Attack at Roosevelt

[SilencedMajority]

Did my first trip to Roosevelt Sat night after martinman hooked me up with a good location. I fished about 200 yards downstream of the diversion dam, it was such a mess of people down there we had to hike quite a ways to get a spot. Using cut sunfish, live sunfish and waterdogs didn't get a run, but that wasn't the worst part of the trip. Got there about 7pm, and about 11pm some drunks across the river thought it would be hilarious to snag our lines. They could barely stand and after 10 minutes of trying they got hold of one of my rigs, they were laughing and hoohawing until i hanked my rod to snap their puny line. We did nothing to deserve this, except be decent people without a beer among us out there fishing. After that incident, they started throwing rocks! I mean, throwing rocks straight at us! It was insane and i had a mind to go kick their butts but I tried to call the forest service, but my cell was dead. We tried to plead to the guys to leave us alone, but in their drunked stupor they felt they needed to terrorize me and my buddies. After my friend got smashed in the shin by a big rock, we decided we had to leave. I left with a new hatred of the "party people" that frequent our fishing spots set on causing havoc. Worst night I had fishing, I will always think again before I head out fishing on a "party" weekend.

[Cat King]

That must have sucked man

[Flatheadhunter33]

Sorry to hear about your luck man.

[james]

Some people just need a good ole whoopin just to set them right. But leaveing might have just been the right thing to do. Personally I don't think I would have put up with it one bit. Im one of those types of people with a really short temper for morons like that.

[AllenM]

One more reason it's always a good idea to take a high powered air rifle when fishing!! :hell_boy:

[RIP]

What a time for a wrist-rocket and some ball bearings.

[gargoil77]

Good thing you walked away. I don't think I could have.

[azcatman]

That would have been a tough one to walk away from especially with the way the guys I fish with take stuff like that. I'm the biggest of us but they get mad alot quicker than I do. That is also one reason I try to always fish from a boat at Roosey. Just a bunch of idiots so try not to let it keep from the lake. If there is any way possible fishing from a boat is the only way to go. When you run into people out there then they are normally there for one reason and that is fishing. Might be a little partying goin on but you can bet they won't be acting like those a**clowns. Sorry you had to go through something like that. Wish we would have been down there you can bet it wouldn't have went on very long.

[Cactus Cat]

That does not surprise me in the least. had guys come up late on a hole I was on 2 years ago up there and cast right over me. I nicely told them I was right there. 3 of them - got real lippy of course the smallest one. I am about 6'5" 260 and was about to whoop some ass and throw him in the dam river when I realized why he was being so tough. He had a gun on him. I was pretty sure I was about a second away from getting it pulled on me. Anyways here is what I have taken from that experience. 1) Try to go when there will not be huge crowds. 2) Try not to make a bad situation worse. 3) I always bring my Glock with me whenever I go out. It's pretty sad I would never be an aggressor or threaten someone but the reality is it only takes one ass----the middle of nowhere to go after you. I have a very strong suspicion the creeps I ran across were meth heads as well just by their mannerisms. It is truly shame people like that are allowed to enjoy great spots like this. The sad thing is I would stack that stretch of water agianst anywhere for quality of fish. Protect yourself take the steps necessary to have a safe enjoyable trip and return home to your family in one piece. I would really like to see better law enforcement there keeping this creeps out of there because Ipromise you most of these jerks are methhead locals rule type of folks. Sorry for your experience good job not escalating the situation. People that act this way will at some point get beat within an inch of their life and get their just desserts. Sad to hear the story. :angry:

[azcatman]

That is one reason we always try to go on a weeknight not always an option but we try to plan it that way. Sundays are always quiet. All the party animals are too worn out and hopefully home by then. Of course it helps when your off on Mondays like me!!! :big_smile:

[Cactus Cat]

in light of this situation i already had booked a pontoon for rental next friday night from the roosevelt marina. I am retiring from shore fishing the river. First time by boat catman so any tips on motoring up on the mouth or lower stretches of the river would be greatly appreciated. I am obviously not familiar with fishing by boat here so any help would be a lot of help. Thanks Cactus Cat.

[azcatman]

We usually go up the salt as far as we can and try and find shallow water next to some deeper pools. Does the 'toon your renting have electronics by chance? If it does then you want to anchor up on the upriver side of the deeper water say 10' foot of water. We normally try to use 'gills and small carp but if you can't catch them then get the biggest waterdogs you can buy. I haven't made it down yet this spring so I can't give you any recent reports. We are thinking about a trip down next week. You will love fishing out of the pontoon. Nothing compares to it when it comes to fishing at night. Sure makes for some fun nights!!! Good luck and let us know how you did.

[Cactus Cat]

I sure will I appreciate the quick reply where do you suggest I get dogs from and where do you get bait on the lake picking boat up at 4 from marina think that is enough time? No electrinics though. Just out of curiosity was your 65 from Roosey? Well done thanks again.

[azcatman]

I sure will I appreciate the quick reply where do you suggest I get dogs from and where do you get bait on the lake picking boat up at 4 from marina think that is enough time? No electrinics though. Just out of curiosity was your 65 from Roosey? Well done thanks again.
Cactus Cat where will be coming from to get to Roosey? If your in the valley I'm sure there are a few places that sell dogs. We normally take my bass boat and use it to catch our bait during the afternoon but with the heat that can get brutal at times. The cove that is by the day area up the Tonto end from the dam is always good for bluegills and the carp are just were u find them. The problem with carp is catching them small enough to use but in my opinion they are the best bait just because they live longer while hooked. The 'gills are about the right size around 3 or 4 inches. You will catch bigger but they don't seem to last very long so we never have kept them, but after reading some posts on this sight about using fillets I think this year I will fillet them as soon as we catch them, ice them down and use as cut bait. And yes the 65 is from Roosey caught in Aug. of last year on a carp. If you go to the photo section and look in the popular section you can see pic's of an incredible night of catfishing. Don't think we will be able to top it but we are going to keep trying!!! Sorry forgot to add that you usually buy dogs at the bait stores in Tonto Basin. Being from N.Az we just catch our own when we can.

[Katmaster Jr.]

Dang that sucks man, that might have called for casting the surf rods across the body of water with an 8 ounce weight!:crazy:

Another reason I hate it when people get drunk while fishing or on the water, it's stupid.

[Cactus Cat]

I am coming from east valley catman. What do you think would be best spot for dogs?

[SilencedMajority]

I like to hit up Liars Korner(On Main East of Ellsworth) for waterdogs and tackle, they seem to have alot of stuff for the flatties and the guys that run the shop always offer good info to cat chasers. Other than that in E. Valley, Bear Mountain Tackle and Archery(On Southern West of Stapley) has got nice waterdogs that are usually larger but they don't offer as good a selection of catting tackle. Whenever I get waterdogs in town before i head out i always ask them to throw some ice in there, keep the dogs cold so they'll live the longest.

[azcatman]

You need to get an ice chest and buy one of the battery powered aerators and set you up a bait tank. Works well for the 'gills and carp too!! Do a search on this site and there is a ton of info on bait tanks both permanent and portable.

[steve-o]

@$$h#les, there's one in every crowd

[Cactus Cat]

Catman I have a baitank I coverted a cooler it has the entire pump amd aerator in it. Has adapter to plug into my vehicle cig lighter. Works great. I am pumped will make sure and give a good report.

[Doyle]

Antonio, it’s been my experience that the guys that take the law into there own hand and try to right a wrong are the ones that pay the price. The long ranger wouldn’t survive in today’s world. I think you did right.

[Tym2Fish]

You did the right thing. It just sucks when morons try to mess with people who want nothing more than to relax and catch some fish. I am not sure I would have had the same restraint. You have to look at the totality of the situation and decide is it worth it? They will get theirs one day and as one post said usually "it is the ones who are trying to right the wrong that pay the price". You did good!!!!

[AllenM]

Yah, in truth, the guys that walk away are the smarter ones... I just don't have the restraint sometimes. I tend to take a pellet gun to run off the coyotes, racoons, etc. if needed, and to shoot rattlers, but I'd likely "return fire" in a situation like yours before I thought it through real good... I also take a pair of binoculars when I go out and the smarter thing to do would be to get a good look at the jerks and then scope the plate on their vehicle and report it to the police as an assault and battery or even assault with a deadly weapon (the courts DO consider a rock as a deadly weapon!). Best thing to do would be have the dumb ***** arrested. The cops could get the owner of the vehicles address from the DMV and go get them and have you ID him as one of the perps, and if you're lucky the idiot will sell out the one who actually threw the rocks so you can have him picked up for an ID if it wasn't the owner of the car himself.

[topjimmy]

You did the right thing.

If that would have happened with the guys I fish with, it would have gotten UGLY.

[martinman]

Sorry to here that you had a run-in with a bunch of drunks. I wish that you wouldn't have experienced that.

I guess in a way we have to experience some bad times with some of the good. Don't worry, you will get your reward for that time...who knows when, but it will come. Sometimes we have to sacrifice a little before we see the true rewards.

Just remember to keep doing what you love. I think most people hear would respect you for being the type of person that you are...trying to fish, rather than being the person who is drunk throwing the rocks.

Keep smilin' its all good.

Martinman

[azcatman]

Well said Martinman

[fishergirl420]

hey man, real sorry to hear about the jerks you had put up with over the weekend. not cool at all. i was over at Rosy as well & was thinking about heading out to the diversion for some fishing. i was on foot as well so the thought of the crowd and having to find a spot diverted me from going. now im real glad i didn't
:0a23:

[channelcat_tracker]

such disrespect towards their elders. well i would have gotten to test a new strength on them. all i have to say is if you ever see me with drunks (chances are slim that you will) i will not have a single drink in me. i think alcohol can really mess you up mentally and physically with the police and other fights! you know you did the right thing but when they get physical with other people then its time you should step up to the plate. i think you should have taught them a lesson because thats just plain rude of them!

[jlingle]

Antonio, you absolutely did the right thing. I've had an ugly temper my whole life, and this sounds like one of those situations where I wouldn't have handled myself correctly. You did handle yourself properly. In all honesty, I really wish I could be more like you and shrug things like this off. I applaud you. I can tell you from experience.... 99% of the time when you lose your cool and get physical with drunks, it won't work out the way you want. You may or may not win the fight, but you're nearly guaranteed to land yourself in trouble anyway or get hurt. Is it worth it? I can't make that call for you, but I can tell you that I believe 100% that you did the correct thing by packing up and leaving without incident.

Good job, and good fishing to you.

Jerrod

[bluehunter]

I have to commend you on what you did. Sometimes its best to think long term instead of short term I have learned. It would have been hard for me to let that slide and if it would have been years ago I would not have let it slide. I would have went after them with the fury, especially if I had my associates with me. But now We have more to lose than to gain from that kind of response with a career and a family. You will be rewarded in the long run for that.

[FishMan]

Did my first trip to Roosevelt Sat night after martinman hooked me up with a good location. I fished about 200 yards downstream of the diversion dam, it was such a mess of people down there we had to hike quite a ways to get a spot. Using cut sunfish, live sunfish and waterdogs didn't get a run, but that wasn't the worst part of the trip. Got there about 7pm, and about 11pm some drunks across the river thought it would be hilarious to snag our lines. They could barely stand and after 10 minutes of trying they got hold of one of my rigs, they were laughing and hoohawing until i hanked my rod to snap their puny line. We did nothing to deserve this, except be decent people without a beer among us out there fishing. After that incident, they started throwing rocks! I mean, throwing rocks straight at us! It was insane and i had a mind to go kick their butts but I tried to call the forest service, but my cell was dead. We tried to plead to the guys to leave us alone, but in their drunked stupor they felt they needed to terrorize me and my buddies. After my friend got smashed in the shin by a big rock, we decided we had to leave. I left with a new hatred of the "party people" that frequent our fishing spots set on causing havoc. Worst night I had fishing, I will always think again before I head out fishing on a "party" weekend.

next time call 911, throwing things at you. that is assault, a rock is a weapon. Try getting a picture.

I would like to see a new law. If you are drinking or drunk and get caught doing something stupid or illegal in public you are forever never allowed to be drunk or drinking in public again. If caught you go to jail for 10 years first time and the second time you get life.

[badkarma]

I had that problem with drunks a few years ago.I was bank fishing with a friend(we had no beer just coffie) and a bunch of drunks showed up and started rasing hell cause we were in their party spot.We loaded up to leave but they wouldn't move over and let me drive pass where they were standing.After talking to them a while and trying to get them to let us out one drunk stagerd out of the way and I stomped the petal amd was driving pass when they started throwing beer bottles at my truck.When I stuck my 45 out the window and capped off a few rounds into the ground next to the truck all you could see of the drunks was them laying in the dirt with there hands over their necks.I fished at that spot many times after that night but I never saw any of that bunch again.

[Iowa_Josh]

MAn, it is a good idear it have some binoculars or a monocular with you. You can see what the other guy is catching too that way. And watch the deer and stuff.

Drunks out in a popular public are like that are terrible. The thing is they will be shortly drunk driving home too.

I have met the meth heads out at night. It gives them something to do when they are awake all night anyways.......They have lots of time to booze up also. Be wary of people that tell you they closed down the bar last night and still show up for work on time the next day like it is normal. Because that ain't normal.


I think my weapon of choice would be a megaphone. I haven't got one yet but when some guy motors right by you and you are shore fishing or the jetski guy does donuts in front of you for a while it would be cool to annouce to the world the guy in front of you has a small #### if you get my meaning. What you can't get by courtesy you could get by humiliation. You could also blast out "call the cops these people are on drugs!" if your cell phone battery is dead!

[Swampy]

I tend to take a pellet gun to run off the coyotes, racoons, etc. if needed, and to shoot rattlers, but I'd likely "return fire"


I keep one in my tackle box at all times myself for places where you can't carry a firearm. Yes Sir those boy's would have been picking 22 cal. lead pellets out of their butts the rest of the night.