For the first time, the man who was attacked on the Peace River is giving an exclusive interview.
Gage Towles was wearing a GoPro camera on April 1 when Charter Captain Brock Horner of Tarpon Coast Fishing stormed his boat. He posted the video, and it went viral.
What the video didn't show was that Towles had a gun on his boat that day. He said he didn't use it because he didn’t feel like anyone deserved to lose their life that day.
Towles said he started fishing with his dad at 5 years old, and he hasn't stopped since.
"It's what I live for," he said. "Every bad day that I have, you go fishing, and you don't remember the bad days. It's more of a good day."
Now at 22 years old, he’s out on the water every single day, but a normal fishing day on the Peace River is now a day he’ll never forget.
While Towles was out fishing by himself on April 1, Captain Horner began threatening him. Horner got so heated, he even got on Towle's boat.
"Ultimately, he did slowly pull his boat up to me, and when he jumped on my boat, that's when it went from me just brushing this guy off to now fearing that I was going to die," Towles said.
Towles saw Horner’s anger about three days before he filmed the now-viral video. He said Horner sped past him and his friend around 5 a.m.
"He stopped and immediately starts cursing at us and calling us all types of names because we didn't have our lights on, but we both did have our lights on," he said. "I just think maybe he wasn't paying attention, which, it happens."
The whole situation shook Gage to his core, but he said it won’t shake his love for reeling in the best catch.
"I'll still be chasing the fish every single day," he said. "I love to fish. It's my passion. It's everything. It's what motivates me to get through life."
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