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Loddon theft - beware

Andy Frances

Administrator
Staff member
Hi all,

I had an email from a non-member while I was on holiday:

I wondered if you could put a warning on your website, my friend had his fishing bag stolen yesterday evening (15/08/14) while fishing the River Loddon near Whistley Mill. While winding in his rod, someone picked up his fishing bag from behind him, and ran off, towards Whistley Mill road. He was unable to catch up with him.

Cheers,

Andy F
 
Hi men ,

Iv got an idea where this is ;) , and when we was looking for swims and fish spotting there were some young nitwits walking the public footpath , which branches off a couple of times , but runs alongside the river . I do know people who fish there with no problem , mainly during the week , if they picked my bag up they would have to be quick , well quicker than a bullet anyway .


Hatter
 
Fished there many times without any problems, so I do hope it's a one-off. Takes some nerve to do that - it's a rural area and it's not as if a network of side streets to escape down.
 
I've heard of similar events happening on a more regular basis now. One of the tricks is to break a car window in the fishery car park or roadside, wait for the angler(s) to head up to investigate and then swipe the unnattended tackle from the bank. Makes my blood boil.
 
Scum bags.
Feel for anyone who has tackle pinched. You spend years collecting and there will always be something you can't replace.
Hope they catch whoever done it
 
I fish this stretch and thankfully have never had a problem. I will keep a lookout so thanks for the heads up.

Steve
 
Sadly scum will take any opportunities for their own gain. Could you approach the local police and ask for signs to be placed strategically? It may be the minimum but it may make the weaker willed thief think twice. Other than that spread vicious rumours of a police sting on tackle thieves in operation to a couple of people (or use social media).
It may just make the oxygen thieves think twice.
 
Hi,
Fish this stretch a lot, thanks for the heads up-will be extra careful. If they try it-they ad better have a pretty quick 100 m time!

Cheers DT
 
I would imagine this theft to be a random chance thing, the thief hoping to find a wallet or a mobile phone rather than bait, sandwiches and bits of tackle. There are plenty of chancing scum everywhere, we are probably lucky they are fewer in this area than many and it probably makes us far less vigilant than others.

Unless of course it was someone deliberately trying to find out what bait Mono is using ;)
 
Never fished this venue, You have the RDAA section and the TDFC section plus the top section, is it possible for the general public just to walk along all of these sections????
 
Unless of course it was someone deliberately trying to find out what bait Mono is using ;)

Crooky, very funny, and also a little cruel. They would be welcome to the scales if I ever fished there as they have been weighing light for ages. ;)

Joking aside I sincerely hope this is an isolated incident.
 
Any attempt to steal my gear would end in immediate death. A shallow grave on the banks of the Loddon is very hard to find :)
 
Fished Whistley mill for over 30 years never had any problems down there. Just spent late afternoon and evening down there on the public foot path stretch. Nothing to report very quiet apart from the odd dog walker with his s--t machine trying to eat my Sausage sizzle.
 
Fair comments by all,but this could be the start of a new trend in tackle thefts, only takes one to get a phone, tell their mates they are easy come by and before you know it loads more incidents will happen. Doubt they are in no way fishing connected just a chancer looking for something to sell to buy smokes or worse, drugs.
Julian's suggestion is good especially as it gives you the chance to very politely tell the intended thief he is in the wrong :),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
 
Julian's suggestion is good especially as it gives you the chance to very politely tell the intended thief he is in the wrong :),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Before giving him his last rights as Neil P suggested. Grrrr!!!! :D.

Takes me back to when I fished the Loddon in my mid teens for barbel. I'd made a tackle box in woodwork at school for my GSCE, which of course I put to good use and looked after, as I hadn't actually taken the exams by then. Every compartment was tailored precisely to fit the hook packets, feeders and other essentials, and I was very proud of my craftsmanship.

One afternoon whilst fishing with a mate waiting for dusk to fall, I decided to walk up to see how he was getting on. On route an angler fishing the nearby lake approached me extremely agitated . He explained that a couple of kids had pinched his Optonics, and had I seen them. "Nope" I said thinking nothing of it. Upon my return to my favoured spot, I soon realised my beloved tackle box was missing. I soon realised that I was a victim and my chosen profession had slipped away with those scum bags.

My career took a different path, for the better or worse, I will never know.
 
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