BOLO: Denver Fly Shops Robbed

Via the Hook Fly Fishing Blog comes this report of an alleged roving fly shop rip-off artist. Several Denver, CO fly shops have been hit in the past few weeks. Be sure to watch the video link.

Meth Heads Active on South Holston Again

Word has it that another fly angler has fallen victim to car / truck thieves on Tennessee's South Holston River. This time the late model Chevy truck was pinched from the TVA parking lot beside the well know grates below the weir.

Anglers fishing for the area's trout are advised to keep their insurance premiums current.

Link to a post via the Southeast Fly Fishing Forum.

Meth Heads Active on The Davidson?

As a warning to our fellow anglers, we have reports are that meth heads have been breaking into cars in the area around the Davidson River and the Pisgah National Forest.

As is their custom, they tend to target the SUV's of folks practicing hobbies requiring expensive equipment. Anglers are advised to leave the excess equipment at home and remove the Winston rod decals from their rear windows.

We are in no way recommending the use of poisonous guard snakes to protect your vehicle.

Still Missing...

Jimmy Harris of Unicoi Outfitters of Blue Ridge and Helen, Georgia reports that they still have not found any information about the stolen drift boat which we reported about back in June (not the one pictured above). We thought we should remind you to be on the look out just in case someone offers you a real deal on a new Hyde drift boat.

It's red, black and white, has counter-balanced oars, and, when it left our place it had an oval Unicoi logo on each side of the bow. You never know if someone dumb enough to steal something as large and unusual as a drift boat will have the sense to take the logo off. Not sure how you fence something like this but we would appreciate everyone keeping an eye out for it. If you have any information concerning its whereabouts, you may call our shop in Blue Ridge at 706-632-1880 or our shop in Helen at 706-878-3083. If your information leads to the recovery of our boat, I promise you will be one well-equipped angler, compliments of Unicoi Outfitters

Calling All Cars: Theft on the South Holston

We just got word from Bo Cash of The Table Rock Angler about another fly fisher who was the victim of a theft on the South Holston River in Tennessee. This issue got a lot of publicity several months ago and the thefts dropped off. However, from what we are hearing it seems that the meth-heads are back up to their old tricks.

Be on the look out for:

Stolen Wed. July 19, 07 at TVA parking lot on the South Holston River at the "metal grates":

2004 Forest Green Toyota Tacoma X-tra cab with matching Leer camper cover. Truck had trailer attached for a 16 foot jon boat. Boat and motor are still in possession of the owner. Truck contained ladies pocketbook with cash, diamond bracelet, 3 cell phones and personal items. Truck had fly fishing gear, two sets of waders, 3 pairs of binoculars, and other items.

One of the cell phones was deeply hidden in the cab of the truck and could have been tracked immediately by Verizon using their GPS system, but a court order taking 24 hours would have had to be obtained first...................... (this is BS). These guys could have been tracked immediately if not for red tape and the "system protecting criminals." Otherwise, Verizon could have gotten immediate results. This property was stolen from the larger parking lot at the metal grates between 2 and 4 pm.

PLEASE CALL Monte Tuttle in Lenoir, NC 828-758-8712 or TVA Police 800-824-3861 and Sullivan County Sheriff's Dept. 423-279-7500 with any information you have to share.

ADDITIONALLY: on that same day, a late model Harley Davidson Electraglide was stolen at the park next to the actual weir dam. This bike had 3 locking systems on it. We are not dealing with below average scum bags. Instead, we are dealing with below average PROFESSIONAL scum bags.

On Monday, July 16th, a vehicle was also stolen from the "view" area up on the dam at the lake. No description was given.

Asking your help for the benefit of all of us who use this area on the South Holston and the Watauga: If there are board members here or friends of board members that write for any of the TN/VA area newspapers within that perimeter, please forward this information to them. We need to get this into print for all to see. Headline news is the only thing we have had in the past to get more protection for our property when we are dropping our dollars into those communities. Additionally, those of you who personally know county commissioners in the areas of Sullivan and Carter Counties, I hope you will take a moment to call them. This hurts everyone who drops recreational related dollars into those two counties when using the rivers.

Drop the TVA a note and let them know how you feel about the situation: tvainfo@tva.gov
Mr. Cash even provided us with a sample letter.

Calling All Cars....Stolen Drift Boat

Calling all cars.. Be on the lookout for a drift boat stolen from Unicoi Outfitters in Blue Ridge, Georgia. From the posting over at the SEFFF:

From Jimmy Harris at UO:

Well, here we go again. Someone has stolen our Hyde drift boat from behind the store in Blue Ridge. It's red, black and white, has counter-balanced oars, and, when it left our place it had an oval Unicoi logo on each side of the bow. You never know if someone dumb enough to steal something as large and unusual as a drift boat will have the sense to take the logo off. Not sure how you fence something like this but we would appreciate everyone keeping an eye out for it. If you have any information concerning its whereabouts, you may call our shop in Blue Ridge at 706-632-1880 or our shop in Helen at 706-878-3083. If your information leads to the recovery of our boat, I promise you will be one well-equiped angler, compliments of Unicoi Outfitters.The boat was evidently taken some time Monday night or early Tuesday morning.

We met these guys at the Fly Fishing Retailer Show in Denver last year. If you have any info be sure to drop a dime (or a quarter these days)

Bubba's getting some new cellmates...

A group of people who will probably not be invited to join Mensa anytime soon, decided to break into cars parked at a popular Asheville, NC fishing and mountain biking area. They then proceed to use stolen credit cards at major retailers who incidentally record your every move on video tape. It just so happens that the popular fishing and biking area just happens to be in a National Park where the feds have jurisdiction. The feds bust the ring and indictments are handed down.

"An indictment filed today in U.S. District Court charges seven Asheville-area people with bank fraud, identity theft and other crimes in connection with a series of car break-ins on federal lands in and around Buncombe County"

"If convicted, the defendants face varying prison terms, some of up to 30 years. A notice of forfeiture and finding of probable cause filed with the indictment seeks the recovery of stolen property."

Link to the Asheville Citizen-Times article.

Calling All Cars ...

One Adam 12, See the man at Russell's Seafood Grill in Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina reference a break in this past weekend.

Roger HQ, show us in route code three. Any word on what was taken?

One Adam 12, be on the lookout for two large stuffed fish.

HQ? Please Repeat. Did you say stuffed fish?

Roger that One Adam 12, two large stuffed fish valued at $3,000. Suspects are still at large.

I'm guessing but I bet they weren't stuffed with crab meat and served with a nice dill sauce.

(Link via WPDE-TV Myrtle Beach, South Carolina)

"When the owner of Russell's Seafood Grill arrived at work Saturday, he found someone had kicked in the door and stolen two stuffed fish, worth about $3,000. "

Stuffed fish pillow photo courtesy Bass Pro Shops.