. I looked at the King County code--yep, it's illegal for him...he can't permanently moor a boat tied off to a stump, he has to get a permit and install a dock. But I can moor or anchor anywhere I please for 72 hours straight, near as I can tell.

Anyway, I think I just found my new favorite fishing spot. I should be there every weekend for the rest of my life "looking in his windows," or whatever he thinks I'm doing.

:colors:

BTW, my boy caught 9 perch, and we kept 5. Nice, fat ones, some of 'em. Should be great on the grill tonight.

[fishaholictaz]

I would do the same thing! I would fish there every chance I got.... I would make sure to have a cell phone and every time he did something harassing I would turn him in! I hate it when home owners think their land goes into the water#-o I am glad you were not intimidated by this person!

Tight lines
TAZ

[scott080379]

want to share this location so we can tie a few boats off this stump?

[showpro]

want to share this location so we can tie a few boats off this stump?

I'd love to and I'm kicking myself for not getting the GPS lat/long. Next time I'm over there, I definitely will.

It's up near Sahallee on the north-eastern side of the lake. There's a guy with a helicopter hangar under his house right there, if you've ever seen him. It was his neighbors harassing us. There are a few groups of 3 stumps and they sort of mark off a nice hump on the bottom of the lake where the smallies hang out, so it's a great spot.

[BucketMouthCatcher]

There are some real jackass home owners living on lakes these days. I like the way they "tell" you what to do and how your trespassing on "thier" property. I've been threatened with "I'll call the cops" and even had people go as far as throwing rocks and sticks into the lake to spook the fish and make me not want to fish there anymore. I try and be polite but when push comes to shove. I dont take "orders" from lake front property/home owners.

IMO if they want privacey they should not purchase water front property.


Did they have nice boats parked at thier docks ? Could have drove them crazy throwing 3/4 jigs inches away from thier 50k wakeboat

[Dave]

Sorry to hear about your experience. I have experienced the same thing and simply tell them to call 911. I have yet to see that happen. I have lot's more to say about this subject but I will refrain.

Bottom line is one of these days one of these land owners is going to confront the wrong person and lose their life or receive major grief or injury for their nagging efforts. Nothing is worth jeopardizing one's safety which is in my opinion exactly what these land owners are doing every time they confront a stranger about being in front of their dock or on their beach during a low tide. One of these days it will likely be a "top story" live at 5!

[MikeFishes]

Make sure you bring a camera that you can use to video the encounter. From what I remember, it's illegal to harrass or prevent someone from legally fishing. It's somewhere here in the forums.

[showpro]

Make sure you bring a camera that you can use to video the encounter. From what I remember, it's illegal to harrass or prevent someone from legally fishing. It's somewhere here in the forums.

Indeed:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=77.15.210

I had a camera. I took a picture of their house, and I have some video of the scuba bubbles coming up from the water, but I didn't get it out fast enough to get video of the kid under the boat. Wish I had.

[showpro]

Sorry to hear about your experience. I have experienced the same thing and simply tell them to call 911. I have yet to see that happen. I have lot's more to say about this subject but I will refrain.

Bottom line is one of these days one of these land owners is going to confront the wrong person and lose their life or receive major grief or injury for their nagging efforts. Nothing is worth jeopardizing one's safety which is in my opinion exactly what these land owners are doing every time they confront a stranger about being in front of their dock or on their beach during a low tide. One of these days it will likely be a "top story" live at 5!

Yeah, someday some idiot will pull out a pistol and start firing into the water at the scuba diver. These people don't think this stuff through.

[Anonymous]

They even went so far as to send someone out in scuba gear to bang on the bottom of the boat.

To quote my good friend Forest Gump "Stupid is as Stupid does"

OMG,
Who would have been at fault if you would have started your motor and drove off taking someones head with you in the process?

Don't confront them...Get them on film/video as you're dialing 911

Or...Just drop anchor.

[showpro]

Turns out it's illegal to skindive without posting a diver's flag. So I suppose the diver would have been at fault.

[Bass Woody]

i had instance on the river last year during waterfowl hunting. Indian netters didnt like us hunting on the river so they put nets all around us while we are standing there looking at them. they fricken pinned us in with me on shore not more than 20 yards from them. they flicked us off and left. well we couldnt do anything but pack up and leave, but i had to move a net to leave. i could of done something dirty to them but instead just moved it 10 yards out of the way to leave. headed back up to launch we noticed a boat haulin after us. when we got to the launch they were screamin at us all drunk about what i dont remember but next thing i noticed that one of them grabbed his mini 14 and pointed it! well faster then snot roles out of your nose in the cold he found 3 camo covered duck huntin freaks with 3 shotguns pointed at them. all i told him was you may get one shot off and u may hit us but for sure we will hit you! his boat was in reverse damn quick! I will always remember what it is like to have a gun pointed at you and i now know what it feels like right before you are ready to hurt somebody with one. I guess no matter what you are doing trouble will come. be safe and remember to come home everytime so you can do it again!

[showpro]

Dayum, that sounds like it was almost a heap of trouble. Glad no one got shot. Pretty stupid pointing a gun at a bunch of hunters. Darwin awards stupid.

[Mike Carey]

wow, scary stuff. As for lake Sammamish, nothing like a little wealth to make you look down on the common man. sad

[returnofthefish]

Thats sad that they harassed you. The most messed up part is that your son was with you. Hope he is ok about it all.

[showpro]

Today's catch from my new lucky fishing stump:

[davidwat1]

Hey Showpro, really sorry to hear about that incident! I can honestly say for the most part on Lake Sammamish, the homeowners have been pretty reasonable, but there are a couple of specific houses where that is definitely NOT the case (little purple house with the yugo for example). Based on your description, I'm pretty sure that I know the area you are referring to, but I don't think I've encountered that kind of hostility from them specifically! Then again it sounds like they took exception to you being anchored up, which I've never done, no excuse either way just curious if that' what really triggered them to come after you.

At any rate, it really sucks but sounds like you handled it as well as you could have, and I'm sure you set a great example for your son by not retaliating back! Try not to let one persons/homeowners bad judgement and bad attitude ruin your own enthusiasm! I know you've been putting in your time on Sammamish since our trip this spring, so keep up the great work out there and I hope to see you on the lake again soon! By the way, with the federation qualifiers taking place on Sammamish all weekend, this particular homeowner had to be going nuts...sweet justice, because I'm sure that area got hammered repeatedly both days.

Best,
Dave

[showpro]

Thanks, Dave. Yeah, you showed me that spot and described the lake bed there to me.

I'm sure the contest was part of what had them riled up to begin with. The contestants were very supportive; great guys.

I asked Billy what he learned today. He said, "Don't let people push you around."

[bassackwards]

They even went so far as to send someone out in scuba gear to bang on the bottom of the boat.

To quote my good friend Forest Gump "Stupid is as Stupid does"

OMG,
Who would have been at fault if you would have started your motor and drove off taking someones head with you in the process?

Don't confront them...Get them on film/video as you're dialing 911

Or...Just drop anchor.

Just fish deeper...deep diving crankbait works wonders on scuba gear...reel 'em in

Bastards...you handled it better than I would've. As an ex-cop...that's harrassment on their part (small fine)...video, video, video!

Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang...click, click (sound of reloading) Bang, Bang......if it were only that easy to "thin the herd".

[showpro]

My buddy is a 911 dispatcher for the center that handles the city and Lake Sammamish. Here's what he had to say:

"Property ends at the water or structures such as docks and what not. If there is an old dead head sticking up, it isn't his. If he put it in the lake, he put in on property he has no control over.

Give him my number (that's 9-1-1) and I'll break the bad news to him."