[614271]

Stupid is what stupid does... That's me & God does it burn me up... Went down to the boat late morning only to find the cabin was broken into and all my rod/reels except one Penn spinning reel were gone (& at least I take the electronics with me all the time). Lost: Calcutta 700 w-custom Donart rod, Calcutta 400S spooled w-dayglo green fireline, Penn 955 (just got it for Xmas from the wife) all spooled w-black braided fireline, along w-a Penn 310 which had a broken level-wind. If anyone tries to sell you any of the above items I'd be indebted to you if you let me know...

Contact me @ [email protected]

 

[617923]

Where was your boat located?

 

[614271]

Oops... Baldwin/Freeport on Milburn Creek...

 

[23seacraft]

Ufish-

Hate to hear that, it really sucks. I like to think fisherman are a little better than that, but sometimes I wonder....

 

[Captneilf]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about the recent robberies.

I would like to think it was not done by fishermen.

Probably done by those who knew they could sell them.

I engrave my SS# on all my reels under the reel plate.

My rods I build so my wraps are not common.

I hope you had insurance.

Capt Neil

 

[614751]

Getting Lucky

My Buddies tackle shop was broken into last year,all his top of the line custom rods were taken, turns out it was some 15 year old kid who broke in at 1 AM carried the rods two miles to his home, the next day he traded two rods for a ride on a water scooter and applied for a job at the rental agency. the owner being a nice guy notified the sherrifs dept, who arrested the kid and recovered all the rods. Hope you get your reels back as quickly
John

 

[seaslug44]

This crap kills me.

A few years ago a buddy of mine was in a Suffolk South Shore tackle store that advertised "we buy rods and reels for cash" and he saw all three of his stolen custom standup rods and penn 50/ penn 80 international reels being sold by that tackle shop! The shop owner didn't even bother to spool off my friend's double leader that was tied with his own unique version of a bimini twist!

When confronted, the tackle store owner would not cooperate with my friend or the police. My friend had no "concrete" proof that the combos were his other than a handful of photographs. He built the rods himself and he never bothered to submit the warrantee cards for the reels to Penn. Basically, he had no documentation to prove his ownership.

Even more disturbing, the Suffolk Police detective told him that even if my friend could prove that he purchased the reels and built the rods, there was no proof that he didn't sell them to someone else. He was told that unless they caught the person in the act of stealing the rods/reels, there was nothing they could do to the person who sold them to the tackle shop.

He was also told that as long as a tackle shop or any other kind of merchant has no prior knowledge that merchandise was stolen, they can purchase it in "good faith" and not be held financially or legally responsible. It seems that it then becomes a "civil" case over ownership rights as opposed to a "criminal" one.

The moral of this story is that as long as there are tackle dealers offering to purchase our rods, reels and other fishing equipment for cash with no references and no questions asked, there will always be aggressive criminals on the prowl breaking into our boats and stealing the goods.

Perhaps there should be a law that mandates a "waiting period" for any type of valuable merchandise bought from someone off the street.

 

[Polodog]

Its a shame. I am sorry to hear this UFish and i hope u manage to find your rod and reels. I hope you have filed a police report as that may come in handy in a situation like mentioned by Doc. Doc i think it might not be a bad idea to post such dishonest tackle shops here, and advise all members to boycott them.

 

[614271]

Really appreciate the wishes, commiserating and clearly the hopelessness of ever getting the reels back even if found given the legal system in America. I've written them off and just need to get over it over time. I always file reports since statistics and patterns might not appear if people dont report everything. However, there was an item stolen beyond the rod/reels that made it mandatory for me to file a report and which has provided the police w-more incentive to investigate things more which they're doing. Again thx...

 

[614851]

hot rods 4 sale

doctorfish,

i don't understand this.

if your friend could prove that the rods and reels were his, and the guy who sold them to the tackle shop could not prove that he bought them from your friend or someone else; then he should be charged with sale of stolen property.

also, what do you mean that the tackle shop owner refused to cooperate?

i would expect him to cooperate by giving the name of the person who sold him the goods. if he didn't know; then perhaps dealers in used equipment should be required to obtain this info (bill of sale) and keep it on file for a reasonable period of time after the store sells the goods.

i don't think it is fair to assume the tackle shop owner is knowingly buying hot goods. as you said, he made no attempt to alter the appearance, such as changing the line or breaking up the rod-reel combos. the vast majority of used equipment offered for sale in any established tackle shop is probably not hot, and i doubt many of the items offered on noreast's "for sale" board are either.

 

[617923]

I went out to my brand new 2002 boat yesterday and found the lock on the door to my head in the console broken and all my of stuff everywhere. Nothing was taken since nothing was of value but I am getting very tired of it. Someone came into the bait and tackle shop a few weeks ago selling a radio that had been cut out. He has since been arrested. Hopefully it will stop now. My boat is in Huntington Harbor. Thought others might want to know.

 

[seaslug44]

Opinari,

This particular shop buys equipment "no questions asked". He does not take any information about the sellers, not even a copy of their driver's license.

The police detective stated that this practice is perfectly legal. As I stated, my friend could not produce concrete documentation such as serial numbers to prove ownership.

Also, without any information about the person who sold the combos to the tackle shop, there was no way they could investigate any further.

What I meant by not cooperating was exactly that. The merchant practically chased my friend out of his store once it was suggested that the rods and reels were stolen. He proceeded to sell them to someone else for a profit about a week later. At the very least you would think that he should have offered to sell them back to my friend for the same price as what he paid the criminal.

I know that now I have brought this up you all want to know which shop it is. But I don't need the hassle.

I will tell you this; just look for ANY shop that has a sign that offers to purchase rods and reels for cash and then ask the guy/gal behind the counter if they need to obtain id from the seller. If they say NO, then they too are promoting the blackmarket for fishing supplies!

 

[614851]

devil's advocate

doctorfish,

i completely agree that this lack of a documentation requirement for the used tackle trade facilitates thievery. i am surprised this lack of procedure exists.

however, under the circumstances i think you are expecting too much of the tackle store owner when you say that he should have sold the equipment to your friend for the same price he had paid.
after all, how did he know your friend was telling the truth if he could not prove ownership. if he would do as you suggest, what would stop me from walking in and saying that some high-priced used merchandise had been stolen from me and that he should sell it back to me for pennies on the dollar?

it's too bad, this lack of appropriate procedure probably cost this tackle shop owner more in lost business from you and your friends than he made on the rods in question. actually you are all victims.

 

[seaslug44]

Opinari,

You are right, the police are right and the tackle store owner is right; merchants are under no obligation to go above and beyond what is legally required of them. However...

Compasion, trust, and understanding are the exact traits that make the difference between a good merchant and a GREAT one. I am sick and tired of some mom-and-pop stores (in not just the tackle industry, but all over) who constantly complain that they are being driven out of business by large chain-stores when in fact the real reason isn't price, but SERVICE.

Yes, small stores usually provide better service than large national retailers. But NOT ALWAYS. As a matter of fact, I often find the opposite to be true. Retail workers have corporate policies and store rules to follow. They have store managers to answer to. If they lack good customer relations skills, they can get FIRED. Small private store owners have nobody to answer to but themselves. They can treat their customers any way they choose. They can change store policy when it best suites them. They can refuse to give refunds/exchanges or take back defective merchandise whenever they want. When they are tired, they can sleep late and delay the store opening. If they feel like it, they can close the store early and go fishing.

Most small merchants don't do these things, but I am sick of the ones who are and then complain that they are losing customers.

You are right, the tackle shop owner did not have to offer to sell back my friends equipment. But are really good one would have seen the sorrow in my friends eyes as he showed photos of better times when those rods landed makos, tuna, etc...

 

[614021]

I don't get it

Stock factory stuff yes, That's easy to move. But every Penn International ever made has a serial number. Most custom rods have a unique wrap and the owner's name on them. He had no pictures of him holding the tackle with a fish? No rod wrapper to provide proof of purchase? I think that in the US you must keep business records (receipts, sales, etc) for 6 years. How many used 80's does that store sell a year? 10 or 12 maybe. That's if it is J&H. If it is another store, probably far less. I would have just filed a police report with another officer. It's a pretty routine thing, handled by whomever is at the front desk that day.

 

[seaslug44]

More than one detective spoke to him and both agreed that the photos of him and his crew with the custom rods wasn't enough to prove ownership or to prove that he STILL owned it.

My friend built these rods himself. He never got around to "signing" them or putting his boat's name on them. He knows better now.

As far as the serial numbers on Penn reels, yes they are there, but that does not mean anything unless you mail back the warrantee card to PENN and register yourself as the owner. Penn Internationals are sold at most tackle shops, including large retailers such as SA, Boater's World, etc... When you buy one from a large retailer, all you get is a cash register receipt (they don't ask for your name and address when you purchase a Penn reel).

There was also something else the police told him that had to do with the value of the stolen goods. Because each item was under a certain value, the offense for stealing and reselling them was less of a violation than if the criminal stole a car or a diamond ring. I'm not sure what that dollar amount was, but they basically made it sound like in the eyes of the law, it's the same seriousness for stealing an offshore combo as it is a flounder combo because they are both worth under a certain $$ amount.

In otherwords, the undertone was "big deal, somebody stole your fishing rods you cry baby. Next time you shouldn't leave them on your boat unattended!!"

The other undertone was "leave this tackle store alone! Fishing rods all look the same. Unless you have a bill of sale with those serial numbers on it, or an owner's registration certificate from the manufacturer, there is no way that you can say for sure that those are your rods & reels!!!"

 

[togmaster]

Good thing to do

I always watch my gear but in the event of it being stolen I always engrave my name and phone # into the reel base. Most reel bases are metal. I find it a great place because if your rod is stolen and the reel is attached. You could never see the writing unless you remove the reel from the rod which most theives won't do. I actualy had a rod taken as a kid on a party boat while I was on the trip. When I told the captian before everyone left the boat he checked all the reel seats and still mine was missing? So when I decided to check the boats equipment it just so happened Bam! there was my rod and reel in there locker. I told the Captian and he was cluless. My feeling was it was a mate. Well with out my name and number I didn't have a leg to stand on. but being I engraved my name and number they didn't have the leg to stand on!
Do it ! It is cheap to buy a engraving machine there like 15.00 and worth every peny of it.

 

[capt jack]

just a question,what is the name of this tackle shop,if you are going to spend so much time telling everyone about what happened i would like the name ,because i would go out of my way to NOT buy anything at a shop that sells stolen equipment.this is an anonymous board i see no danger in telling us.

 

[614021]

Still weird

Theft valued over $300 is a felony. An 80 with custom rod probably has a replacement value of around $1000 per setup.

What you are also implying is that anything without a serial number/receipt or that was a gift can never be proved to be stolen if taken from you. I just don't buy it. Jewelry has no serial number. Cash, bicycle, art, etc.

What cyncial town PD was this that would not accept the report of a felony?

 

[seaslug44]

Sorry Capt Jack, The internet is anything but "anonymous". It may seem like it, because we don't sign our names, but our IP addresses are recorded by the hosting server of this website. Our names and email addresses are stored by the Noreast.

Since the shop was never charged with any wrongdoings, it would be libel or slander for me to post their name here and I could actually be sued.

If you read one of my earlier posts, it does not matter the exact name of this shop because it is NOT the ONLY one. If you really want to help the cause, then avoid ALL shops who are in the practice of buying used equipment for CASH and "no questions asked" without any proof of id from the person they purchase the equipment from.

A good shop is one that ONLY pays by CHECK and takes down the person's name, address, phone number, d.o.b. and DRIVER'S LICENSE number! If you see a sign in a tackle shop saying that they purchase used equipment or if you see used equipment for sale, ask the owner if they take documentation about the previous owner, including ID. If they say NO, then this same scenario that happened to my friend could happen in that shop TOO!

By the way, I am not knocking the tackle shop who did this. It is still very possible that he just didn't know any better. It's also possible that he truly beleived that the rod/reels were not stolen. It's the "no questions asked"/CASH method that I am against. It's the same in any business. A camera store that purchases photographic equipment for cash with no ID required is just as guilty of promoting the black market for cameras as tackle shops are when they do the same.

You see this with golf equipment, gold & diamonds, antiques, and even BASEBALL CARDS. Anything that burgulars can sell for CASH, you will find mom and pop shop owners willing to buy "the goods". I just think that if you take the cash off the table and make it more difficult for them to push the stolen goods, then you can put a dent in the crime rate.