What Happens To Stolen Tackle ?

[Guy Kelley]

In the past and present I have read of major tackle stores getting broken into as well as boaters and non boaters being ripped off.

I am just wondering what happens to it all ?

I would think that any honest fisherman or woman would know to pass off a seemingly too great of a deal on rods or reels.

Which leaves flea markets and out of state buyers. or not honest fishermen, or those who just don't give a dam !

The flea market , I think would be an easy mark for any agency checking into it for that very purpose of looking for hot stuff.

So now it go's to out of state or the guys and gals who buy out of a back of a pick up or mini-van. They know it's been ripped of and just don't care because its cheap and the type of people we are referring too are about equal to what is on the bottom of your shoe, when you walk on a lawn, after the dog has finished his business.

Has there been any case of the right full owner getting it back ,or the store owner getting it recovered !

I was watching a video of some guys driving a truck into the front window of a gun store and the rip off, just started me wondering.

[Greg_Cornish]

Yah you got me. I think a bunch of smart fishermen could get together and figure out a syndicate to find this stuff anywhere or somewhere online. I'm thinking engraving or hidden coding somewhere and networking with other forums. It seems the best way to dump it would be to use a dishonest tackle store owner and I know the tackle store owners around here have far to much integrity to buy stuff not sold by reps.

[Guy Williams]

Pawn shops and swap meets!! I've seen some nice stuff at Pawn shops but they act like its gold!!
Guy Williams

[calfisher71]

i sure much like my stolen cell phone, broke in my truck and stole it!
Sold it on craigs list. Then i went to verizon and had the phone deactivated and was told " they would only be able to down load music or photos to the stolen phone" " Months go bye and some kid is texting my wife asking her what she looks like" They had gone to verizon activated the phone on a new account" So get this Verizon was getting 2 contracts from my 1 phone register!

I called and they said nothing they can do about it, but the other phones serial number is in my name!!

Craigs list and ebay help these people sell stolen items even if on accident.

poor ecomony only worsens this..

[LawDog]

Guy, I have been fishing for a long time and there's a hell of a lot of fisherman out there that dont care where the $50 Dobyns rod came from. It's a sad thing to hear but they know there is know way to trac that stuff. I was a cop for 8 years and you would go crazy to hear how much stolen stuff I've came across and could not do anything about. If it's not serialized there's nothing you can do about it. The best thing to do about it is to record all serial numbers you have. TV's, DVD players, car stereos....everything. If you dont have a way to identify your stuff it won't come back to you. And if you think it's not going to happen to you....IT WILL. Be proactive not re-active.

Scott Povio

[492slayer]

So the question is this... You know it's a way below retail, there is no way to identify it and the price is right.
A) You buy it and wait to hear about some poor guy that got robbed

B) You buy it and figure "It's me or the next guy that comes along"

C) You confront the person selling it, and tell them it's stolen stuff (Like that would happen)

D) None of the above.

The reality is I've had stuff taken, and recovered about 10% even when they caught the maggots red handed. If it were me and I had the $$ on me and I knew without a doubt it was hot, I'd buy it and put out a notice here on the boards and other forums in hopes that someone would claim it. In reality, it's a hard truth that this crap goes on all the time.

[barse41]

how do you serialize your rods and reels so the police would me able to return them if found?

[492slayer]

All my Fly rods have my name inscribed on them, as well as serial numbers. So a thief would have to jack them up to remove them.

[Ringer]

The largest fencing operation in the world is Ebay. Annonymous way to sell stolen goods that avoids having police detectives pull a sting or an owner checking out the products to see if his special marks are hidden on it. IMO most of the stolen tackle ends up there and I am sure I have bought some of it over the years.

[Nunyo Bizness]

Barse41,
In the USAF they had us put the last 4 of our ssn on everything. Its just 4 number that don't mean anything to anybody but you.

Yoz

[andrade417]

how do you serialize your rods and reels so the police would me able to return them if found?

The best thing to do is buy a quality engraver that allows you write very small. Engrave your California Drivers License number to item. When the items are stolen they will be entered into the stolen property system with your CDL as an "Owner Applied" serial number.

This also allows a cop to run your CDL on the item and locate you. Or locate you via the stolen property system. Rods may be alot more difficult, maybe a rod guru can chime in on the best way to label a rod. Hope this helped!

Roland

[Brian D.]

a recent Bassmaster article.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bass ... t_20090727

[Greg_Cornish]

So, I just got this item on ebay which has an MSRP of $1500 for $799. Should I be concerned it's stolen?

[Ringer]

Greg-I have purchased over 300 items off of ebay through the years including a Harley. You never know what is stolen so what can you do? I guess I am part of the problem there.

[calworks]

I mark mine with a UV marker. either my last four or my DL, rods, reels, electronics, scales, everything. Then depending on the location its coverd in clear epoxy so it can't be wiped off or scraped off without looking like its been sanded/filed

[Guy Kelley]

Greg, it just might be, who really knows.

This is what bothers me the most. In that like most of us we are always in search of a great deal. And some times we turn a blind eye to what the reality is, to ( get that great deal ) When I lived in Berkley as a kid i was always aware of the street hawkers coming around with Nikon cameras for $20.00 bucks. Or later in my trade, Round Up herbicide worth a $100.00 a gallon for $10.00.
I knew dam well that this stuff was HOT HOT HOT ! and can honestly say I would not buy it. No matter how good the deal was. I have been ripped off more than once in my life, once for all of my fishing tackle an out board motor. A life time worth of buying and saving my nickels and dimes, some of going back to when i was 8 years old and just started getting into it. I remember my Zebco push button reel that i got as a birthday present when I was 8 or 9. All stolen by ex-employees who sold it so they could support there drug habit and burned up my motor the first time they used it cause they were to stoned to mix the oil gas. Why do i know this cause i talked to one of the thefts years later and he admitted it.

I remember full well the feelings of violation and rage that i felt when it happened and the hurt i experienced as a result, that anyone could be so cruel to take some ones else s life of pride and personnel happiness. Just so they can fuel the monkey on their back.

I fully believe that we have the bad guys selling on our own classified section as well as on Craig s list and other sites.

Why am I positive of this , cause the deal is to good to be true and it's a gut feeling I have.

Yet we keep perpetuating it as we look for that sweet deal and masking out our feelings with little or no remorse. except to say "Gee That's To Bad"

[Rick L.]

Guy, What is amazing to me is the real threat that some boat owners have, when they don't have a garage or secure area to store there rigs. Here in So. Cal. I have worked in many seaside city's from Marina del Rey to San Clemente and have witnessed boats parked on the side of the road with nothing more than the cover for security. It's amazing the security that covers offer. When we fish tourney's most rigs have a locker bar on the important compartments, along with the cover, but what about the battery compartment? Battery's are expensive as well as the onboard chargers, and unfortunatly some crack head is going to figure that out. Along with other items we may have in the boat that they can pawn or sell when we park them in our front yards, driveways or on the sreet. Most people around here store maybe $2500.00 worth of stuff in their garage and park $50.000.00 vehicles, RV's boats and waverunnners (which I wish all would be stolen and taken out of state) in their driveways. Major home builders have had to hire security and use rent a fence on thier jobs to prevent theft of copper pipe and wire. So the point here would be to think as best you can like a thief and protect your belonging's the best you can. As far as fencing if it's not tracible it's sellable. Caveat Emptor!!!!!!!!!

[Greg_Cornish]

In the case of buying this trolling motor, I called Johnson outdoors and told them the was one with a starting bid of 799. He said, "That's a great deal if you can get it at that price. I'd grab it.

So I bid $1,100 and I was the only one who bid. I got it for the starting price. I have seen them for sale for the legitimate price of $1,200 from online stores. This was lacking a co-pilot so who knows?

[g-man]

What do you guys need, We can make a cash ONLY no receipt exchange?

[Turkeyman]

What really ticks me off is when the cops know damn well who stole it and they say "Well there's nothing we can do about it" My dad had his log splitter dismanteled and taken, the hydraulic oil from the ram led over the fence and into the neighbors garage where you could see the puddle of oil. The cop looked at it and said because the parts weren't in sight he could not do anything. Unbelieveable!!!

[Melones_IS_Mine]

I know we can pick up great deals(and some real 'steals') off the 'net, garage sales, flea markets, swaps, etc. If I were to go that route of getting a good deal, I'd have to meet the seller in person. For one, I don't want to be guilty of buying something stolen, and another, don't want to give a thief the satisfaction of getting over on myself, OR the victim.

I'd only buy from someone who I can tell is actually a fisherman. I won't buy from some tweeker missing teeth or some dubious looking individual.

I think all of the ideas for identifying personal items are great. Everyone should pass these cautions forward, dealers included.

[b2customrods]

As a custom rod builder I can say there are a few things I can do to help you identify your rod if its stolen. I can make decals with something like

Custom Built For XXX

This Custom Rod Is Owned By XXXX

There applied with two coats of finish over them. You could get them off but you would jack up the area they were applied. These can be applied to any rod.

Another thing is to have custom marbling applied to the rod. Marbling is a one of a kind design. No two are alike! It can be removed but not without ruining the look of the rod. I can do marbling on any store bought rod to make it custom and one of a kind. If you photograph your rod you will have proof that it is yours.

You could have marbling done on the guide wraps cant rmove that without ruining the rod.

Change that Loomis rod into a split grip with marbling. How many Loomis rods are like that. I have a GL3 with dual color split foam grips. There brown and black I cant say I have ever seen one of those around.

I have a spinning rod that the blank is olive green and the are split and green camouflaged. ity sticks out very well in a crowd and is one of a kind. No one on the planet has one but me.

These are some great reasons to buy a custom rod!

Take your rod to a custom builder have them add some marbling or decals. Once applied it only takes 24 hours for the finish to dry and I for one dont charge an arm and a leg. I cant speak for the other builders.

Thats why I say
"Dont buy off the shelf! Make yours unique and one of a kind!"

[fishinman]

After hearing all the nasty BS and experiencing some myself, everytime after i'm done fishing, fun or tourney I take all my rods and tackle out of my boat with my meters and lock them in my car. A real pain in the butt but to me worth the effort!

[Tin Can]

Hey B2, I love the camo grip, looks sweet on that rod.

[b2customrods]

Yeah it does look sweet. It all goes together reel well. For some reason the green blank goes with the camo but what really sets it off is the black frame gold ring Ziconia guides. I feel gold and green go well together.

The rod with the gold marbling is going to be a nice light weight punching rod its rated at 1-3oz lure it is going to be a reel stunner with the black frame gold ring zirconia casting guides. The wraps will be dark green metallic with a gold stripe. If it was to ever get stolen you can spot this rig a mile away. There is no way you could change anything without ruining the rod so why steal it.

If I really wanted to I could engrave

"Property Of B2 Custom Rods"
"If Found Call XXX XXX-XXXX"

Then coat it with rod finish. The only wayt to get rid of that is to mess the rod up real bad to the point that it would be useless

[keithcant]

E-Bay!!!

[b2customrods]

Be careful with Flea Bay! Check the shipping charges. Some of these guys are outrages. You can also get better buys sometimes with a little research. One bad thing is if you think its to good to be true. It more than likely is! Also if it is stolen merchandise you can get nailed for possession of stolen goods if im not mistaken.

Buyer beware.

[clayton meyer]

ray


you just told the crackheads about batteries and chargers... luckily the batteries are too f***n heavy