| MARK HODSON | |
An angler since he can remember, Mark Hodson almost literally lives, eats and breathes fishing. A match angler in his youth, fishing for the junior Starlets, he turned to the dark side and joined the ‘floppy hat’ brigade in his college years. He worked in the tackle trade for ten years, on a part time or full time basis at Chaplains, one of Birmingham’s busiest tackle shops and managed the specialist department there for two years. He now fishes just for fun, although the ‘floppy specialist hat’ still dominates his angling, his writing concentrates on getting the maximum enjoyment from your angling and trying something different from the norm. |
| A GUIDE TO FISHING SECURITY With anglers being attacked on the bank and every thief in the land looking to have your beloved fishing tackle away if they get half a chance I thought I would share a few security tips that I’ve picked up firstly as an angler and secondly as a police officer. In this article I’ll look at keeping your gear secure and safe at home and in the second article I’ll go over how to stay safe on the bank and the best ways to protect your car and marking your tackle. The Morality check There is one simple reason fishing tackle gets stolen and that’s because there’s a market for it, in other words some low life is prepared to buy stolen gear at a knock down price knowing its been nicked. These people who buy this gear are the first to complain when their gear gets stolen without realising that they have contributed to their own misfortune by helping generate the demand in the first place. The ‘morality check’ is simple – don’t buy stolen gear if you don’t want your own being stolen later down the line. If you buy stolen gear and suffer a theft then tough, because you’re no better than the original thief and cannot realistically class yourself as a victim, (and we all know that 95% of the tackle at car boots, in the paper or on e-bay that is too cheap to be true, is knocked off gear, so none of this ‘turning a blind eye’ rubbish as well). And it doesn’t just apply to tackle either, because if you buy anything that fell off the back of a lorry you’re just as bad, because the bloke who’s selling the stolen perfume, contraband fags, or stolen meat from M&S is most likely the same bloke who will fence your tackle collection when someone steals it from your garage. So it’s simple ‘Live by the sword, die by the sword’. If no-one bought stolen property in the first place then thefts would drop by 85% overnight as this is the figure committed by those who steal just to sell on to fund addictions. Life lesson over, let’s move on. Keeping your tackle safe at home Why some people keep thousands of pounds worth of tackle in a £ 200 shed amazes me. After all, would you keep a £ 3000 Plasma screen TV in your relatively insecure shed? I understand that some anglers have nowhere else to keep their gear as not many partners/wives will allow smelly, dirty and wet tackle into the house. But if you can just keep the smelly stuff like net bags and bait in the shed and get your gear like chairs, tackle boxes and rod bags inside then do so. Try using the argument that if your gear does get stolen from the shed then there will be no family holiday next year as the insurance probably won’t pay out and you’ll have to pay out of your own pocket. If they still refuse tell them that if you don’t have any fishing tackle you’ll get depressed and turn into a drunken tramp. If that doesn’t work turn your shed into Fort Knox. Securing your shed Start with the door, fit a good strong padlock with the clasp and hinge screwed into the main frame of the shed not just the outer skin. Double up with another padlock or a five lever mortice lock. A security light covering the shed area and shed alarm (available from any DIY store) are also a must. Also a good tip is to line all the walls and door of your shed with  When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community.
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