Chandler's Landing Incident - Lake Ray Hubbard

I was looking for structure to fish in Chandler's Landing on July 10th, 2020 and was down near a wall about halfway through the slip lanes to the right of the ramp and a large dual engine tow boat came down to me and told me I was blocking his slip. I politely told him I would quickly move out of his way and started to troll to his right side, even though he was dead center in the lane, which isn't very wide.

As I get close to his boat, he veers right and rams me into the marina and two skegs sticking out from the slips and then backs out and heads to open water. Once I evaluate the damage, I circle back and chase him down and ask him why the hell he did that. He then proceeds to tell me I am not allowed to fish in Chandler's Landing. I got a picture of the boat, which has a giant sticker on it stating, "TowboatUS."

I called the police and got a police report and spoke with some members of the marina who were familiar with the owner of the towboat. His slip was actually located near the ramp, so nowhere near where I was fishing, which at the time I didn't even have a rod in my hand. Word got around and he is apparently well known to chase people out of the marina and harass fishermen. He damaged my boat and now is denying it ever happened.

This guy is insane. I would steer clear of him or his services. I know lots of guys fish the marina, including my clubs, but this guy clearly has major issues and doesn't understand that it is public water. I've seen videos of crazy people claiming to own public water but this was my first encounter.

That freaking crazy...

He would need a tow boat for his tow boat if he messed up my boat like that. It might be sunk in his slip!

How bad was your boat?

I would call Towboatus and let them know they have a contractor/employee acting tbat way.

Well my wife was on the boat with me and she was able to calm me down because I lost it once I realized he did it on purpose. He wouldn't even look at me when I was yelling at him. Kept his eyes down.

My boat has a 4 ft. gash down the side that took about 1/8 of gel coat with it. There is another small gash even deeper on the stern that took all the paint and gel coat.

I call the corporate office and spoke with their customer relations manager and he reached directly out to the guy to figure out what happened. Of course, he lied and said it never happened. That guy is a real honorable person. They are basically saying there is nothing they can do.

I am going to try and find someone who goes gel coat and paint repair and it will likely be out of my pocket. I paid for that boat with some of my deployment money I saved during my tour in Iraq so that pisses me off more.

Call your insurance company and let them go after them.

Did you record any of it with your phone?

That's why you carry the Glock

I have video of his boat running from the scene when I said I was going to call the police but not of the actual incident. It all happened so fast that I honestly didn't think he was going to ram me into the marina or I would have recorded it.

I have USAA, which might be able to assist but the Rockwall police said its his word against mine with no witnesses, so it has to be handled in civil court. I would spend more money suing him than the cost of the damage.

Is your wife not considered a witness?

That’s what small claims court is for. Take the police report, gather the estimates, and hit the employer with a lawsuit. Only thing that actually makes any sort of impact on these types of buttplugs.

Also....you may see what video cameras are around where the incident happened.

Surely with all the money in Chandlers......there has to be someone with security cams running 24/7.

No witnesses outside of the parties involved. I guess my wife can't be considered an impartial witness.

I didn't think about cameras in the marina. I have a call scheduled with the marina manager to see if he can step in and force this guy to do the right thing since he is renting a slip there. If he is known to harass fishermen in a marina he doesn't own on public water, they should terminate his contract and tell him to go kick rocks IMO.

THIS ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Send a REGISTERED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED letter to TowBoatUSA and inform them of the date, time, etc that this happened and copy your insurance on it. Make CERTAIN that the letter to TowBoat has a "cc: XXX Insurance Co" on the bottom so they will know that your insurance company is involved.

Inform them in the letter that you intend to file suit against the driver, his insurance company, and TowBoat in order to recoup funds or initiate repairs to your vessel.

I guarantee you that their legal team will contact you fairly quickly.

Not only did he endanger you but also your wife and you didn't fight back?!?!! Heck that guy deserved an a$$ kicking and at a minimum he'd have never left the water on his own free will... Ray Hubbard eh?? Might make a towbaot usa account and then call for "help" and send this p o s to swim with the fishies... quit rolling over people hold s%^& like this accountable!

Fighting a guy like that could get you killed. It’s not worth being shot to death and having your wife possibly killed too just to be a tough guy. Three guys fishing in Florida were just shot dead because of a fight. Being a keyboard commando is one thing. The real world is very different. Cops and lawsuits are what will get this bum’s bosses to take it seriously.

You throw out "keyboard commando" like you "know" me... I don't roll over especially if my family has been threatened.

And to compare that incident to the Florida one?! Wow someone with 230 felonies already was going to mess up whomever he came across that night no matter what.

It would be a shame if the TowboatUS boat mysteriously caught fire late one night...

Nothing like suggesting arson on a public forum that LEOs and Game Wardens frequent.

Can't chase someone down who has already fled and give them an "a$$ kicking." I mean you could if you wanted criminal charges.

Sorry that happened man. That's about as bad as a thief.

Call USAA make a claim and give them the boat information and the police report. Either way they will have to repair your boat but they will not pay out of their pocket if another insurance company should be responsible. Let the insurance companies handle it from there. There really isn't much of a cost to file with small claims court and you don't need an attorney for it. You can also ask the judge to have him reimburse your expenses for filing and having him served. I am not sure what the limits are any longer for that court but with fiberglass repair, your bill may be too high. I would try to sue the Tow USA company for it as he is a employee for them in some fashion. They have to send someone from their headquarters and it would be cheaper for them to just not show up and pay you.

I would call back to Rockwall PD and move up the chain of command to someone higher to get a response. Too often they just say what they told you because most people will move on like you are doing and accept it. You and your wife are a witness. If he intentionally did it then this is not an accident but is now an assault. Their job is to take the report investigate the evidence and turn it over to the DA to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute. It is not their decision to make.

If you know this is the way that he acts and you allow him to get away with it then you are just passing the buck on to the next person that deals with him to take care of something that you wouldn't and if you aren't willing to deal with it then there was probably no reason to post about it here.

I would call the police. A hit and run is a FELONY in Texas. I would also call and the Game Warden involved.

+1 I have a Sig 9mm and I would have sunk his boat right there.

+1 I have a Sig 9mm and I would have sunk his boat right there.

+1 Make them pay for their stupidity.

A run of the mill hit and run is not a felony. It’s a class b misdemeanor if the damage is over $200. That’s on the road. Game warden would have to chime in about water accidents but I doubt this was a felony.

Dang that's not good crazy people

Geez, lighten up. It was supposed to be funny. Also, Mark Perry, please stop manifesting your unhealthy fascination with me by commenting on all of my posts. I'm a happily married man.

The guy was like 70 years old so while I would have loved to give him an [censored] beating, that just wasn't realistic. I did cuss him out harder than probably anyone else has in his life. I certainly wouldn't pull my gun on anyone given the current climate in America unless ROE dictated my life in danger. That would just land me in jail or prison.

I posted this to the bass community to advise, inform, and also get opinions on other angler's who may have dealt with this in the past. I really appreciate all the ideas passed on. There are a lot of options I honestly didn't think about and I will work with USAA to see how they can help. I will ask for cameras located on the marina when I meet with the manager at Chandler's Landing.

For those who didn't know, if you are on the water on Hubbard, it's owned by Dallas County. The marina is owned by Rockwall county. So this involves multiple police departments and I just found that out.

Now if anyone sees this prick idling around, feel free to give him the finger for me. He parks in the second slip directly to the right of the ramp. You won't miss it.

Jeez, a lot of irresponsible/immature comments from ltc holders. That's assault with a delay weapon at minimum, probably attempted murder charge. If you ever were involved in a deadly incident (even justified) they can and will find social media comments like this to present at your trial...jurors don't like it.

Ummmmmm ok wow

I will be out there more this fall , I will visit with him about his manners.

He will be nicer to anglers afterward.

LOL Or a couple 9mm slugs put in the right place!! Just sound like fireworks going off to all the drunks out there

I will let my coverage with them expire if they don't attempt to make this right. I refuse to do business with corporations who allow their employees and contractors to intentionally harm people or their property. Violence or revenge is not needed, let your money talk for you

LOL Or a couple 9mm slugs put in the right place!! Just sound like fireworks going off to all the drunks out there

Sorry man. That’s just the way Hubbard is and has been since the late 80s/90s. He’s not the only one like that out there.......Quit fishing that lake years ago. Hope it works out for you.

Please contact the corporate office and let them know this. Ryan contacted me about this the day it happened and was pretty upset and rightfully so. Our Club had a tournament out there the next day and we warned our members at registration to watch out for this nut. This is inexcusable behavior but let's not go overboard. Let's use all the options we have to legally get this guy jammed up. Insurance, police, the management at Chandlers and the Tow Boat US Corporate office. Stay after him Ryan and let me know if there is anything I can do

Whoop his azz sea bazz!!!

YEP. Keyboard Cowboys. I'd do this and I'd do that ........ Probably would do nothing, much less draw a firearm. Gotta love it.

3 cowboys on here looks like that saw this as cause for use of deadly force.

Must not have passed the written part of LTC the first 3-4 x and argued with the instructor over it.

In a split second you decide am I about to be killed by a person and will I beat a jury is a thought process I put into lot of these comments like this. Im going with it aint supposed to come out in this situation , waving or showing it is brandishing, you pull it out and fire, thats it period.


I think bottom of first page is best instructions, send Towboat certified letter with your ins, they will pay attention to that, they have to.

Well thats no good. This is why I have a gopro running at all times

GREAT idea. What we originally thought of as a fun item to have has obviously morphed into something we need to protect ourselves. The world is getting worse by the day folks ............

It occurred on the water, get the Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens Involved! They have a way of getting the truth out of a person.

this ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ they have a lot more latitude on what they can do and should be who goes after him.
contact classic fiberglass and let chris do the repair.

good luck

Sorry to hear about your incident.
Glad no one was hurt.
Hope this guy gets what he deserves.

if there is a documented pattern from this particular person, it can be used against him- as it rightfully should. I think this guy just painted a big target on himself, if nothing else.

+1

Karma will catch up to him let’s hope in the near future. I have ZERO tolerance for these types of people.

Judge Judy

Well. I ain’t one for guns or courts. My temper and mouth would have escalated that meetup pretty quick. Haha. We’d have settled that [censored] real quick. For better or worse.

Good One!!

Wonder if she likes to fish?

File a claim with your insurance company. That's why you have it. Explain what happened. Your Ins company will subrogate against the folks that did the damage and go after them for the money they had to pay out for damages. The Ins companies have attorneys specifically for this purpose.

Rockwall PD nor Rockwall County has any authority on the water at Ray Hubbard. I would contact the TPWD, the wardens on Hubbard are fair and by the book from the field wardens up to their supervisor. They do not put up with BS at all. Dallas PD has authority on the water since the lake is owned by the city of Dallas.

If you were in the act of fishing legally it is against the law for anyone to unlawfully harass you, also since there was an actual "accident" on the water, DPD and TPWD would be responsible to investigate the incident.

I would 100% contact the TPWD before too much time passes.

Contact the Wardens and hand them the PD report. Wardens have a way of making someone's life miserable. Technically, they are the most powerful law enforcement in Texas. They are not only Wardens, but also State Police officers.

File charges of criminal mischief for the amount of damage done to your boat. Also file a report with the Game Warden as well.

I'd be like white on rice with all the leo agencies involved till something was done, and yes see if Chandlers has video.

Could been a faulty wire

Beretta 40 and sometimes more people are stupid .
Sad deal.

That works great until you run into someone who does believe in guns and they fix the temper issue

I'd probably avoid small claims. Even if you win, do you really think he is going to pay you?

I'd work it through insurance. If you have the contact info for anyone who says this guy has harassed other fishermen, that should be enough for USAA to win the subrogation claim.

You did the right thing by not escalating on the water - nothing good could have come from that. Only thing you could have done better was start recording sooner.

Curious about letting your insurance cover It...
If insurance goes after them and wins, do they pay you back your deductible?

My suggestion is to try and find the boat that hit you. See if there is any damage or any of your gel coat on it.

And guys let's get real and bring down the testosterone. No one here is going to shoot anyone. Mark Perry is the voice of reason here. Reality is reality. Even on a fishing forum you have keyboard warriors.

It works just like your car insurance. Insurance companies will argue between themselves as to who is at fault. It would probably be decided before you even got the boat repaired but yes if you aren't at fault and his insurance pays you won't have a deductible and shouldn't eddect your insurance. The other person. In this case is in a bad situation because his insurance is for business not pleasure and his rates could really be effected if they did not just out right cancel him for intentionally doing damage.

Yep. I’ve been on here for a lot of years and I can’t even count how many folks have said if this happened to me, I’d pull my pistol and blow them away. In all those years, I don’t recall one member actually pulling a gun, much less shooting someone.

Very true. I have not heard of anyone jumping in someone's boat and beating them senseless either.

There’s a WHOLE lotta stuff gets claimed on here by a WHOLE lotta guys that doesn’t happen outside of their daydreams.

I know of one instance where it almost happened....back in late 80's a friend was fishing a redman (BFL) tourny on west point...he had located some good fish on a point,went straight to it first thing,dropped anchor and pulled his trolling motor up..made a couple casts and another boat stopped and started going between him and the point....he hollered at the guy,told him he was fishing there,he was anchored and not to go between him and the point (rules were back then you couldn't get within 50 yards of an anchored boat)....guy ignored him and hollered back over his shoulder (screw you S.O.B.,I'll fish anyplace I please)...wrong thing to say...my friend pulled up his anchor,turned trolling motor on high and headed for other boat....guy in other boat ignored him until my friend broke a paddle over his back and his intention was to jump in guys boat and whip his azz but when paddle broke,he fell down and hit his shin on edge of his boat and it hurt so bad he couldn't get up for a few minutes....in the meantime,the no boater in the other boat jumped down and cranked up the boat and took off with trolling motor still still down and plowing water....
when my friend got to weigh in fully expecting to have to fight the guy,he found out other guy had already checked in and left...tournament director siad I have no choice but to disqualify you even though I sympathize with what you did.....just don't ever do it again....

I tried to Thursday night. But he left the tourney two hours early. Then, first thing Saturday morning at Fork, I saw him. He apologized profusely and I accepted and told him to just walk away and try not to talk to me for a while. Lol.

Well this happened at lake Fork in the past. The guy wasn't beaten senseless but he did get two black eyes and a swim in the lake, so just because some of you haven't heard of things like this happening doesn't mean that they never do.
Did you hear about the guy that got his butt kicked and thrown out of a tackle shop because of stealing??? That happened also.

Yeah but usually criminals don't come online and post what they are going to do first

neither do wise men.

Boat ramps are finna be loaded up.....

Not by you. It’s too hot outside.

This is the smartest thing on this thread to do. Insurance have the means to get their money back if need be. I would also, like the others, see if you cant get a hold of this guys employer and let them know that you are filing a claim with your company to let them know it's coming. They possibly will put an end to it right there. Now all that said, I don't know that I could have held my temper that much, especially with my wife in the boat. Some men are better than I, and you are one.

I'd be tempted to call him to come tow my boat and when he showed up, whip his A$$. That wouldn't do any good for a miserable human being like him except just get you in trouble.

If you weren't there, you have no idea if is really happened or not. You are only speculating,,, or daydreaming.

there sure is a lot of tough talk on the net its much safer to do than in person .

Damn man sorry to hear this about your boat. Unfortunately there are some of those people out there.... hope all gets fixed and squared away man!

Did you ask him if he has ever heard of Kumite ? JK. Seems like an assault

We gots some bad-azz keystrokers in this group, fer sure....

This cant be a true story. The TFF has confirmed a number of times that inconsiderate fisherman are a new thing caused by high school tournament fishing and in the good old days everyone gave you 100 yards of cushion.

You need a "SKEETER" gun.

Saw it happen on Lake Arlington. Guy was in a john boat,with 20 hp motor, anchored up cat fishing. Guy in a Skeeter came into cove and let off throttle. It almost capsized the smaller boat. Bass boat dropped trolling motor and started fishing. Guy in aluminum boat goes right up beside him.Then jumped into his boat and gave him a severe A$$ whooping, To the point bass boat guy was out cold. then started bass boat and drove over to his boat and took the keys and threw them in the lake. Then left .

Exactly, these things do happen unfortunately.

Because for some reason people who act in this manner are no longer held responsible for their actions. Even if he was on video I am not sure anything substantial would be done to him, if he even cares. It's mind boggling.

Not so... in civil court you do not need an attorney and your wife witnessed the incident.

This is a great idea. However, has anyone paid an attorney a retainer lately, and checked the docket time on civil claims in Dallas County? One would need a lot of upfront money and time. I would hire a ninja and have the boat visited in the night.

It happened about 8-10 years ago on Rayburn during an Angler's Quest tournament. I agree, it doesn't happen near as much as it's talked about, but every now and then someone does follow through.

Tuesday the tow boat was on the trailer in the parking lot and looked like a person was "waxing" the boat.