Fishermen scuffle at Okaloosa Island pier

OKALOOSA ISLAND — Lawmen headed out to the fishing pier here when a caller reported 20 people involved in a disturbance, at least one with a knife, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

      The incident was a heated disagreement between fishermen.

      One fisherman, 23, said he had a shark on his line — and had spent several hours trying to reel it in. Another said that fisherman was moving laterally up and down the pier, forcing all others to move out of the way or risk tangling their lines.

      Some did get tangled, “and the other patrons were all becoming angered,” according to the Saturday report. Many told the fisherman that if he couldn’t pull in the fish, he should cut his line. He didn’t listen, witnesses said.

      One finally said he “couldn’t take it anymore” and warned the fisherman if he came over to his area again, he was going to cut his line. The 23-year-old did come back to his area, and the man did pull out his knife.

      The 23-year-old pushed the angry fisherman away, and the angry fisherman grabbed his throat before other witnesses broke them apart.

      Fishing pier rules state that a person with a fish has the right of way. A pier attendant who was notified of the situation told the patrons to “figure it out amongst themselves,” a deputy said. They felt that because several hours had passed during the fisherman’s effort, he was taking unfair advantage of the right-of-way rule.

      As tempers cooled in the Angler’s Grill parking lot, both fisherman apologized to each other. The fisherman who had the shark on his line said he didn’t want to press battery charges for the throat-grabbing. He was allowed to stay and continue fishing, while the other man was asked to leave the pier for the rest of the night.