Easter prawn pirates

[Johnnybear]

Well I had an interesting Monday to say the least. I went out prawing off Nanaimo out by the five fingers and drove up to one of my good spots and set my gear down a couple hundred yards away from some other floats that belonged to a boat that was anchored just behind the last finger. I've seen this boat before and it has a charter name written on the side with a phone number. I left the area and booted down south to Northumberland Channel to meet up with some buddies down there. I talked to them for a couple of minutes and said I'd be back and booted back to check my gear. 45 minutes max went by by the time I left and got back to my gear. The charter boat was just leaving the area and there was no floats to be seen. I use the large orange commercial style floats that you can see miles away with my name and number clearly marked on them and not one in site. I went up to the boat and I grubby looking guy that seem to have had a little to much to drink came out back and I asked him if they had seen my floats, they said no (lying ******* I thought). I gave him the benefit of the doubt and made one last circle of the area and no floats. I quickly caught up to them in Departure Bay and came right up behind them and looked up the ladder way to their covered command bridge and saw my gear!. I was pretty mad by now and I didn't bother with bumpers or anything I just rammed up the side of them and tied off to their vessel and started screaming at them "give my my sh*t back before I call the cops you f*&$ing a**h*&es". They were a little shocked to say the least and quickly came up with a B.S. story that some guy had called them and said he lost his traps and they thought they were his. I was the only other boat out there and they damn well saw me put those traps down. I asked them why they lied to me in the first place and got my gear into my boat. I untied from them and said that's how boat's get sunk you f*&$ing thieves. I drove around in my boat for a while to calm down. I'm glad I don't have a shotgun on board otherwise that vessel might have joined the Titanic. I'm reporting them to the cops and the harbour commision. Word to all the honest fisherman out there, don't leave your gear even for a minute!!!

[BlacktailStalker]

I can relate, I lost my strings earlier this year.
In all honesty I would have broken his jaw, then he could think about it for 6 weeks as he was eating through a straw.
At least you got them back!
A guy I know paints his floats black, they dont stand out as well for guys cruising around looking for traps to rob or steal. He marks them on his GPS so they are easier to find. I don't leave mine out of sight any more.

[MB_Boy]

I can relate as well......it's garbage when that happens. I had a crab trab poached about 3 weeks ago......and it is getting bad over here. I hear of a number of guys having their traps stolen.

We were over at a friends cabin in Howe Sound and we had thrown the traps down on a Friday night. It is an annual wood chopping trip we do for the family to "pay our dues". Anyhow, I popped down to the cabin to stoke the airtight stove as we were working up in the bush and saw a boat suspiciously cruising around way out by our traps (bright orange floats as well).....then I see them pull up to one of the traps and start pulling. Well to say we put it into high gear was an understatement. It was a rented boat from Sewell's that let's say.....in the boat we were in......it definitely left them all soaked as we did a fly by and came back and proceeded to yell at them and ask what the f&%$ they thought they were doing. Their english was certainly not very good and I had to point out that there was no way in hell due to their nationality that the name on the traps was theirs. I realize anyone can poach traps but this is not the first time we have had problems with rental boats from Horseshoe Bay trying to lift our traps.

So after the heated exchange we sent them on their way, and the thing that just blew me away was how pissed they were about the "fly by soaking" and how we approached them.

I just shook my head and gave them a very polite...."go f*** yourselves" and we are watching the traps all the time with a spotting scope if they were thinking of coming back.

It's brutal......but I do like the idea of painting the floats black and marking them. I may have to give that a whirl.

[Johnnybear]

Your right BTS at least I got them back. Sorry to here about your gear. I'm still pissed off at those guys. I work bloody hard for my money to buy my stuff and when sh*t like that happens I just go bonkers.

[mrdoog]

Johnnybear, hats off to for not going totally physco on the scum sucking thieves.
Good to hear you got your gear back, everything involved with boating is worth a pretty penny.
We used to have one trap outside of Pender Harbour, same as you described, commercial sized ball, labelled with our name and phone number, as per the regulations. It lasted on set, found the ball a week later while goofing around in the cartopper looking for cod. Rope was cut. Never again.

[Thunderstix]

Crab trap and prawn trap raiding seems to be a National Pastime. Most times your trap just gets raided of its treasure, but sometimes it is the whole thing. I have found my traps empty except for empty beer cans and actually found full beer in it once...guilty feeling thieves! For years now I have been looking for either an unbelievably authentic looking fake severed human head or a fake half eaten baby to put in my trap and then wait for the fun to start. The thieves would get the trap to the surface and then freak out and drop it back in as fast as possible. Then they would frantically call the Coast Guard and/or RCMP who would come and read my name on the trap float and call me. I would then have to ask the question of why someone was pulling my traps????? I had them nailed!!!!!!!! Hmmm, since the RCMP is already on the scene, they could charge the theives with theft.

[jakerazer]

Hmmmm.....
I seem to remember that when elemental phosphorus is exposed to air it bursts into an extremely hot flame. In fact they used to use it in incinderary bombs in WW2.
A little chunk of phosphourus a little magnesium flake for added heat in a mesh bag in the trap. If joe thief lets it dry out poof! Burning boat!

Of course I would never consider doing such a terrible thing

[Bow Walker]

J-bear.........
If you have the "numbers" for the scum, i.e. phone, boat, name of the charter company,etc. How about posting them so that others can keep an eye on them when they are out there at their (seemingly) favorite pastime?

[Johnnybear]

The boat is about a 30 foot older wooden boat like a Chris Craft or Monk, all white, and the command bridge looks redone and not original. The name on the side was in baby blue and said Popeye's Charters.

[mark]

J-bear.........
If you have the "numbers" for the scum, i.e. phone, boat, name of the charter company,etc. How about posting them so that others can keep an eye on them when they are out there at their (seemingly) favorite pastime?

thats the best thing to do, let everyone everywhere know who the !@#$%^& theives are! tell everyone you can, maybe paint it on the side of their boat! A bad rep has a way of hurting someone in more ways than one. a couple gallons of gas can #$%^ up a deisel engine too, so dont do that! I like the spotting scope idea, accompanied with a good sniper rifle! Oh ya, i hate theives too!