Sheriff: Boater swings machete at fishermen
LAKESIDE, Ore. -- The bass fishing was hard enough Saturday without the guy racing by in his boat and spinning circles to whip up the wake -- never mind swinging a machete.
"It was like nothing I'd ever experienced in a tournament before," said competitive bass fisherman Mike Baskett.
Baskett, 36, and teammate Jason Osburn, 35, were fishing a cove on Ten Mile Lake Saturday during the Oregon Bass Open tournament.
The warm burst of weekend sun had chased the fish out of the shallows and into the deeper water, making the 19 two-person teams in competition work a little harder to bring in the catch, weigh the fish and set them loose.
"In fishing, a lot of people think, when the weather gets good, the fishing should get good," said tournament organizer Jason Hooper. "That isn't always the case."
The winners hauled almost 40 pounds of bass aboard their boat over the two days of competition. Anglers score poundage based on five fish caught on each of the two days of the tournament.
Baskett and Osburn placed sixth with a total in the 27-pound range, but they competed with a handicap: The Coos County Sheriff's Office says another boater rammed their boat, then took a swipe at the two with a machete.
"We should have done better," Baskett said. "This incident had nothing to do with that. I don't blame this for our tournament results."
Baskett said bass fishermen and lakeside homeowners can clash. Fishing line catches on docks. Lead weights and lures catch on boats and chip paint.
"I can understand their frustration," said Baskett, who strives to tread lightly. "This is not the way to handle it."
The Coos County Sheriff's Office arrested Adam E. Newman, 26, of Lakeside, Ore., Saturday on suspicion of Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Attempted Assault II, Menacing, Criminal Mischief I, Failure to Perform Duties of a Boater, and Reckless Operation - Boater. The sheriff's office is investigating two other reports of a boater disrupting anglers at Ten Mile Lake, according to Sgt. Pat Downing with the Coos County Sheriff's Office.
Baskett and Osburn were fishing across a cove from where Newman lives when he raced by them in his boat trying to disrupt their fishing, according to the sheriff's office.
As Newman piloted his 12-foot aluminum boat in circles, whipping up the wake, Baskett decided to leave the cove and look for another spot to fish. He started his trolling motor and started turning the boat to leave when Newman rammed the front of Baskett's 20-foot Triton.
Then he did it again, Baskett said.
"He just full-on rams me in the side of my boat," Baskett said. "The front of his boat went up over mine, so we grabbed the front to keep it up off my boat and try to minimize damage. That's when he scrambled to the front with a machete and took a swing."
Baskett and Osburn let Newman's boat go and stepped back. The smaller boat slammed down and off of their boat.
Baskett, who works as a police officer in Salem, Ore., identified himself to Newman as a law enforcement officer and told him he was under arrest. Newman boated away towards the center of the lake, then back to where he lived near the cove.
Baskett kept a safe distance -- and got 911 on the line. Sheriff's deputies responded and arrested Newman at his home.
"I've replayed it in my mind obviously a large number of times," Baskett said. "I would have done the exact same thing."
Except maybe catch some bigger fish on the second day of the tournament.
"We lost about an hour and a half fishing time that day during the tournament," he said. "We stumbled the second day."
