heres one for ya...

[gladbream]

put my crab pots in at gladstone harbour yesterday morning at 3:30am before work just to get feed before the chrissy rush, and on return noticed a boat placing the last of my traps in their boat. i approached these guys (probably in their 50's) and requested the traps back from them as one of my floats were still in their boat, and the comment they stated was:
"oh sorry are these yours, here you go. we thought they were abandoned".
me:
"the floats are brand new, how can you determine that it is an abandoned trap without lifting it. by the state of the floats you should be abe to tell two things: one is that they are not yours, and two is that they have not been in the water for long."
i got the traps back off them, well what were mine and took off.
it is amazing what a bloke with a gaf in his hand and pissed off can accomplish in this world. and before anyone on this site gets antsy about me approaching them with a gaff in my hand, it was to grab a hold of their boat.
they had about 30 to 40 collapsables in the boat all ranging from brand new to regularly used. one of the traps had a commercial float on them as well and i remembered the licence number on the float and waved a commercial guy down to let him know. funny hey, the old rules still apply in some areas where ownership mean jack.

bit of a hard up report but thats my input for the day....


cheers

[jez and suze]

i hope someone gets hold of the basterds......give the police their number.....or better yet give afew local pros their number.

[Flattie Assassin]

This is one of them situations that needs an old school remedy like a good punch in the mouth. Sorry if that seems politically incorrect, or even a bit harsh. Far too much of this goes on. Out of line approaching with a gaff? I think not. I would have thought it more than reasonable to approach with a shotgun pointed at there silly thieving melons.

[DICER]

I hope you reported the vessel.

[Sandman]

HUge fines are in place for this type of behaviour it wasnt that long ago a few stings occurred around Bris for that very reason, its no slap on the wrist these guys should be shown that side of the law imo. Nothing worse than getting some crim stealing your crabs but even worse when they flog your potts, i have tried so many different techneques in given these crims a good shock if they lift my pots (all failed of course).
Years (10) ago at caloundrai wittnessed quiet a serious incident with crab pot stealing, the owner of the pots took a rather big disliking to the pot thiefs boat to a point of sinking it with a machette , i dont condone that but certainly taught that guy a huge lesson.
All my pots in the last couple of months have been checked or flogged around the gateway so keep your eyes open these buggers are fast.

[PWCDad]

Guys,

Here is a little tip !!! Here is the best weapon you can hit them with .....


DIGITAL CAMERA ..... or better still .... video with sound ...and ask the same questions of them. Download it to disc and post off to MSQ with boat rego prominent in the pictures/video.

Imagine the faces when you started shooting a few pics of them and all the pots !!!

I use an all weather Olympus ... the new one is shock and water proof !

Regards
PWCDad

[Little grey men]

Some people hey !!! Not quite crab pots, but I was fishing next to a bloke at North Pine Dam last week who had a couple of really cool little home made shrimp pots set in the dam to collect bait. One was out of sight around the corner a bit.
He went to check this pot to find someone had raided the pot and taken the shrimp and the baits out.....This dopey clown had dropped his reading glasses on the ground when he pilfered the pots so we put them in a place where he would easily find them....back in the shrimp pot on the dams muddy bottom.
he he he.

[Flattie Assassin]

Bahahhahah, GOLD!

[the gecko]

You were way too nice to em. Did you write down the boats rego number? Youve gotta report this.

[B_E_N]

tell the police, they might do a sting like mentioned above, put some pots out with a small gps or tracking system, easy to hunt them down

[Poodroo]

Definitely the best advice is to give their vessel registration number to the police. They need to be stopped legally. By not reporting them is only allowing them to continue thieving other peoples' pots. By the way I wouldn't think anything less of you if you had of used the gaff for more reasons other than getting a hold of their boat.

Poodroo

[dogsbody]

When will people (in general) learn you cannot put pots in and expect them to be there when you get back. Sad state of affairs but true.


Dave.

[Scalem]

Who knows what anyone would have done in this circumstance.... In days gone by I would have walked away........ In days gone by.

I agree with many who have said to record their rego number and called the police, not made too much a fuss to cause them suspion you were up to something, keep a safe distance away but not lose sight of them, waiting for a phone call from fisheries if within mobile range..... then POW!! Gotcha!!

YYEEEHHHAAAA!!! That's for all those stolen pots over the years and share farming all our hard work!!! Geez I would feel a whole lot better about crabbing then!!

Scalem

[basskid]

Hey Guys,
i am new to crab pot thefts but i honeslty didnt think it has gotten this bad, i think the best thing to do is wait and wit , just have ya pot were poepl will find em and wait and wait and whilke you are doin that have a flick but just wait and wait then ahahha suckers wont know what hit em i think its the best plan yet even if ya dont catch crabs you will catch the theif whoich i am sure gives ya a slightly better feeling,
Cheers guys and good luck

[oldboot]

Now here's a thaught.

The current affairs programes are always looking for something to blow out of proportion.

I have not seen a crab pot story......... they might go for something new........ these guys have all sorts of video and audio resources.......

You would have to be able to offer them a pretty reliable result...... like know where to put your pots to guarantte they were poached.

Talking about name & shame........caught and shown on national TV theaving crab pots.........what would the reception be like next time at the boat ramp.


I do believe one member put a hatchet thru the bottom of some low lifes boat too.

cheers