Thieves

[Bill Carnazzo]

I just had my vest stolen from the back of my truck. I apparently left the camper shell unlocked sometime during the time I was moving from Newcastle to Foresthill, and someone decided he/she wanted it more than me. I have no idea where my truck was parked at the time--it could have been anywhere. During the move I was in and out of the back of the truck numerous times, and overlooked locking the shell that one fatal time.

I had 4 of the SA thin-slit boxes with the center piece; these boxes hold approximately 546 flies. I had 20+ dozen in each box. I also had a small ripple/ripple box that had 100+ flies in it. That adds up to almost 1800 flies of all shapes and sizes (trout and steelhead). I discovered the theft when I was putting my gear together for a weekend of guiding in Dunsmuir. Fortunately I have replacement cost insurance, but it will be a hassle, I predict.

Anyone have suggestions for dealing with the insurance company (I have a good company, but...) when it comes to flies, leaders, tippets, nippers, forceps, and all of the usual stuff found in flyfishers' vests? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

P.S.--If you see any SA fly boxes around with lots of flies, and labeled "Dries," "Nymphs." "Stoneflies," or "October Caddis," please let me know.

[David Lee]

Sorry to hear this , Bill .

Always remember ..... it could have been worse .

David

[mike N]

That's aweful!

I can't imagine what would be worse, having a bunch of flies you tied yourself stollen or a bunch of flies that you bought stollen.

In any event, good luck on replacing your stuff and I hope you are able to do it soon.

MN

[Wingman]

Bill,
At least your truck/camper wasn't damaged also. Keep an eye out on the auction sites for your gear as I don't think a true fisherman/woman would have done this. Possibilities are kids or someone looking to make a quick buck. For your insurance company receipts, and photos of the vest, boxes, and flies will help the most.

Sorry to here about your loss Bill.
I am sure that whoever took it has no idea of the cost or time involved to tie that many flies.
I know you are a master flytier but,that really hurts.
Sturm

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Sad Bill.

You can have them call the shop to verify the cost of things.

Probably $5,000.

[PaulC]

Hey Bill,
Sorry to hear about the loss. Its definitely sad people out there would steal someones gear like that.

One thing to look into, although I don't know if it will help you this time around, is coverage of your gear under your homeowners policy. The downfall to most policies is that you have a fairly high deductible to deal with. However, you can often buy a separate policy to cover things like fly rods, gear, etc. as an add on with no deductible. I did that earlier this year to cover all of my rods, reels, spools, and lines due the large amount of travelling this summer. I think it was an additional 60 bucks or so on our policy for the year. Not bad for peace of mind and/or if you need to buy gear to replace something stolen when on the road.
Fly box wise, things may be a bit dicey, but if you have pics of your boxes that have some date associated, that would give you a good case for refund if the claims person is a stickler.
-Paul

[JPY]

I believe it depends on your policy and how many times you made claims on it. When I had my stuff stolen, I immediately filed a police report and prepared an itemized list of the stolen items. I then had a local shop price replacement value for the stolen items. The insurance agent verified the value with the shop and gave me my money. It was not diffucult but a hassle of documenting everything.

Good luck,
John

[Jay Murakoshi]

Hey Bill,

I'm an expert at this. When my truck was stolen in Sacramento a few years ago, I had 4 rods with reels, flies, slide projector, slides, cameras and car stereo.
I have state farm as my home insurance but I have a separate writer covering my equipment. Here's what I had to do:

Inventory every piece of equipment, including line and backing, etc.
As for flies, I estimated the number of flies in the bag and got a catalog that had something similar, just for pricing. It's going to be a big hassle buts it worth to take you time. Most of my equipment was saved to a CD and they had a copy.

Once you get a settlement, you might have to resubmit your inventory as you replace it. Because what happened with my rods, reels, etc. Since it was stolen, it was no longer on the list and once I replaced it, I had to call the insurance company, have a bill of sale and a description of the flies I replaced. The total of my loss was around $7,300.00. The only thing I got screwed on was my slides. Since there was 50+ slides, they only replaced it with two rolls of film

Good luck

Jay

[Adam Grace]

Sorry Bill!

[rrivera]

Bill, So sorry about your loss. It is amazing sometime no matter how safe or remote you think you are, there are always opportunist waiting to make an example of you.

Bill - what I did was take photos of all my FF'ing stuff and gave a CD copy to my insurance agent. With that CD I included a breakdown of new cost and depreciated cost of all my rods and reels on a excel ss.

Then I gave a cost of all the tools (I include flies as tools as well), waders, even my net, and included pics and descriptions as well. For flies the only price I have been able to get is a buck fifty, no matter the type. I insured up to 500 flies. For me that was enough. I pay 23 bucks a month for the policy. This also includes insurance for my drift boat and any mishaps with that as well.

As a guide, can you claim those at the end of the year with the TAX folks..? Flies are considered as tools, are they not. 5k worth of flies are a lot tools to part with. Hope you can claim those some how. Best of luck.. Ray

[jfkowalski]

If you haven't done it yet, file a report with the police. Most insurance companies consider this a necessity and proof that there was a loss

[SullyTM]

Keep an eye on ebay and Craig's List just in case the thief tries to unload your gear. SullyTM

[Hairstacker]

So sorry to hear of your losses Bill. Aside from the costs, I can't imagine how many hours you had invested in your gear. . . . Sure hope it wasn't a real fly fisherman. Since you're a professional, I think Ray made an excellent point about claiming the losses on your taxes. 'Course, they will likely want you to offset proposed losses with any insurance proceeds received. But definitely something to keep in mind if you run into any hitches with your insurance recovery.

[Bill Carnazzo]

Many thanks for all of the kind words and very helpful suggestions. Fortunately I've got replacement cost insurance, and it looks like it will work out reasonably well. The big disappointment, though, is the loss of my own patterns that I tied--not that they are the world's greatest flies, but still...Anyway, Carpe carp!

[Brad Blancett]

Sorry to hear this news Bill . I just hope the folks that did the dirty deed believe in Karma ! Glad to hear you have it covered .

[Digger]

That sure BLOWS.
Are you posting this on all the numerous websites?
Maybe offer a no questions asked-reward or something(?)

Hard to believe a fellow fly fisher would pull this kind of poop.

[Bill Carnazzo]

Thanks, guys...It is hard to believe that a fellow fly fisher would do such a thing, so I am going on the assumption that the thief was just a desperate thug looking for a few quick bucks.

But the real question to ponder is who but a fly fisher or wanna-be would buy another angler's stolen possessions? Surely we all appreciate how personal one's vest (or fanny pack, or whatever) is--don't we? Personally, I can't imagine myself opening a fly box to find that "winner," knowing that the collection I am ogling belongs to a fellow angler. Food for thought. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

[Hairstacker]

You raise an interesting question Bill. I would think a potential purchaser would have to be fooled into thinking he was buying the gear of someone who was giving up the sport or something like that. I agree, one's vest is a VERY personal piece of gear, no less than a favorite hat. And personally, with rare exceptions, I'm reluctant to fish ANY fly I haven't tied myself, aside from a few beauties I've received from friends. Frankly, I'm convinced no one who posts here would fish flies they thought were stolen. I think Brad had the right idea -- Karma will work itself out in the end. . . .

[Darian]

Bill,.... Your question makes the assumption that all or most fly fisherman are the same (....honest, forthright, helpfull, etc.). I'm not sure that's a valid assumption. I sure hope you get your stuff back but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.... :( :(