Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Burglaries Can Happen Anytime of the Day!!


I was debating on whether or not to publish today’s post, but after some thought, I realized it might help some of you guys avoid the tragedy that happened to me Monday. To make a long story short I lost all my fly fishing equipment along with all my warm water flies and accessories, including a tackle box of ultralight lures as a result of a burglary. The thieves simply walked into my garage and helped themselves to four fly fishing combos and a couple of tackle boxes that were located in the storage compartments of my boat. The boat is parked in the garage stall next to my wife’s car. This happened in broad daylight sometime after lunch, I was at home all day. I was either in my basement or on the phone when it happened. My wife was in and out all day and left the garage door open at times, which gave the thieves an opportunity. We live in what I would say is a very safe neighborhood and never have any burglaries at all here, but there is always a first. The police and I surmised that the thieves knew the fly rods and fishing equipment was there and probably had been watching the house for a chance to steal the equipment. One can always go back and say I could have done this or that and things would have been different, but I can’t dwell on what I should have done, but simply use this as a lesson in what to do to keep it from happening again starting with;
  • Never leave anything of value in your garage that can be seen by anyone period!!
  •   Take note of individuals who come to your house to perform work; you never know if that individual is looking for something that can be sold at a pawn shop in exchange for money to buys drugs. By the way, Walker County, where we live, has more drug traffic than any county in Alabama.
  • Keep any storage room in your garage locked.
  • Always keep your garage door closed even when you are at home, not only at night but during the day. The door can be left open if you are on the outside in the front, but never leave the door open if you are in the backyard for a short period of time. The police told me that 95% of burglaries occur during daylight hours.
  • If possible leave your security system on during the day if you are away from your house even for 15 minutes. We have an ADT system with a camera, and it was not on for those brief periods during Monday—costly mistake!!!
  • Purchase insurance for your fishing equipment. I have insurance on my boat but no insurance on all fishing tackle. Lesson learned; I purchased insurance on Tuesday.
  • Take photos of all your fishing equipment, including tackle, so you will have proof of what you own.
  • And last, always be aware of suspicious vehicles or individuals in your neighborhood
  • I lost everything to the point I can’t fish anymore until I purchase reels, rods, flies, and fly fishing accessories. I will have to replace all my crappie fishing lures as well. The sad part for me is I can’t actually replace some of my reels because Gloomis doesn't manufacture the free spool Venture reels anymore. I am not an extremely high dollar fly fisherman, neither am I a low-end fisherman, but I fish with quality equipment and some are irreplaceable. I hope by publishing this report today I have helped some of you guys avoid the tragedy that happened to me on Monday.

26 comments:

  1. That sucks Bill. What a crappy way to end 2013. You're right all the way. Lock up.

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  2. Dang, that's a tough break Bill. I hope you have better luck in this new year.

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  3. So sorry. I trust no one. I've had neighbors do things to my property or continuously trespass when i tell them not to. I've even had a kid digging through my garage and now he's not allowed over. After seeing kids destroy property and trespass into new homes behind ours, I trust no one at all.

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  4. Bill, I am devastated to hear this news. So, I can't imagine how you must really feel! Tragedy comes in all shapes and sizes for sure. I am going to link to this post over on my blog, and, I will help out in some way. Maybe not rods and reels, but, I can help restock your fly boxes. God Bless, Bill.

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  5. Mark
    We learned lessons through life, some that cost you and some that don't, this one I will remember. Thanks for the comment

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  6. Kevin
    It will take me while to get over this because this is years worth of collecting fly fishing equipment and accessories. Thanks for the comment

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  7. Josh
    This incident will make me very suspicious of anyone coming near our house now. Thanks for the comment

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  8. Mel
    I appreciate the help, but there is no need in you doing that, because I will eventually get most of the warm water flies back. I did lose all my Muddlers, so I will be on the hunt for those first. I consider all you guys my buddies and I don't want the same thing to happen to you all down the road. Thanks for the comment

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  9. Bill, blown away to hear that a bunch of knuckle-heads started your year off trying to get your fishing gear back together! I admire your perspective; however, it saddens me that you had gear that will be difficult to replace! I am sure the fish God karma will catch up to the knuckle-heads. Hang in there and hopefully the police with recover you gear!

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  10. People really suck sometimes! Karma will win ou in the end!

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  11. Bill I'm so sorry. The points you made are very important and we all should heed them.
    If you need a few "bombers or "picket pins" I can help.

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  12. Al
    If these individuals spent as much time looking for work instead of trying to spend time robbing people, then this economy would be booming. Thanks for the comment

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  13. Pink
    I agree these individuals will be get caught eventually. Thanks for the comment

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  14. Alan
    I was lucky they didn't steal my waders, boots, and my chest pack, which is where all my trout flies were located. For some strange reason they didn't touch that and it was setting in the boat. I will have to start over with all my warm water flies, they are gone. Thanks for the offer, but I still have a few bombers.

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  15. Thiefs cause my blood to boil. That sucks man.

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  16. Daniel
    Yours and mine alike---thanks for the comment

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  17. Thanks for the warning. You should also make sure your vehicle is also locked and don't leave your garage door opener in the vehicle. I hope you recover all your equipment and the thief spends a long time in jail.

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  18. Bill, I'm sorry about what happened my friend! This is terrible news. I want to help get those fly boxes restocked. It will take a few weeks as I'm about to move but once that move is completed I will tie you a selection of both trout and warm water flies and send them to you. Hope you are able to replace some of that gear soon. I want to hear some fishing stories from you!

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  19. Rhoades
    I have left my truck out front when I am going fishing at daylight, but no more, great suggestion. Thanks for the comment

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  20. David
    Thanks so much for the offer, I keep thinking of little things that was in one of my fly fishing fanny packs they stole. Thanks for the comment

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  21. Oh man Bill, I'm so sorry to hear that! Hopefully those thiefs are found and arrested.

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  22. Seems to be a lot of that going on lately. I feel your pain Bill..

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  23. J
    It will take a while to get some of the equipment back, but I will never be able to replace the Gloomis fly reels. thanks for the comment

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  24. Pen
    This has taught me to be ever so cautious from here on. We live in a complete different society than we did when I was a boy growing up. I can remember when I was a boy we would sleep at night with the doors unlocked, not now. Thanks for the comment

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  25. Bill!
    Wow. I am so sorry to hear that you were robbed of all of your fishing gear. What a terrible thing! I appreciate you posting this as a reminder to all of us, to keep our stuff safe. I'm sure we all do keep our stuff safe, but then we get to comfortable thinking...Ah nothing will happen. This is a good reminder that, yes, something can happen.

    If there are any flies that you would like me to tie for you, I would be glad to. Not a problem at all, just give me the word! Bass and panfish flies.

    -Justin

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  26. Justin
    Thanks for the offer, but I have most of the warm water flies back. I hope this never happens to you or any of the other bloggers here on the network. Thanks for the comment

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