Stolen Tackle ($$$$) on Pool 2 today

I was up in Mud Lake (hog Lake) guiding this afternoon and had my 14 foot Lund up on shore while I hoofed all my ice gear through the woods and into the lake. While I was up there between 2:00pm and 5:00pm today, SOMEONE quietly
came by boat up to my beached boat and stolen all the tackle and gear that was in my boat today. 3 rods and reels, and two quite equipped tackle boxes. All I can say is WHY?
I know for a fact that it was some fellow anglers today that fished Pool 2. The only way to get to where I was, was by boat. I cannot believe some fellow anglers would do something like this. I thought I had a little more trust in these people that fished this section of river.
People that know me, know that I am a pretty laid back kind of guy and do not let too many things get to me, but this today really chapped my @%$!! WHY…WHY….WHY?
You just do not mess with a man’s fishing gear!

Needless to say that I had to cut my evening very short due to the lack of gear tonight. If anyone has any info pertaining to this I would surely appreciate it right about now. Please forgive me for venting here, and I hope I never meet the people that did this to me or to anyone else, because I am not sure what I would do.

I hope everyone enjoyed this beautiful day today as I did thoroughly until 5:00pm anyway.

Easily $4000.00 worth of gear was stolen from the boat today. For whoever did this today, I hope you sleep well tonight knowing you did this.

Thanks for listening to this guys. Just had to vent!

Steve, Am real sorry to hear of your stolen gear, there are some very low lifes out there that just ruin it for all of us. We want to trust everyone, especially those that have similar interests, but it is tough. hope it turns up. Jack..

Steve,

We saw your boat there on our way out at 4pm or so…. Didn’t see any other boats in there.

You are absolutely right in being pissed. To get ripped off is one thing, to get ripped off by a fellow fisherman is worse than that. Call me if you want to pick my brain.

J.

Heck of a deal. Dont know how else to say it on the site. Would it be worth while to list some of what you had stolen so we can keep an eye out for it. Who knows as bright as these guys are they might be out there tommorrow with it.
I would be happy to keep an eye out for it.
You would think your stuff would be pretty safe down there. What a deal.

I feel your anger.I had about $1300 of gear ripped off this summer.Trust me,you weren’t ripped off from “fellow anglers”.You were ripped off from low life theives,plain and simple.Remember,The Almighty just might be an agler as well…I’d surmise He’d be angered to find “fellow sportsman” raping their own

Steve,

I came back downstream a little after 2:00 p.m. and saw your boat on the beach. I didn’t notice anybody by your boat. There couldn’t have been more than about a dozen trailers in the lot. I understand your anger. I’ve be pretty trusting about my fishing gear when I’m on or near the water but it looks like I’ll have to rethink things.

Boone

Man that sucks.

Is there any way that we can get a list of the boats/trucks at the ramp today? Even if people can remember who they parked next to and then eliminate the people that we know. If there was only 12 rigs at the ramp, we could probably eliminate 6-8 pretty quick.

It would still be a real long shot of finding anything-but you never know.

Sorry for your loss Steve.

Man… sorry to hear that Steve. That really erks me. Like all who have replied, it despises me when people do such a thing to a fellow angler. I drove over the bridge around 3:30, and did notice a few trailers. Did see 3-4 boats upstream by the inlet to Pigs Eye?? Not sure if its the same area. There is always barges there full of scrap and stuff for North Star Steel.
Once again…. I feel ya bud.

Years ago,I had a 9.9 Merc stolen right off my boat while I slept about 75 yards away.I’ll never forget the feeling,waking up and seeing my motor gone.My gut feeling is that unfortunatly,they DO sleep well at night because they have no conscience.I do believe that what goes around…comes around so,hopefully they’ll get their’s.I know it’s a tough pill to swallow Steve but,one thing I’ve learned through the years is,no matter the cost,no matter the helplessness and anger over your unfortunate situation,you’re ok,you’re clients are ok,you went home…you’re family was there and waiting for you.From that perspective…you got by cheap.I know that probably doesn’t help much right now.On a lighter note…did you have any luck on the hard water?Again,sorry about you’re run in with with theives.Mike

A good list of what is missing would be an aid to deter this stuff from being sold… and an aid to help to find who has taken it.
Someone now has a ton of new tackle and will surely share or sell some of it to friends and neighbors. You may choose to also call the police and area hock/pawn shops and email/send them a discription too. Not so much to get just the stuff back… but to help catch this guy(s) before they do this again. And likely he/they will continue till caught & prosecuted. Sick….. behavior
Sorry for your gear loss, I will gladly donate you some of my tackle & two of my rods and reels…. if you will allow me this pleasure.
Dave Hoggard

Thanks to all here for the support guys!
What can a guy do now? Well not much I guess in turn as getting the stuff back. Today is a new day and I feel much better after a hard sleep on it, and realized that it could have been much worse than what happened. Like you guys mentioned it could have been something with my family or something horrible like that. This stuff can and will be replaced, thats for sure. Its just sad that this happened here and that I could not trust whoever that was at the ramp yesterday. Like DaveB mentioned, I know there was a bunch of familair rigs(good ol’ regulars) there yesterday and only a couple that I did not recognize. Do not remember them enough to put an accurate description together.

Thanks for the support guys!

This is what was stolen out of the boat.

4 rod/reel combos;
~4 Shimano Stradics/ 4 St.Croix rods (2 avid/2 premier)

2 Blue Shimano soft sided tackle bags full of plastic trays.
1 full box= nothing but jigs (about 10lbs)
1 full box= Old style storm Thunder sticks(approx 100 cranks)
4 full boxes= Ringworms/Kalin tails
1 full box= custom hair jigs
1 heavy box with all my 3way tackle (weights, floaters, hooks, etc…)
Plus about 30 new bags of spare ringworms and Kalin tails in the side zipper pouches.

I did hear one boat try to attempt to come back into the lake as far as he could with all the ice. That was about 3:00pm or so. This was about a 16ft Alumacraft. No idea if this boat had anything to do with it, but just a thought.
Oh well…..

Fishing was consistant back there yesterday. Lots of small walleyes and quite a few crappies that were small as well. Lost one fish that felt pretty decent.

Take Care everyone and thanks for keeping your eyes peeled and the continued support and lets get back to the fishing!!

Its bad enough when nonfisherman steal but when a fisherman steals from his own kind, whats is going on in this world? Wheres that special bond all fisherman have? This a sick. No excuse.

Sorry I’m so slow to offer my support DeeZee! Haven’t been online since Friday. This really bothers me! I know there’s “cruisers” throughout the summer and such but to be out there now? Truly sad! Any chance insurance will pick up some of the tab?

That’s a real bummer. I saw where you beached earlier in the week. Whoever took your stuff is not only a thief but probably someone that fishes there often. I’ll keep my eyes open. Again, sorry to hear of your loss. Especially the 100 T-Sticks.

Steve,
You’ve probably already done this but you should make sure that local, used tackle re-sellers are aware of the theft and what to look for. You may want to keep an eye on E-Bay as well to see if anything familiar shows up in the coming months.
The theft also made me wonder if any of my insurance policies would cover a similar loss. I’m going to have to check on that.
Good Luck

DeeZee, What happened to you has made me so angry and frustrated that I felt like I had to take a break before posting.

There are so many times that I have pulled up to a dock and left a ton of tackle in my boat. Each time I am a little nervous… But then I think, the only people around are fishermen. They are here because they are fishing, and since they are fishing they must already have their own tackle. Since they have their own tackle they don’t need mine.

I like to think of fishermen as sportsmen. I guess some are thieves. Hope insurance takes some of the bite out of your loss.

Hey DeeZee……
Im glad you posted your “problem” here… like others I guess Ive always felt that anglers are basically an honest group…. but realistically I know that sometimes they are not…..

Anyway could you let us know if you have insurance coverage or not?…. cuz Im willing to contribute to the DeeZee relief fund…. because I still think most anglers are honest… and even more than that… I think most are willing to help a fellow angler who needs help….. I saw Hawger offer equipment…. I will offer cash to help replace your loss….. just let me know if you need it…. and I will be there for you… and I suspect many others will be as well…. they have just not got past the shock and the outrage of the event to think of it yet…… this is the Christmas season… but no matter what season we wont let down one of our own……..
It just baffles me how someone who must be a pool 2 regular could/would do such a thing to another angler…. but apparently this is the case, it HAS to be the case…. cuz no one would be walking into that area and carrying off that tackle… it just wouldnt be practical…. it HAD to be someone in a boat…. (yeah.. that dont take Sherlock Holmes to figure out!)….. its just soooo dissappointing that someone WOULD do that…..

Amen RiverEyes. Count me in on the relief fund!

Speaking from experience with the insurance company.About 7 years ago I had taken a seperate rider out on my fishing items,as I have a rather large selection as most career anglers do.They told me to get so and so policy to cover the list of items I had collected.The list is updated yearly and turned in,and they adjust as need be.It costs me about 120.00 per year,and I figure thats dang reasonable for the amount of coverage I get.When I was ripped off my agent told me to be sure to claim it under my “rider” becuase the company looks negatively at “smallish” claims on the homeowners policy.I was concerned about being dropped for a claim.Well,when I called my claim in I was told the rider would only cover navigational equipment.I.E. my troller and locators.Great!I have a troller I paid $300.00 for three years ago,and the locator that was stolen was an old Eagle Ultra II,street value of maybe $50.00!The only choice they told me I had was to use homeowners to cover it!Long story short,I paid almost $1200.00 to insure $350.00 worth of gear.And,now I had to make the “smallish” claim my agent told me to avoid!Be dang sure you get in writing anything your agent tells you,especially in a rider!Not only was I ripped of by a theif,I was ripped of by an insurance company!
Add my name to the relief fund.Fisherman stick together!

You know… the more that I think about it… it erks me even more. I go on a fly-in trip every year into Canada. There are only 2 cabins on the entire lake. So, naturally, we just leave the gear in the boats.
One day I found a nice break, and was catching larger fish than the normal 12-15 inchers. Threw out a bouy to mark the spot. Came back the next day, and the buoy was still there. Went to go retrieve it, and the one that was there wasn’t mine! Instead, I found one that was broken in half, faded, and generally useless. Hmmmm. Wonder who could have done THAT? There was another group staying at the other cabin. So… it was pretty much clear who the culprits were. Yes, is was just a bouy, not $4000+ in gear, but its just the principle of the matter. Goes to show that one needs to be carefull pretty much anywhere you go, as lowlifes such as these are anywhere and everywhere. Not true fisherman in my book.

Truly a bummer. I think it depends on your company, but I had about $1000 worth of ice fishing gear
stolen and minus the deductable my insurance covered it!

In my case, many items were not replaceable. Looking at DEE ZEE’s list, it looks as though there are items
that he spent considerable time collecting etc.

Happy Holidays

Jim W

Dee Zee,
I to have had this happen and minus the deductible I recouped/replaced most of the stuff. But there are many things that are very hard to replace if not impossible due to not being manufactured anymore. Having something stolen from you makes you begin to distrust your fellow man and gives you that terrible feeling in your gut.
As far as insurance goes, you will need to prove to your insurance company of what you had i.e… video, pictures, receipts…..
I used packaging when it happened to me because I had just purchased so much of the tackle, electronics and reels.
Never had figured out why I hang on to all those boxes anyway, but was glad I had them!
Can you say packrat!!! :

PACK RAT!!!! Awww…………..it’s good to know I’m not the only one! LOL!

It’s a hard way to go but sometimes this hard to replace stuff can be found on eBay. It seems the stuff you want is always accompanied by something you don’t or a high price but if it was one of “those pieces”, it’s not a bad way to go. When looking for something that had some degree of popularity, I’ve done very well through eBay’s services.

I wish I had some Thundersticks for ya DeeZee, I’d hand ’em over. All I have is TS Juniors.

Thanks so much to everyone willing to help me out here. I can’t thank you enough for the gesture, but I am still working on the insurance company right now. At first they were going to try to tab it on the home owners policy, but now we are currently discussing the “boat” policy to proceed with. I too put a generous blanket on my coverage knowing that all my tackle would be aboard and that this would need to be covered. I will let everyone know the outcome. Currently working with the claim adjuster right now to discuss details.

Thankfully, I have a very generous tackle sponsor, that has and will continue to “take care” of me. They have been so supportive so far in my somewhat short relation with them.

Hook, thanks for the reminder on the tackle receipts, boxes ,etc… I actually shot a video of my tackle room last year over the long winter blues. I may be able to utilize some of this if need be.

As I sit and think about all the unique tackle that I had accumulated over the years from certain tournament or vacation locations. Ever notice, that certain waters really have a particular favorite color, lure or techniques that works well for locals? Well over the years I have visited many areas that I have obtained some unusual tackle that may never be replaced or be unreplaceable. And anyone that knows me knows that I never buy one or two of anything. If I see a lure that produces on that body of water, I like to buy at least 4 of each size and color to have availible if needed, cause you never know, especially in tourney situations…..

Thanks again to all here for their very kind gestures and comments, it makes a guy feel right at home. Although very disturbing that this has happened, and I hope no one here has to go threw this. Everyone working together will eventually spot a thief, maybe not mine, but someone else may be “caught in the act” and let justice be served. Unfortuantely this kind of stuff happens and your automatic response is, “how could I have been so nieve?”
Anyway, who ever did this knows who they are and I hope they get what they deserve someday. Maybe it will take someone ripping of their gear to put two and two together and realize the misfortune.

Thanks again guys, and I will keep everyone posted on the outcome.
Take Care