Reply With Quote####### scum, no floats is the answer, but why should we have to.
I bet we would be in more trouble if found sinking our pots, than the ones found pinching them.
Hi all,
I had a couple of crab pots pinched last night that I stupidly left with floats on down the Pine. Now the pots that were left untouched had jennies and unders in them and had been lifted, so I suspect that the two pots that were nicked may well have had size crabs in them and it was easier to flog them than take the time to empty the crabs and put the pots back.
Now I usually dont leave pots with floats on them (read into that what you will), so the theft of my pots is something a little new to me. So this is what I am going to do. I am in the process of lodging a complaint with both the Fisheries and the local Police station. I am going to make a theft complaint the same as I would if someone nicked something out of my yard. Reason being is that I work for a Queensland Government department, and these days the powers that be are obsessed with statistics and the coppers may well be the same.
I dont know if it would make any difference but if everybody was to report the theft of crab pots when it happens, the fact that it would bugger up some desk jockeys statistics of closed cases may well motivate them to do something about it. I know coppers are busy and I am in no way bagging the blokes on the beat but its only a couple of blokes doing it down there and surely they cant be too hard to catch and be made accountable.
What are your thoughts on this? If everyone reported every theft, do you reckon it would make a difference or has the three rum cans I have had gone to my head? I know where I work they are statistic driven and eventually this would spur someone into action...... For the record, the pots were not in a channel, they did not float away with the king tides (pots were weighted), and they had heaps of rope so the floats did not go underwater.
Shane
####### scum, no floats is the answer, but why should we have to.
I bet we would be in more trouble if found sinking our pots, than the ones found pinching them.
Big Tides this last week has seen many many pots floating along in the channels....Not saying yours floated Shane but I am an experienced crabby and I had one float away on me in the passage on last Sat arvo..... I reckon I counted 15 pots that were floating along over the day and I bet most of these owners reckon they were pinched.
But to catch a crab pot theft would be awesome....One very big hole in the side of their boat would be the start.
Gotta Love Maroochydore.
reporting them as stolen is a good idea,i never thought of that.in reality i guess you are leaving something ungaurded or unsupervised in a public place,i cant see the cops being interested.i dont know if sinking them is the answer either,if i pick up a sunken pot in my trawler i regard it as an illegal fishing device and bin them.the only solution i can think of is a trail cam on a beacon or trees near the side of a creek or river which could take a movie or photos of the thieves,that is until they cotton on and pinch the trail cam as well!
support your local commercial fisher,its never too late!!
Grunta, they didnt float away mate, was well aware of the king tide and attached a block to each pot on a separate length of rope. I had the pots in a line and the others were still there. I have an idea what I am doing too mate and if I had my time again I would have just attached the block on a longer bit of rope, ditched the float and just picked it up with my hook.
I gave up crabbing the Pin for that reason. I used floats and they always got knocked off if not in direct line of sight.
Good idea reporting it - its the loudest squeaky wheel principle.
Cheers
Boat: Seafarer Vagabond
Live: Great South East....love Moreton Bay fishing
Thats a great idea. Report every missing pot. The reports will go into the stats and someone may decide to do something about it
A Proud Member of
"The Rebel Alliance"
That's what I reckon Horse, it is a wide spread problem so eventually one would think that someone would have a gutful of the paperwork and try and do something about it if complaints continually flowed over their desk. I dont think I will be making any more complaints after this one has been lodged in the morning, lesson learnt, they wont be able to find them from now on.....
Top Idea , I hope everyone does the same . It would not take long before the cops had a gut-full with the paperwork.
I feel though the likely outcome is the coppers refusing to lodge the complaint, on the basis that in their view the pots may not have been stolen, but are "lost".
Report it to the water police. Like most gov departments they all need stats. They can not get the funding or support if they don't have the stats. I am sure the guys there would love the extra resources to be able to stop the grubs.
Regards
Steve Brown
You can report stolen pots over the phone to the Police on PH: 131444
Louis
"Now the pots that were left untouched had jennies and unders in them and had been lifted,' I put different coloured zippies on my pots so it is easy to see if the bucks have been opened.
The pots I reckon had bucks in them were goneski mate. How did I know the others were lifted you ask?? You got to get a bit sneaky with a bit of rope work, I tie a loop about 4-6 ft long into the rope, and you feel it pull free when you take up the weight of the pot. If you dont feel it.... it's been lifted. I only do it for my own personal torment, although it is very handy if you are crabbing an area and there are only a few people around. It was not unexpected in the Pine, I knew it would happen.
Hence there are better options than floats down there.....
131444 in NSW to report stolen stuff
I tie a special knot on my traps and can see when they have been emptied, that is if they are still there. I like your slip rope trick
cheers Murf
exactly!! which is such bulls?>t
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