Ugh you *)(%#%&*

[Daveinthebush]

Yep set the pots yesterday afternoon. Went back today and started pulling them. And you guessed it, line wrapped up in knots, two pots right together on the line, more messy lines, knots and just a freaking mess. I hate when people pull my pots and just dump everything off the boat. I wish the action of others was considered an act of "defense of life and property".

[joebut1985]

Man that sucks, sorry to hear about someone checking your pots.

Not to get off of the subject but is this a major problem. I have been contemplating leaving my pots out there for a couple of days, but with hearing reports like this I get a little nervous. Don't wont to come back to unwanted checked pots or better yet missing pots.

[JR2]

How close to Whittier are you setting your pots. I hesitate to point fingers but I think the farther you get them from Whittier the better off you are. I have set close to Whittier a couple of times but only when I was pulling them that day... otherwise they are a good 20 boat miles from town.

[kasilofchrisn]

Yep set the pots yesterday afternoon. Went back today and started pulling them. And you guessed it, line wrapped up in knots, two pots right together on the line, more messy lines, knots and just a freaking mess. I hate when people pull my pots and just dump everything off the boat. I wish the action of others was considered an act of "defense of life and property".

I'm with you on this one. I have had pots raided and moved before and it sucks to come back and your pots are not where you left them and you have to hunt them down and maybe not even finding them at all.
I know we have discussed this on here for several years.
I think the best legal solution is to make the penalties for deliberately touching another persons gear so steep that a person just won't do it.
If the fines started at a minimum of $1,000 for the first offense and went up significantly from there it would start to deter people from doing it.
As it currently stands the first offense is basically a slap on the wrist and doesn't deter anybody.

[Anythingalaska]

Yep set the pots yesterday afternoon. Went back today and started pulling them. And you guessed it, line wrapped up in knots, two pots right together on the line, more messy lines, knots and just a freaking mess. I hate when people pull my pots and just dump everything off the boat. I wish the action of others was considered an act of "defense of life and property".

Did you have any shrimp at all in your pots?

If you're close enough to land; landline your pots and put your bouy up in the woods, or sink your bouy on a flats where you can drag it up later. If it's got the bouy on it, it's legal no matter where it is. That's what we do with our crab pots here in southeast.

[potbuilder]

I'm with you on this one. I have had pots raided and moved before and it sucks to come back and your pots are not where you left them and you have to hunt them down and maybe not even finding them at all.
I know we have discussed this on here for several years.
I think the best legal solution is to make the penalties for deliberately touching another persons gear so steep that a person just won't do it.
If the fines started at a minimum of $1,000 for the first offense and went up significantly from there it would start to deter people from doing it.
As it currently stands the first offense is basically a slap on the wrist and doesn't deter anybody.

Depends on how hard you slap and who's doing the slapping !

[kasilofchrisn]

Depends on how hard you slap and who's doing the slapping !

That's why I suggest a minimum first offense fine be set at $1,000.
Our current court system obviously isn't slapping hard enough and we aren't supposed to do it ourselves. Though I am sure that many of us would like to.

[Daveinthebush]

I am shrimping out of Valdez. A buddy of mine has had his picked twice this year so far. There were a few shrimp but not many.

[Swissy]

I haven't had mine pulled/check yet, but this year for whatever reason I have had people drop theirs within spitting distance of mine when the entire rest of the bay was totally and completely free of pots/buoys. I take it as a compliment that people think I know what in the hell I am doing, but if they knew the truth they would stay far far away from my pots!

[potbuilder]

That's why I suggest a minimum first offense fine be set at $1,000.
Our current court system obviously isn't slapping hard enough and we aren't supposed to do it ourselves. Though I am sure that many of us would like to.

The ****heads who are theiving don't have the money to pay fines anyway, or will plead they don't speak english/understand our laws so do something they will understand take the boat and truck involved or take it out of their hide. Loss of your stuff transcends all language barriers.

[kasilofchrisn]

The ****heads who are theiving don't have the money to pay fines anyway, or will plead they don't speak english/understand our laws so do something they will understand take the boat and truck involved or take it out of their hide. Loss of your stuff transcends all language barriers.

They should loose all fishing privaleges for several years also.
One would think if they have an ocean boat they must have some $$. Then again there are some cheap and shoddy boats out there.
Can't your wages/PFD be garnished to pay court imposed fines?
I can see the loss of their boat as a fine but if it is a crappy boat that only cost them $500 is it really all that much of a loss?

[bkmail]

Chris,
A couple asians got busted with pots in the boat when the owner pulled up on them a couple years back. They were renting boats and gear from what I remember....I'm sure someone can dig up the story as it was posted on this site.

Dave, Sorry to hear this crap is still going on. We don't leave our pots out of sight anymore since we had them stolen by ****, he was the previous owner of *****. The best part is, he was a retired law enforcement officer, no joke!

Best of luck, I hope you catch them.
BK

[kasilofchrisn]

Chris,
A couple asians got busted with pots in the boat when the owner pulled up on them a couple years back. They were renting boats and gear from what I remember....I'm sure someone can dig up the story as it was posted on this site.
BK

I remember the story but had not realized it was a rental boat.
I still think the fines should be raised to a point that any sane person would think twice before attempting to mess with another persons gear.
I hope that you catch those thieving *******s next time Dave. Or hopefully there is no next time for the pot thieves.

Sent from my HTC One V using Tapatalk

[JR2]

Chris,
A couple asians got busted with pots in the boat when the owner pulled up on them a couple years back. They were renting boats and gear from what I remember....I'm sure someone can dig up the story as it was posted on this site.

Dave, Sorry to hear this crap is still going on. We don't leave our pots out of sight anymore since we had them stolen by ****, he was the previous owner of *****. The best part is, he was a retired law enforcement officer, no joke!

Best of luck, I hope you catch them.
BK

It was a white Kingfisher... just like my boat... but I am not a shrimp pot thief. If I recall the same guys got busted with a load of black bear gal bladders and parts and that was the end of them. The boat was sold if I recall correctly.

[Garyak]

Yep set the pots yesterday afternoon. Went back today and started pulling them. And you guessed it, line wrapped up in knots, two pots right together on the line, more messy lines, knots and just a freaking mess. I hate when people pull my pots and just dump everything off the boat. I wish the action of others was considered an act of "defense of life and property".

I know mine got hit in Pigot last year. I was talking to a couple guys Tuesday evening waiting for the tunnel that were pretty sure they got hit in Blackstone on an overnight soak. They had some blanks and just a few in the rest of their pots. Said they had decent results in the same place on a 3 hour soak the next morning. I suppose there are different levels of sophistication among shrimp thieves. I'd think the more adept thieves would send buoys/pots over the opposite rail as fast as they pull them in...at least that would alleviate the snarls and tangles as well as only having about 10 ft. of evidence on deck at any given time to dispose of over the stern if the need arose...