Stolen Carp Gear!

[Stoke Dave]

Thanks lads,

Your support and messages are very welcome, Mark Holmes of ACF has told me that he has asked big Jim Shelley to do an article about all these tackle thefts that are going on.

Methinks that us decent law abiding types who buy our gear need to make a stand against people peddling stolen gear, lets face it they only do it coz there's a market for it.

Cheers,
Stoke Dave

[keffus]

id give a list of your items too any second hand dealers with a contact number...like dolphin boats ..and that one in stoke.. they might get offered it... scum and dirty theives want there hands sawing off slowly..

[Ginge]

its a guited feeling aint it it happened to me not long ago and wow the **** it causes its a wounderer

[oliver reed]

Originally Posted by Stoke Dave

Mark Holmes of ACF has told me that he has asked big Jim Shelley to do an article about all these tackle thefts that are going on.

WHAT???? How on earth is some bankside 'name' going to solve the problem of tackle theft??!! Seems like another pointless mag article,tackle theft aint anything new unfortunately, the increase in companies bringing out high value items such as basia's,bait boats and buzzers is simply making the target all the more appealing and worthwhile to the scum who partake in it.

As for honest folk taking a stand,well unfortunately matey this applies to all aspects of theft/burglary. What is truly wretch inducing is the jagged fact that its probably anglers doing the dirty deed,as they are more likely to know what items are worth/not worth and more knowledgeable in knowing where to off load said gear,which makes you think who's around you on the bank and reduces the whole enjoyment of being there to start with.

Something to bare in mind when buying posh gear for the sake of being the talk of the bank. Some things I might suggest are to note down serial numbers of anything with it on them (Century rods for example),UV marker pen as much gear as possible in several places as it does get affected by sunlight/rain. Digital piccies will help immensly with any claim should you be unlucky enough to get hit,as is keeping receipts and reel/alarm boxes in the basement/loft.

Try wherever possible to leave as little of your gear as possible in any outside buildings (garage/shed) as not only is it much more vulnerable but also in many cases not covered to anywhere near the same extent as if it were in your home.

If this is not possible it may be worth getting a dirty big thick stainless chain with padlock and threading it through numerous rod holdall handles/rucksack carrystraps/barrow loops and maybe even lock it to something attatched to the garage wall. This may not be as secure as say chaining your bike to a fence but for the sake of two minutes of hassle it will make stealing it more awkward as it will be bundled together,if they have to cut your handles to remove the chain it will make your gear harder for them to shift/carry.

Finally it may be worth looking at those audiable sirens that go off when tampered with,akin to a shed lock but will alert/deter anyone trying it on and if nothing else awaken you if you're done during the night when sleeping.

Just another thought,if you rarely sell your stuff to upgrade tackle,it may be worth simply scribbling your name and address on anything you can permanently in big black letters-this will deter would be knock off gear purchasers as they'll not want to use marked items for fear of being sussed on the bank.

Hope it works out for you fella,its a kick in the wheels even when you get back on the bank,as you'll find yourself scrutinising every other anglers set ups to see if its yours and this is frustrating when you see identical model alarms/reels etc thinking 'are they mine'...

[Iain Macmillan]

I'm with you on that one Oliver, i keep everything that is remotely valuable in the spare room upstairs, the only thing that stays in the garage is bait, i suspect that even though there is always about 100kg of boilies at anythime in there, the theiving shhhitheads wont even give that lot a second glance.

Obviously the house is all belled up, the garage has it's own seperate alarm, but to be honest does anybody pay any attention to some blokes alarm going off?? Sad state of our society, and as we are all aware, it's not just fishing tackle that gets targeted, a mate of mine had a very expensive mountain bike stolen from a very secure lock up after he'd been out riding on it, he was obviously followed home, and the ******s struck during the small hours.

We can only do a certain amout to stop this happeneing, we cant be with our property all of the time, know matter what it is.

Chesh, as for my offer being the right thing to do, i've known Dave for over 20 years, he was instrumental in my early carping wannabee status. He used to take us-(steve hurst, dan the 2nd hand man, grant), to Knighton Resevoir in Shropshire in his lovely white ford cortina. It used to be loaded up to the gunnels with tackle, and i'm sure none of us could actually see out of the windows......lol. It was a far cry from dangling on sideway overflow with all the tip rats!!

So with that in mind, i suppose i'll always be gratefull to Dave for the many happy days we had up at Knighton, the place still holds very special memories
for me, call it cutting my teeth i suppose. Thinking back i'm sure his cortina was the posh ghia model, bling bling Mr Poxen.................

[astburyblank]

Gutted for you mate, my lad whos just turned 18 had his rods alarms etc (£1000 approx worth of stuff) stolen last year which wasn't insured never did find out who'd had them, the real gloomer is he sold what bits he had left and has given up fishing, started going the pubs and getting himself in a right state. I honestly believe them scumbags have changed my lads future... I also believe what goes around comes around eventually

[steve hurst]

Originally Posted by astburyblank

Gutted for you mate, my lad whos just turned 18 had his rods alarms etc (£1000 approx worth of stuff) stolen last year which wasn't insured never did find out who'd had them, the real gloomer is he sold what bits he had left and has given up fishing, started going the pubs and getting himself in a right state. I honestly believe them scumbags have changed my lads future... I also believe what goes around comes around eventually

That's a much sadder story than Stoke Dave's. I hope you are successful in getting him back on the right track mate.

Some of us have probably had a go at Muslim culture at some stage but I reckon they've got it spot on in Saudi. If you continue to rob off people then your hand is lopped off.

[Chesh]

aaaaaaahh right.. no worries Iain.. obvioulsy wasnt aware of the special bond between you guys

[famus]

the loot,cash converter would be a gud start. cash converter always full of lowlife tea leafs

[richk]

Sorry to hear your news mate but unfortunatley its happening more and more and there is a pattern and its Sheds and Garages! These guys know where to look and when was the last time somebody posted that they had their house broken into and their Gear Stolen?

These **NTS are after easy pickings as they dont want to get caught thats why its outbuildings every time so the Best thing to do is move it all indoors I know you should not have to but in my opinion its the only safe option I leave nothing outside even bait because if its Anglers that are doing it then bait in the Garage is a good indication that there is tackle around as well.

[Stoke Dave]

Cheers again lads,

Oliver, thanks mate, I do actually think that airing the subject of tackle thefts can help, if the main players like the magazine people, big fishing clubs and websites like these all work together to name and shame anyone convicted of thieving angling equipment and ban them from waters then we wouldn't have to worry about fishing next to them.

Personally if I ran a club or syndicate and I knew one of the members had stolen tackle, he would be banned for life!

The angling community can do this but it needs some co-ordination, but we could drive some of the scum bags away from good waters, maybe this site could lauch the monket shame list for us all to see and populate with info.

Just some thoughts.

Stoke Dave (PS Stevie Hurst, Dave is a great name for your youngest mate and I,m a fan of the Saudi Arabian way of justice, cheers mate).

[Stoke Dave]

Macky,

Yes the car was a Ghia (but a wreck also), don't know how we ever all got into that car, 4 lads and all the gear!

Anyway when referring to Knighton mate you could have at least offered Grant a lift home mate, he's still there, I think I saw him the other day, he has a 4ft goatey now!!

Will be in touch mate.

Cheers
Dave