Unbelievable!!!

[cluelessfisherman]

Ok guys and gals get this one!!!

My dad and I went down to our dock about an hour ago to get the fish we had in our live net so our family could have a fresh fish dinner. We find the top open and all the fish gone!!!

This was not an accident or from an animal. If it was an animal the wire would have been torn and bent - (we have had that happen before), but the metal clamp was undone and the top open and all 20 some fish gone!

We have fished hard the last three days with less than cooperative fish, to get enough for a fry and then this happens. GRRR!!! There was a nice mix of bluegill, rockbass and crappie.

So someone came and either dumped out the fish or took them. For crying out loud - can't you catch your own fish???

I just get nervous thinking about the thousands of dollare from boats to everything else that can dissapear under the cover of darkness.

Can a person report something like this?? I don't know what to do except vent a little on the forums.

I think we will be putting a motion light by our dock now!!!

What are your thoughts on this?? Have you ever had anything like this happen to you??

Clueless - -

[Guest]

>(((*>psst, prison break at midnite...pass it on >(((*>psst,midnite...pass it on >(((*> psst...>(((*>...psst...>(((*>...>(((*>...
I couldn't resist!

That would [PoorWordUsage] me off, too! And people wonder why they get shot.

[LMITOUT]

I don't know what type of clasp or latch you have on your cage, but raccoons can get into and open a lot of things you'd think that were not possible. Believe me! We had coons rummage through our coolers (30 ft from the tent) one night, ate our sandwiches we had for the next day, and our crawlers which were in a crawler crib. Never heard a thing. The cooler lid was the type that you had to press down to shut and took a some effort to open.

[cluelessfisherman]

I wish it would have been coons or some other type of critter, but we ruled that out quickly. First off, it would have to be big coon convention to eat all the fish - also there would be some fish remnants lying around te shore. Also the wire surrounding the lid would have been easily collapsed by an animals weight, and it wasn't. Trust me - this wasn't an animal.

Clueless - -

[Guest]

OH were those your fish?!
Sorry to make light of the situation but humor can soften the sting sometimes.
Unbelievable is right.I grew up in a town and a time where locking the doors was not heard of.It a crying shame that the word has come to having to lock every thing up with TWO locks.And now they are even robbing your dock.

[Paul S]

I share your pain - went out to my car this morning and some person(s) had thrown a rock through the back window of my 99 Mercury Sable - low bid 1790.00 for a new one!!! Why do people have to do this stuff?

[perchpro]

if i were you i would invest in a good paintball gun and catch some more fish for bait, then when the loser(s) come back, let them have it! and i gurantee those will be the last fish stolen from you.

[Blackstarluver]

I believe it! I remember shopping at k-mart for some lures etc. when I got out of the store, I threw my bag in the cab of my truck, and sped off for a local fishin hole. When I got there, I grabbed my 4600 and reached for my tackle box.....it was gone! ok there was about 70 bucks worth of tackle in the box, laying next to it ware 2 quantum snapshot and rods and an abu 4600, 5600 and an abu pro-plus, all on nice rods, they could
have had a more profitable day if they had taken the rod and reel combos. I now drive a mini van so's my gear is harder to steal. I hate to say it, but maybe it's time to catch clean and eat, or release, or sit by the dock at night in cammo with a shotgun loaded w/ rock salt................
JC

[huskminn]

I've had raccoons do a lot of strange things like carry a 14 qt stock pot 150 yards into the woods, move into my fireplace, take fish out of a livewell, etc, but I'll have to take your word for it that your situation wasn't caused by an animal.

I know it makes you mad that this happened....I was mad when my truck was broken into a month ago and they stole everything including my GPS with all my fishing spots in it.

However, after reading Dan's post about Cindy, all that stuff really doesn't matter much at all.

[Jimmy]

I work with a guy who was having his cabin broke into on a regular basis. So he decided to rig up a shot gun to his cabin door. Sure enough the one-who-thinks-I-am-silly came back again and broke in for his last time. The guy almost lost his leg and his life. Stealing just isn't worth it.

Jimmy

[Starman]

Even though I would also like to see the thief limping too, you better check your laws. Setting shotgun traps and the like are illegal in most areas. Pain and suffering would be nice for this person, but I would rather see the look on the thief's face if I was on the other end just holding the shotgun. I bet they would wet their pants.

[This message has been edited by Starman (edited 05-08-2002).]

[Raven]

I like that paint ball idea - maybe add a little permanent dye to it. But shotguns are a different story. (Even though they deserve it) A farmer set one down in Iowa a few years ago and lost the farm after being sued.

What lake did this happen on? Just wondering. Sorry about your loss. But thanks for the heads up.

[Guest]

Put up a sign saying area under 24 hour vidio survalence, maybe a dumby camera box nice and visable. That should do it.

And....AH.....Skip the shotguns.

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[Guest]

My wife's grandfather had similar problem happening with some vandals. The would load up his pontoon gas tank with water, sand, sugar, minows or what ever. One time they cut everything they could find. . .wires, gas line, fishing lines. One time they hooked onto his dock and pulled it about 5 feet into the lake.

We put in a concrete footing and use a chain to tether the dock now to prevent anybody from moving it. . .it is a heavy dock to begin with. Somebody tried pulling the dock since then but didn't get to far.

The second thing we did was put up a light on a motion/photo sensor. We have flood light that completely lights up the dock area. We put a second light on a 15 second delay that comes on on the house. This creates the effect that they woke him up and he is looking out. He hasn't had any problem since then.

[bankdick]

Whoa there. Not one person has even entertained the idea you could have had a smart fish in the box that jumped up...hit the latch and they all jumped out. A smart bluegill will do that you know!!!

[AaronM]

That happened to me before and its the worst feeling. You are lucky they didnt take anything else.

[Tully]

I have a paintball gun for rent. Just make sure if you shoot someone with a paintball gun you don't hit them in the eye. They will be blind for sure. I have one paintball gun that will shoot 10 balls per second. I have often entertained the thought of "lighting up" someone messing with my stuff or property ;-)
Tully

[Guest]

My opinion If u can take to time to fish clean them also . dont leave temtation there. PEOPLE are Lazy they will steal rather than do it them selves. so clean fish right away u could of had them for dinner than

[cluelessfisherman]

Thanks for making this little set-back lighthearted. I just can't imagine someone doing this on this small a lake (Beltrami) There were only about 5 docks with boats out at the time this happened too - so it's not like dozens of people had access.

As far as cleaning them as soon as you catch them - that works great if you catch more than one or two fish in an outing.

I guess if folks are that hard up for fish and they don't have the skills to catch them, they can have 'em. That gives me the fun of fishing some more to get a few more for the pan.

Clueless - -

[Guest]

A Bear Story: was working at a Parade of Homes in Colorado. Moma and 2 cubs came and opened a lock and handle on an ice cream trailer that was there selling ice cream. Ate 30 gallons of ice cream. Next day, vendor chained up trailer and stocked it full...........you guessed it, Broke the chains and unlocked the doors, ate 100 gallons of ice cream that night! I pictured baby bears going to bed with tummy aches...

[Guest]

Don't use the paintball gun, no matter how po'd you are, if caught you will be charged with aggravated assault under minn law. I know, cause I've booked a few of them in my Detention Center

[Guest]

Yeah, that's MN for ya. Just gotta protect them criminals, and the victims can go screw.

[jigglestick]

when you catch them at gun point, give them the option to either slam their hand in the door(real hard) or make them call the sheriff on themselves. kinda has a nice ring to it don't you think?
can't believe they even stole the mans rock bass............jigglestick................

[almosthaddabite]

I spent one summer blaming my neighbor for stealing shiners out of my live box at the end of my dock. I was so sure it was him that I played several tricks on him as payback. This live box had a spring so heavy, my wife had trouble with it. Was I surprised when we saw an Otter lift the lid from the dock and supply dinner for four guests. Unless you have a sure fire lock, Otters will get in.