Mille Lacs Vandals

Be aware of the risk of losing your vehicle and trailer if you frequent the south or west side of Mille Lacs. Pulled up Friday night (7:00 p.m) and two vehicles had been vandalized in the boat landing just north of the casino (old Rollins landing). Officer said that vehicles have been getting broke into and some have even disappeared with trailers gone as well. He mentioned that the Cove landing had recently seen it’s share of break-ins as well. I was there when the poor souls who had their vehicle vandalized came off the water. Not a good deal. I’d suggest an alternative.

Randy,

Thanks for the “Heads Up”! I’ll tell ya, this ain’t just a Mille Lacs problem. Freaking thieves are everywhere! Can’t even go in to pay for the gas without having something disappearing from the boat. Best to just keep everything locked in the topper.

I get especially nervous when I get to a ramp only to see shattered glass next to the parking spot for a truck/trailer.

J.

I was vandalized there last week and my father’s vehicle was vandalized a couple weeks prior to this. I have reason to believe that the vandals are the 10-14 year old kids that live just a few doors down from the landing. Both times this happened to us, the police officer has told us that he thinks it is the kids but can never catch them “in the act”. This has been my first brand new vehicle ever and I have only had it a couple weeks and now I had the window replaced and have to get the hood all redone. Its brand new for god’s sake. Needless to say I have stop going to this landing now and have elected to spend a little more time in the boat riding to get to my spots rather than being somewhat closeby.

Good Luck to all that visits this landing……..don’t.

It’s happened to me as well. Not a good feeling coming off the water and seeing that. I’ve resorted to paying at Eddy’s and boating. More of a hassle but what do you do. Sorry to hear of your situation. I guess it’s not uncommon to have vehicles AND trailers disappear. Ugh! T

Hey guys,

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. One idea I have is if we’re willing to help the DNR catch poachers, why not help the cops catch vandals? Form a stake somewhere and get the camera ready! Parts of the world are beginning to install neighborhood surveillance cameras and the results have been fabulous! Another idea is if you purchase a vehicle with anti-theft, have it rigged with a spotlight or emergency light that’ll light up the sky when tampered with………………..I don’t know why they don’t come with it cuz light disspells all darkness and with it, the criminally inclined! Think about it…………..100 parked cars and a horn goes off……………do you know which one it is? 5 parked cars in the dark and a horn goes off………………..can you tell instantly where the problem is? Blinkers and taillights/headlights don’t cut it for most situations.

Got some friends in law enforcement who talk about juvenile criminal behaviors and I can see a couple of things with this situation.

1) The little piffers are watching the cops. That’s why the cops are having so much trouble. They are most likely hitting just after an officer decides he/she’s seen enough or gets “another call” (AHEM!!!!!! cough, cough…………!)

2) They’re banking on the fact that even if you’re near, you can’t get off the water fast enough to catch ’em. You’re lost on their turf.

They’re expensive and you’ll get a lot of wasted shots, but you may also photo your culprits in the act with a motion sensored camera. They’re designed to work in the dark as well as they work in the daylight.

If I lived in the area, I’d propose a little assistance to the cause of busting these guys cuz the area is suffering enough without these idiots hurting the tourism.

Anyone around Mille Lacs reading this? Vandals are easy to catch………………they always hang out somewhere they know well and have never been caught. The second part is a known location and prequalifies the first part. Set ’em up!!! Get with your local law enforcement and plan it out……………they too would be happy to rid of the offenders.

My measily two cents…………..

OK, I’ve watched this thread and attempted to reply a couple times. Each time I’ve said to myself, “Self, you sound like a redneck” Well, after reading Stillasheepeater’s very thought out post, I’ve decided to throw out my solution. A much more colorful one in my humble opinion.

Some of us will wait in cover of darkness concealed in the back of a vehicle or whatever good hiding spot we can come up with. When we here the first bit of commotion we’ll gather the varmints up, hopefully they will struggle and force will be needed. At this point I can vent some years of pent up frustration for the ex-wife. Next I’ll get on the cell and call the buddies up in the boat. We’ll take these yahoos out for a little boat ride. Don’t mind the rope and concrete bricks laying on the floor!!! I’ll stop the boat in about 40′ of water and tell them to tie up to the bricks. Next grab one of the bricks and give it the heave hoe. Of course the brick wouldn’t be tied to anything, but I’m betting their minds would be racing. I’m sure once I got them back to shore they would see the light. If not, another woopin’ would be in order.

The first time I ever fished Mille Lacs at night it was really blowing out of the west so we trailered over to the west side to get a break from the wind. As we pulled into the parking lot we immediately spot these 3 piles of broken glass… where trucks and trailers HAD been parked some time earlier. That was 4 or 5 years ago. That landing and a couple of the other public ones have had cronic problems for a long time so I’m pretty sure we’re not talking about some unsupervised children here.

We pulled in, spotted the glass, rolled right on out. The public access to the north near Garrison, Pike’s Pt., is very well lit and has not seen this type of problem that I’m aware of.

James Holst

Moving Waters Guide Service

http://www.movingwaters.net

I’ve had problems down here too. In Lake City they took a headlight cover and another time took the emblem of of my car. At Alma someone once took my safety chains and then reconnected their old dirty broken ones to my trailer. I know there are thieves out there but when one fisherman steals from another fisherman its really getting dirty. I figure it had to be a fellow fisherman or he wouldn’t of felt guilty enough to put his old broken safety chain set on my trailer so I would at least have one chain [he took both chains] to use while trailering back home. Bill

I usually park at the west ramp also , but I,ve never had the problems like everyone else. You can rest assured that I will paying at terrys boat harbor or utting in at the garrison exit. I bet if you were to catch one of the boys and then rolled his fingers up in the other window that you probably see the end of the problem. MY TWO CENTS!!! FISH ON !!!

Of course, if the local law enforcement cant keep me or my stuff safe maybe I should fish somewhere else where I am less likely to have a problem. Being a difficult financial year for the area I would assume that law enforcement might spend a little less time parking in the bushes giving tickets out to fishermen driving 62 in a 55 (Not a first hand experience ;-0) and a little more time smacking these vandal-punks in their patrol cars.

Last year during the Mille Lacs Team Walleye, in June I believe, Destry Foyte had nearly all his gear and electronics stolen from his boat as he napped in the back of his pickup bed at one of the launches. These guys are really bold and likely monitor the goings on of these launches better than any law enforcement agency ever could. Imagine going to bed planning your strategy for the tourney the following AM and waking up to this type of theft and not having a rod to fish the tournament with!

This spring I had a Beckman net stolen from my boat at a gas pump in front of the Conoco station in Lake City. I was inside long enough to pay for the gas and the window there allows nearly unobstructed view of the pumps and these jerks still had the brassies to nab my gear.

The opportunites to lose gear are everywhere and relying on the feds to keep your stuff safe just isn’t going to get the job done. Stow it, lock it, guard it. Park in smart and safe locations. Pay the $7 to park where someone is watching while you fish. The very thought of some little $%^@#$ – BEEP – ##$%@# – HEAD using my stuff after he stole it would drive me insane.

And no, your boat insurance will not cover the loss. Most policies anyway. Neither will your car insurance unless the gear was stolen from your car/truck. To cover your rods, reels, tackle, and typically your electronics, you need to add coverage to your home owners insurance. Its relatively cheap coverage to purchase and then you can at least rest assured that if something does happen and someone walks off with your crankbait boxes you won’t be replacing them yourself.

James Holst

Moving Waters Guide Service

http://www.movingwaters.net

It is sad that our world has broken down this bad. I remember the “old” days when we left the keys in the car when running into a store. Your advice about the “rider” on the homeowners policy is good. I have a detailed list and photos of all of my fishing equipment. One thing to consider is the deductable on your policy. Most homeowners have a $250 or $500 amount. You have to pay more to decrease this closer to $0 but then would have the coverage for things like a crank bait box or other gear without paying the deductable.

Great idea Dino. I would reccommend everyone take and inventory of serial numbers and pics or video tape(best) of all your gear. It makes your case that much stronger when the time comes to fight with the insurance company. Having said this, I’ve had this project on my to do list all summer. Just do it, think of the time is could save you in the future.

Tell me about your additional insurance coverage for this stuff. I am insured by State Farm (house, boat and vehicles). I’ve tried to get additional coverage (rider) on the approximate $6 – 8000.00 of electrinics, rods, reals, tackle, boxes, rod holders, trolling motors, etc.,…. etc.,… etc. All I get is, …. it’s coverd by/on your house insurance. BULL*#@!&* !! You all know how much a single Rapala costs! Start to add all the tackle and other “stuff” up in and on your boat. Regular insurance will never replace anything – anywhere close to what I have…..and the insurance guy say’s I don’t need a rider. Has anyone ever had to collect on this type of loss? Tell me about it? If I have, or can get a rider for the wifes jewlrey, what’s wrong with my fishing stuff? When I go out on a trip with the boat, whether I’m at the access, in the motel/camper or tent, filling up with gas, etc., one eye is ALWAYS on the boat and gear. I’ve even paid to have someone do the same for me, or paid extra for better security somewhere. James is right,…. These guys’ “brassies” are pretty polished. If I ever catch one of these “brassies” I’m going to show them some true brass polish – the kind you apply with a size 10 boot!

I have Allied as my insurance company. They cover everything that I own and choose to insure , house , vehicles , other real estate and my “toys”. When I set up the policy it was my agent that suggested getting the rider to cover all extra equipment. I just talked to him today to include my new Yamaha T8. We have a list of all the extras and serial numbers on file with him and I have digital picture files of everything down to life jackets. I decided I was willing to pay a bit more to have this coverage.

If you would like to speak with my agent here in the cities , send me a private message.

I got the same answer as Splitshot. “It’s covered by your home owners insurance.” The only thing my agent suggested was to list and insure trolling motors as additional motors on the boat policy. He claimed everything else was covered. I’d like to hear some examples from anybody that’s ever collected from home owners insurance after something was stolen from the boat. This is something that’s been haunting me a lot lately. As you get all those toys installed in your rig, it’s just not realistic to consider pulling everything when you leave it tied to a dock someplace. So it comes down to, you gotta have faith or insurance, and lacking in one I’m looking for good insurance.

Last winter ar Lake of the woods some !@$$^& !@#$* broke into the back of my truck and cleaned out all my Ice fishing gear. My insurance company covered it under my home owners policy. Minus the deductible. The catch was I had to give them an itemized list of every piece of tackle that was stolen. I couldn’t just say “I had $300dollars worth of jigs, $100 worth of jiggin rapalas, etc”. They wanted to know every indivual piece. For gods sake I had a jig box that weighed 30-40 lbs, unless you have a great memory, TAKE PICTURES OFF ALL YOUR EQUIPMENT, every jig tray, every rod and reel. And there is stuff that can not be replace, G.P.S coordinates, the spot on a spot if you know what I mean . Dont forget to back that info up somewhere. It was a hard lesson learned. I guess we live in a day in age where know one can be trusted. And that sucks!!! Jason

I try to carry my video camera with me where ever I go, you never know what you might catch on tape. I would encourage anyone with a video camera to do the same. The more of us that do this someone is bound to catch some jerk in the act and give them there just deserts!

Tight lines!

Steve

Pictures and itemized lists. Good point. This is the same thing I end-up telling homeowners that have house-fires and loose everything. The Fire Marshals will tell you to keep good up to date photo’s and lists of everything all the time, including the stuff in the refrigerator/freezer. I already do this with all the other in-house valuables. I suppose it’s time to start with each jig, each Rapala, each rod, reel, planer board, net, hook remover, graph, motor, ….and so on. It’s a lot of work trying to be a legal honest citizen – is’nt it? …….Maybe I’ll just go fishing and think about it for a while longer!