Shroom captioned his video of the encounter with the woman "Despite my best efforts to release a fish that I caught it ended up floating later". Photo / Facebook
Shroom captioned his video of the encounter with the woman "Despite my best efforts to release a fish that I caught it ended up floating later". Photo / Facebook
A woman in the elite suburb of Birchgrove has been caught on video threatening a fisherman at Balmain Rowing Club with calling the police after a fish he caught died.
The encounter between the two, posted on YouTube on New Year's Eve has had almost 150, 000 views and comments that the woman was a "Karen", a nosy person who likes to call in the manager.
The clash on a pier in Sydney's inner west began when the young fisherman, whose social media name is Shroom, was pulling on his fishing rod.
Shroom captioned his video of the encounter with the woman "Despite my best efforts to release a fish that I caught it ended up floating later". Photo / Facebook
A caption on the film says: "Despite my best efforts to release a fish that I caught it ended up floating later".
The middle-aged woman, dressed in a striped dress and casual shoes walks up to Shroom and asks: "Why did you just kill that fish, and throw it back in and kill it?"
Shroom says "I didn't kill it," to which the woman replies "you did so".
"I saw it and it's floating, here," she says, pointing past him.
The fisherman denied doing anything wrong. Photo / YouTube
Shroom: "I tried to release it, but it didn't release. I did not kill it." Woman: "You did. I saw it here and it was flapping up and around. You've got a hide. Can I see your fishing licence please?"
The woman holds up her phone to photograph or film him.
Shroom tells her he does have a fishing licence and that he will put her "on YouTube as well", to which she says, "that's okay".
"There's nothing wrong that I've done, absolutely nothing wrong. I know my rules and …," Shroom says as he reels in his line.
The woman points and interrupts him as Shroom says, "that's okay, that's okay you can call the DPI now if you want, the Department of Primary Industries, you can give them a call".
The woman nods, and adds "and Balmain police" and walks off back down the pier.
He yells out at her, "you can do that", to which she replies, "I will, I am, don't you worry about it".
Comments on Shroom's YouTube page praised him for responding to the situation in a calm and controlled manner.
"You handled that well mate. Some people just don't have a clue," one person said.
The fisherman denied doing anything wrong. Photo / YouTube
Another wrote: "Some people just don't get it mate. Handled well – be polite, let them call police or whatever. You knew you were in the right so may as well keep fishing."
Another posted: "Don't understand what she's trying to achieve… She's gonna call the police & say 'old mate was fishing & he released the fish but it died?!' Cops will laugh at her."
One commenter joked, "she was saltier than the fish you just released. And gutted she could not ask to speak to your manager".
The NSW Department of Primary Industries' Saltwater Recreational Fishing guide is available online and advises that fishing licences cost A$35 ($37) a year.
