Psa: Watch Your Stuff, Tournament And Weekend Anglers.

[tbone1993]

Buddy of mine had several thousand dollars worth of gear stolen out of his truck that was parked in the hotel parking lot. Hotels don't plan ahead for these tournaments when they come in to town. Locals know they are coming and hit the wrapped trucks/ boats in the lots. Bring your gear into your room and dont take any chances. Sucks that the hotels or tournament directors dont collect $10 more per person to have someone watch the lots over night. Sucks and it is common sense but with the amount of gear we have tournament fishing even bringing 40 rods inside still means you have a ton left in the truck. 

[Sam]

And your props, too.

 

Had some guys steal props off the motors in South Hill, Virginia a few years ago.

 

Hate to hear stories of guys getting their equipment stolen or boat tampered with.

[rangerboy]

i get nervious about this alot after loading up the night before. had the guys at the tackle shop tell me they had a few rods taken of the deck while waiting for the results up in clear lake. i put all my stuff up and lock it. but dont think it would be too hard to bust into the rod lockers if some one wanted to. i see boat alarms in bass pro. but havnt seen any body that has one yet

[Kevinator1]

People who steal things need a good beat down. That's one thing I will not be very friendly about if I catch someone. Sorry to hear about your losses. Better to take everything you can inside when possible. Kind of pathetic that it is that way, but it is.

[gripnrip]

Thief - the lowest life form imaginable.

[tbone1993]

i get nervious about this alot after loading up the night before. had the guys at the tackle shop tell me they had a few rods taken of the deck while waiting for the results up in clear lake. i put all my stuff up and lock it. but dont think it would be too hard to bust into the rod lockers if some one wanted to. i see boat alarms in bass pro. but havnt seen any body that has one yet

That is the worst . I dont trust my rods alone in the boat when we go to weigh in I am always worried  so I burry them in the boat. For our highschool tournament I kept an eye on the parking lot because so many of the highschool anglers left gear/ rods in the boats while they weighed in

[GeorgiaBassBros]

I dont even take chances when i run into walmart to get a drink, always leave some one in the truck with the windows (usually my 6'3" buddy, only one guy has even gotten close to the truck) I play lacrosse and have had a guy pick up one of my sticks at a tourney and try to walk off. needless to say he didnt get too far before he got what he had comin.

[YakenMax]

People will steal anything just to steal. My friends and I had very expensive bike ramps and homemade wooden ramps, we went in for like 20 minutes came back and everything was gone

[airborne_angler]

Had someone i know some tamper with my stuff...here's my story..

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/106883-can-i-get-some-opinions-on-an-occurence-at-the-lake/?fromsearch=1

[slonezp]

Make sure your trailer is locked to the receiver hitch while you're on the water. I've heard stories where guys have come back to the ramp and the trailer is missing. Bring your gear in the hotel at night and keep your lockers open so they don't destroy them. A Loc-R-Bar is no match for the winch strap on the trailer. It may deter the amateurs but not the pros. I had the boat broken into once. I forgot to remove 2 tackle bags. Came down in the morning and the cover was undone and bags gone. 

[Brian6428]

It is horrible that we have to think about stuff like this. I had an ipod stolen from my backpack in the locker rooms this year and it is a horrible feeling to know that someone just taken something that you worked hard to buy. I can't imagine having thousands of dollars of tackle stolen. Thanks for the heads up.

[Bankbeater]

Sometimes that isn't even enough.  A few years back a friend of mine, fishing off the bank at a local lake, had his tackle bag stolen when he went down a hill to fish where a creek emptied into the lake.

[jhoffman]

I had someone steal an archery target out of my yard in broad daylight!

[chromedog]

Thief - the lowest life form imaginable.

no, that is reserved for those that hurt children. 

[TNBassin']

I leave 0 gear in my vehicle and 0 gear on the boat. Had a buddy that got all of his gear stolen out of his boat, and they tried to steal his motor but couldn't get it off. They trashed the cables instead. Crazy,sad times these days.

[A-Jay]

Buddy of mine had several thousand dollars worth of gear stolen out of his truck that was parked in the hotel parking lot. Hotels don't plan ahead for these tournaments when they come in to town. Locals know they are coming and hit the wrapped trucks/ boats in the lots. Bring your gear into your room and don't take any chances. Sucks that the hotels or tournament directors don't collect $10 more per person to have someone watch the lots over night. Sucks and it is common sense but with the amount of gear we have tournament fishing even bringing 40 rods inside still means you have a ton left in the truck. 

 

Perhaps if enough customers make that suggestion to enough hotel managers in the locals where these tournaments are held some might actually entertain the idea.   When calling to make a reservation and asking if the hotel parking lot has live security, including something to the effect that you will be taking your business to an establishment that makes an attempt to ensure that their property is reasonably secure, could help.

 

A-Jay

[eyedabassman]

A few years back we were night fishing and we went in for a beer and a burger! My buddy told me he was going to check on the boat and he did see two big guys in our boat, my buddy is like little Bruce Lee, I got the beer and burgers and started out across the parking lot only to see my bud and two guys ready to go at it.Next thing I see is one of them take a punch at my bud and soon it was all over! He put some kind of hurtin on them,we went back out and fished!!!!!

[tbone1993]

As I post this my friends chased 4 guys breaking into his friend car in a private parking garage. They left all their bikes so chances are those were stolen. I have kids come in the shop that have had some of their stuff stolen from the bank. Sometimes ill sign stuff out for them just cus I feel bad. Don't leave valuables unattended. 

[RyneB]

We stayed on Lake Kinkaid in southern Illinois a few weeks ago. We just left our boats tied to the "courtesy" dock that the place we rented cabins from owned. It was in the middle of a marina. Even if I got off the water for 20 minutes, I would put all my rods and reels away and lock them. All my buddies thought I was being obsessive, but I work to hard and spend too much on gear for some "insert bad word" to steal my stuff. I was at a hotel one time in Tennessee and saw some good old boys put a beat down on someone trying to steal stuff out of there Skeeter.

[bassguytom]

We came in from night fishing last year and my buddy went to get the truck and some clown was trying to saw the titanium lock off my trailer. My buddy is an FBI agent and drew on him the clown crapped his pants and was arrested on the spot. We laughed our ***** off all the way home. Lots of idiots out there and I'm way too trusting. I lock up everything now.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

Straight scum

[Bluebasser86]

I've heard of guys even having their batteries stolen out of their boats while they're sitting on the docks before. I hate taking my batteries out of the boat and into a hotel room but I'd hate to have to spend the money on all new batteries for my boat. 

[flippin and pitchin]

When I work graveyard patrol, I often run through hotel/motel lots where guys park their boats with all their equipment loose and there for the taking. I leave a business card on the windshield with a polite warning and suggestion to park in front under lights. What really fries my cheeks is stupid idiots who leave firearms in their rigs and have them stolen. You can't fix stupid.