lock or unlock fish house?

[mrpike1973]

hi well we all take a risk with theft i had one house that i left unlocked and they destroyed it. i now have a small 4x4 spear house. i plan to leave it unlocked with nothing in it what do you guys do and why. i ve heard the plus and minuses leave it open so they see you have nothing or so they dont wreck the house getting in etc whats your thoughts.

[Finlander]

Put a lock on it so if they do break in it won't ruin the door, only the lock. The lock only keeps out people who don't want to take the time to break the lock, and most people from using it for their purposes.

Also, don't leave anything in there of value like rod and reels, tackle boxes, tip-ups, locators, etc. And if you have curtains on your windows, close them!

You can also print out and post on your door that "This house is wireless monitored for theft and you are being watched right now"!

Might fool most slime-bags from doing anything to you house other than move away from it!

[tsande00]

We leave ours unlocked with nothing of value inside. No issues yet but you're taking a risk by leaving your house unattended regardless of whether it is locked or not.

[LightningBG]

I always left mine locked, but with the curtains wide OPEN. I wanted them to be able to see that there was nothing inside and that it was useless to break in.

[TylerS]

My grandpa has a small spear shack that we fish out of. He never locks it. His mentality is that, if someone uses it, at least the holes might still be open the next time we go out!

[Pat K]

I always left mine locked, but with the curtains wide OPEN. I wanted them to be able to see that there was nothing inside and that it was useless to break in.

+1

[Knoc]

Ive always had mine locked with the curtains left wide open so they could see there is nothing of value in it. Last year I know there was a few instances of people going in and taking dumps and peeing all over in open fish houses.. No respect.

[chad austin]

I was talking with a guy last year out on the lake who left his house open to avoid damage. All he left in his house were a couple old kitchen chairs made of wood, he came out to the house to find someone had broken the chairs and used them to start a fire in the middle of the house directly on the floor and to top it all off they also took a dump on the floor before they left.

The above is why i opt to pull my house off every time...

[Mrs Boilerman]

I cover crime for a newspaper, and every year there are incidents of fish houses being broken into and things stolen. It makes sense to take the good stuff out when you leave, but that's not always possible. How do you remove a built-in radio, etc? Locks keep honest people honest, and if some yahoo is determined to break in, it won't matter if its locked or not.

It is essential that any break-ins be reported. You'd be surpised at how many people don't report things, and also by how many others may have witnessed a break-in and will talk if they are asked about it by law enforcement.

I think for us it depends on which lake the house is on. We lock it on lakes farther from home, but tend to leave it unlocked on the closer lakes where many people know whose house it is. More than once we have come back out in the morning to find a friend has stopped by for a bit of fishing. Get to know the people who are fishing around you. Knowing others are watching can deter the punks who break in just to steal and vandalize.

[JeffB]

A motion light by the door may help and I have even heard of people rigging up inexpensive alarms on their doors.

[Random guy]

We go with nothing left behind. When I lived in Walker for a short stint I had a house with bars on the windows and deadbolts, they just backed into it with a pick up to get in.

[fishersofmen]

I agree with a couple others. Lock it, nothing inside, nothing over the windows. If these clowns see there is nothing inside they won't waste their time. My buddy left his open and it was used as a bathroom.

[Getanet]

I leave my unlocked, curtains open, with just a pin through the latch to keep the door from blowing open. Have had one person steal the rattle reels. Also had someone steal our propane tank by cutting the chain and lock we used to secure it. So they'll steal anything if they really want to.