They are pretty organized because they hit TBend about a month ago. The problem is most people do not permanently mark their fishing rods and reels with their name or Tdot License # so the authoritites have a hard time proving the stolen rods do not belong to the theives. Every American Rodsmith rod looks like another, and every Shimano Reel looks the same. To help stop this scribe your reels under the reel seat and on the rods scribe the reel seat plastic.

The problem is compounded by every pawn shop and Flea Market can sell these rods so there is an open market for them.

I admire the gentleman for even confronting them, in his condition (as I have had broken ribs also) and I applaud him for at least attempting to do something.

I had seen several suggestions on how to prevent them from breaking into your boat, but I think the best is the Baby Monitors backed up with Smith & Wesson. I have a solid steel-in-steel bar that goes all the way across my front compartments, and have cut my trailer crank rope short so it won't reach it, but a determined thief with a willing buyer is hard to stop. Catching him in the act, and sending him to thieves hell is the best way to prevent repeat occurances.

Cody,

Im not calling bull***t on Loc R Bar story but but the following is what you type on your daily blog and it doesnt say anything about your Loc R Bar being cut or tore off. YOUR BLOG QUOTE " I thought at first that maybe the thieves had just taken the rods on deck as I looked into my rod locker there was the empty truth, the empty space where there had once been every rod and reel I had ever owned was GONE" YOUR BLOG UNQUOTE. I understand you telling your insurance that everything was locked and put away so they would pay your claim. You might want to edit your website blog just incase the insurance company reads it and question your story on your Loc R Bar being cut away.

Stolen is stolen. Its not gonna matter....

perhaps one of the good old kryptonite locks, they came out years ago, prevented a lot of bike theifs, you cant cut em except with a torch. Little expensive if i remember but worth it, my stuff with locks on it has GUN LOCKS on it, you cant cut these either, I just dont know about things these days, seems a man cant even go enjoy himself fishing without worrying about his rig or his gear

i am still hoping to read about a successful "sting" operation soon. they set the alarm off on my "empty" boat at fork a few months ago, while i slept in my cabin, 8 feet away...

Only charge at that point could have been trespassing.

I bet I could catch em...problem is,no one would believe I was the honest person, and probably put a cap in my a_ _.Lol

I didn't really want to advertise on my buisness/personal websites telling everyone how a lock r bar won't stop a theif. As far as filings on my boat carpet there were none, there were fingerprints but only recovered partials.

Just because he doesn't mention the Lock R Bar on his blog doesn't mean it didn't happen. Plus, I don't think th insurance company is surfing his blog.

Anyway, you must have had a ton of rods in the boat. I try not to carry more than 10 or so. I figure if I have more than 5 rods on the deck in a tournament, I probably haven't figured the fish out. I leave the rest in the locker as back up or for different techniques. I understand, though, that if you are traveling, you'll probably have a bunch of extra rods, more than 10.

I tend to agree with one of the other posters: "stop feeding the bears." It sucks that you have to spend the extra time to clear the boat out, but there are definitely some benefits. You'll probably become more organized because of it and pack less stuff. Plus, you will not have to sleep lightly.

We stayed at Fisherman's Inn for the Owner's Tourny. We got hit Sat. night also, We took all of our rods in and locked boxes, should not have done that. They popped the rod box open and did some damage to the lock and brackets. Next time I will leave the damn thing open! They will be caught and it ain't gonna be pretty. Every boat that was at Fisherman's Inn got hit and there was at least 15 there.

They may get caught, but there will be more to replace them.

You would think the people who are renting out cabin / motels would have signs posted all over the place telling people to remove all articles from their boats.

Maybe they are scared it will scare away customers.

I carry about 25 rods when i go, 7 on deck and probably 18 or more in my boxes, habits are hard to break, when i go as a non boater, i take about 6 rods is all. Starting to cull my rods down now so I only have about 12 in the boat at any time. its not so much my rods/reels, i worry more about all my tackle, worms etc, much easier to carry, if you happen to have a wheelbarrow (lol) Had to strip mine out last week when i lost a hub and had to leave the boat by the side of the road, took almost an hour to empty 90 percent of what i had in there. Maybe we just need to take basics with us?

Shoot 'em

S0...how many threads have there been on this subject? Too many for me to care anymore.

The solution is get off your lazy a$$ and take your sh!+ inside the cabin. It's the real world out there, not a vacation in Neverland.

Locker bars, guns, alarms? Do you think a theif has never faced any of these? It just raises the adreniline level.

Wake up and be responsible for your own actions. Or keep feeding the bears.

Hey hasbeen. +1

Guys, I hate a thief as much as any of you, and while I've never had any fishing gear stolen, I'm a professional musician and over the decades have had MUCH musical gear stolen... from my house, from my vehicle, from the clubs where I've played.

Thinking about all the many, many hours of work it took to earn the money to buy this stuff, and how little any of that matters to the lowlifes that will probably only use it for a few moments of getting high is even more infuriating. In fact, it makes me sick to my stomach. Being a victim is a bad meal to have to eat.

I have great respect for all you guys, honest hardworking fisherman, but one thing disturbs me about some of the gun-slinging talk here, although it might be just blowing off steam, but it's this: are you really ready to COMMIT MURDER over a fishing pole?

I hope some of you follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Would Jesus, if he came upon someone stealing his belongings, take the man's life? I don't think so... I think he'd offer the rest of his stuff, and then pray for the man's soul.

I'm not talking about facing a threat to your life, like being robbed at gunpoint. I'm talking about being burglarized when you're not there and being threatened.

I know too that we're human, and none of us is Jesus Christ or anywhere close to Him... that is a physical and spiritual impossibility. But there are civil laws as well concerning dropping the hammer on someone who's obviously not there to take your life. Burglars are generally chicken-sh!ts who don't want a confrontation.

Run'em off if you find them, or hold them for the cops, but for God's sake... and your own... don't leave them laying on the asphalt bleeding to death. Your equipment is mighty valuable, no lie, but so is your conscience and your soul. Maybe the excuse "I felt threatened for my life" would work here on Earth, but there's a Higher Power that knows what's in each of our hearts.

No need to flame me, I understand the anger. I've had the same anger myself, no doubt I will in the future I'm sure. I'm just giving my opinion and I respect yours if it's different from mine. God bless us and all regular fisherman everywhere.