CUSTOM FISH HOUSE STOLEN ON MEDICINE LAKE

[kenpaul1]

So what you are saying is that you should not leave your boat on the boat lift overnite??? And if you do you deserve to have it stolen?? No one deserves to have anything stolen. Take precautions--Yes. If they catch the people that stole this house I hope they get the maximum penalty possible

[McGurk]

I know you do need to worry, but someone saying "well you got what you deserved" isn't right.

I have not read anywhere Shackbash saying anything like you have just quoted him as saying. Don't put words in his mouth.

That being said I have to say I am sorry that it was stolen, along with the kids on 'tonka and the others recently hit. But, it could have been taken from his driveway just as easily, if not moreso. Theft is theft, and I think we all know that a hitch lock will only slow someone down. Wheel crank pins, while necessary for long distance hauling, aren't needed to steal a house.

Construction trailers are taken all the time, along with trailered generators and the like. Take the tires off, unbolt the hitch, double deadbolt the door high and low, and you will still have someone run into a house or trailer to create a hole in the wall to empty it out.

I've got about a 10th the value into my perm house and just barely feel comfortable leaving that alone on the ice for a week at a time, emptied completely everytime I leave. I wouldn't leave a high-buck crank-down easy-to-move house on a metro lake either. Honestly, with these new slick new drop-down, more time is spent augering and cleaning holes than dropping it down to the ice.

Thievery is a part of ALL of our lives here in the metro, don't ever think the ice is immune to it. Am I happy about it? NO. Do I want these punks caught? YES.

[ole]

So what you are saying is that you should not leave your boat on the boat lift overnite??? And if you do you deserve to have it stolen?? No one deserves to have anything stolen. Take precautions--Yes. If they catch the people that stole this house I hope they get the maximum penalty possible

I don't believe I read that anywhere?? Got any good suggestions to prevent this sort of thing from happening??

ole

[kevfish1]

I got a solution. That would be to punish the perpetrators if caught. A thief will steel no matter what. Drive around a lake someday in the summer. Stuff all over the place that would be easy to take. Nice Ranger boat off a boat lift would be no problem. I too would be interested in how to prevent this because i believe if there is a will there is a way. And the thiefs will figure it out

[Shack]

Short of taking a wheel house with you when you leave or leaving nothing in a perm, getting to know the neighbors that are out on the ice 24/7 is your only defense. If you get to know them (even a little), it seems they might keep an extra eye out for you. The only draw back is you have to be in the community and not on untapped structure alone. Need to be very close to others.

I have also heard of people running a low wattage/led bulb off of a battery in the shack, to make it look as if someone is in the shack when they where not their. This was upon ML where it is not uncommon for people to be in their shacks with out a vehicle outside and I am sure in the metro thieves would think it is someone who lives on the lake and walked out. I do not know how long it will last, but a couple LED’s by the window and a deep cycle battery would go a long way/time.

I also did see where some are installing alarms in a report last week. Not much info, but here is the article:

Jan 8, 2009 6:45 pm US/Central

Fish With Caution: Thieves Break Into Ice Houses Reporting

James Schugel (WCCO)

The crooks are fishing for flat-screens and other electronics and fishing equipment.

If you want to keep your home safe from burglars, you might put in an alarm system. And now some people are doing just that to keep their ice houses safe.

It might be a good idea after thieves broke into ice houses on Lake Minnetonka Wednesday morning. There have been twelve break-ins so far.

The crooks are fishing for flat-screens and other electronics and fishing equipment.

The people who own the ice houses have lost about $7,000 in damaged property and stolen things.

"People spend way too much time and money on these houses and have way too much money invested in them that they don't need to be broken into," said Dan Pohl.

He owns an ice house and it sits on Lake Minnetonka close to where the break-ins happened.

His home comes complete with an assortment of electronics and a few comfortable chairs.

"I completely re-gutted it. Ya know, spent a lot of time and money re-doing the whole inside. It's been my home away from home," said Pohl, who spent about $7,000 fixing up his place.

Getting into it will be difficult for any burglar.

"So you aren't going to take any chances?" asked WCCO-TV reporter, James Schugel.

"No. I got deadbolt locks. I got bars that go over the windows," Pohl said.

On Thursday, Pohl wasn't fishing. He was moving off Lake Minnetonka because he was concerned someone might break in. He decided it's safer to take his house off the ice while he's on vacation.

After all the talk of ice houses being broken into, WCCO thought to check a few homes.

We found some people are paying attention to the warning from investigators with the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department and even found several houses with padlocks on the doors.

Even the basic ice houses with portable heaters and a DVD player can be targets.

Another ice fisher, Neil Delaney said he's taking his valuables with him when he leaves. It's a lifestyle on the lake he's getting used to this winter.

"It's sad that you can't trust it there," Delaney said.

Investigators with the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office are asking for the public's help. If you have any information regarding the break-ins, call them at 1-888-988-TIPS.

[ole]

Some good ideas. Anything to deter the @$$holes is worth a try!!

ole

[shnelson]

Why not just lo-jack it? If you've got 12k+ to throw into the shack already, the extra $500 is just peace of mind that you'll have 'er on GPS. You could conceal it pretty well in a custom shack. This goes the same for your boat lift arguments, especially if you've got a $40k+ boat sitting there.

It shouldnt have to come down to this, but it does. Yeah, you have to park your car in shady areas at time, but you wouldn't do it without insurance would you?

Another idea i've had is to rig a security system up to a pay as you go cell phone. You could set it to call out (or sms) when the door is tripped, wheels are extended or the tongue is tampered with. Might be a good idea to bring to the market with all these recent theifs?

[crothmeier]

Dewalt makes a jobsite theft device called "Mobilelock". It's meant for construction trailers, but i know people that have used them on lake cabins, fishhouses and other trailers. It has a couple different sensors, temp, vibration, door contact and can be set as an audible alarm or silent alarm.

It has a call 24hr call center that calls you, texts, or e-mails if the alarm is tripped. You also have a website you sign into that you can monitor and turn on/off features.

Its about the size of a hockey puck and is magnetic or can be screwed on. I believe the battery lasts around 30 days, and is rechargeable.

If someone takes whatever it is mounted to you can look it up on the internet map and it will show you exactly where it is.

Retails for about $399-$499, there is a $20 activation fee and $20 per month service charge.

it can be moved to different things as the season changes, so its versitle all year round.

[acesinthehole]

I just heard on channel 4 news that this house was found/recovered and more details tonight at five o'clock.

[Just Me]

I am sorry, but they call them wheel houses for a reason

Again, IMO I would never leave a rig out like this. I would be asking for a loss if I did. I would not be able to sleep at night.

When it comes to a car/truck, there are places in the state I would not park a car/truck .

When I launch my boat on the lake or river, I do not leave my boat at launch over night if I am going to be their the next afternoon. I load it up and take it home. If someone did that, I know what you guys would say on here

I just think people are leaving to much stuff out on the ice and figure a little harsh reality is in order

You guys will scratch the eyes out of a fellow angler who goes threw the ice with a truck, but someone who leaves a $15,000 wheelhouse on a metro area lake and gets it stolen

We pay good money for this stuff and why give a crook an easy target.

shackback.........do you leave your boat trailer at the launch.

[Charlie kempf]

Good point never thought much about it myself, Im on my way out the door to check mine out, at least I got insurance on my unit, but holy buckets would I be mad, it wouldnt be a good idea to get a pro boxer fired up, might have to come out of retirement early, wont leave mine out no more!

[MNmikew]

I just heard on channel 4 news that this house was found/recovered and more details tonight at five o'clock.

It appears so. Found this on [YouNeedAuthorization] about it.

Found it thanks to a fellow craigslister. thank you so much to "dale." we are picking it up tonight and the police will look over it and figure this whole thing out. thanks again to everyone that has given their thoughts and helpfull ideas. (i will delete this after a couple days, i want some helpfull people to be able to see it and tomake sure we get it back for sure)

[Charries]

This is the same house that was on here the other day and it had pics with it!

Personally, I have little remorse for anglers that have stuff stolen on the ice. I own a perm and clear it out when ever leaving it for the week. This thing was portable and should have been removed (IMO), or at least if I own a shack like this it would be coming home with me.

Rule number one, do not leave anything on the ice that you will miss and rule number two is leave you perm doors unlocked. Anything less than that, you are asking for trouble and I am sorry, it is your fault

I still hopes he get's it back.

Wow dude,,you are unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KOTTKE]

Originally Posted By: shackbash

This is the same house that was on here the other day and it had pics with it!

Personally, I have little remorse for anglers that have stuff stolen on the ice. I own a perm and clear it out when ever leaving it for the week. This thing was portable and should have been removed (IMO), or at least if I own a shack like this it would be coming home with me.

Rule number one, do not leave anything on the ice that you will miss and rule number two is leave you perm doors unlocked. Anything less than that, you are asking for trouble and I am sorry, it is your fault

I still hopes he get's it back.

Wow dude,,you are unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree, I've had my house broken into, at least my neighbors felt my pain and helped clean up. this guy is just rubbing salt in the wound.

[nofishfisherman]

I wonder if someone could wire key parts of an ice house to a power source that will give a would be theif a quick jolt if they touch it.

I'm thinking if you electrify your door handle, hitch, window frames, and any other key points the theif will get a friendly reminder to keep his hands to himself.

I'm not sure of the actual feasability of this but I would love to see the look on a theifs face when the ice house knocks him on his back side.

Another thought is if you leave your houses out in a community on the ice. Get to know a few of your neighbors and set up a system of trail cameras that are pointed at each others houses. If someone breaks into your house then your neighbors trail cam will atleast snap a picture of the guy, and the camera on your house will also snap a picture of anyone trying to break into your neighbors house.

Creativity is the key. Lots of interesting ways to protect your ice house if you are creative enough. Just thought of another one... how about a motion activated recording of a dog barking, and I mean a snarling, drooling, rip your face off kind of bark.

[Shack]

Again guys, I apologized for offending anyone if you read back in this thread.

Again, Sorry. Bad post on my part. Just getting fed up with all the theft going on around the area and coming into these forums every day and hearing about this junk going on when looking for fishing reports. I went off the handle a little.

IT IS JUST A POST!

Not directed at anyone on FM or in genral. You guy's stuff is your guys stuff. You want to keep it out on the lake, that is your right. I hate to hear about fellow anglers getting ripped off .

Ripe me apart if you will , but I wonder if the owner of this house is going to leaving it on the lake over night again in the future?

[Jethro80]

(WCCO)

[Click to zoom.] Click to enlarge

Tyler Vandal and his dad bought the navy-colored shell and spent about $12,000 customizing the inside of it. They put in basswood and black walnut, along with bunks to sleep three people and a heater for the space.

CBS

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An ice house that was stolen off Medicine Lake has been recovered and now police are hoping to solve the mystery of who took it.

Tyler Vandal never thought he'd see the custom-made ice house that he and his father spent hours building again.

"Yea, it was a boost," Tyler said, as he reacted to the news his ice house was found in New Brighton, Minn. "It kind of restored my faith in people. We're really excited to keep fishing!"

He got the call Wednesday night that someone spotted it. The person had seen a news report on WCCO-TV and an ad on the popular Web site, [YouNeedAuthorization], about the missing ice house.

Tyler and his father, Mike, had customized the inside of the house with basswood and black walnut. They spent three months and $12,000 on the project.

When Tyler went fishing with his buddies Tuesday on Medicine Lake, the house was gone.

Someone spotted the house sitting on 13th Street Northwest in New Brighton, a residential area, on Wednesday night.

"There was a little damage on the outside. It looked minor. I'm pretty happy about that. They tried to force entry into a couple of the doors. The trailer lights were cut," said Tyler.

He and a detective with the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department hauled it away.

The house had been sitting in sub-zero temperatures for a couple days, so investigators put it in a warehouse in Brooklyn Park. Once it warms up, they can look for fingerprints on it. They'll also look for fingerprints on a lock the thieves broke in order to steal it.

"I wasn't ready for it to be gone so quickly," said Tyler, recalling the day he couldn't find it on the ice in Plymouth.

Now he and his father will get to spend more time together, just like they have for years on hunting and fishing trips. This winter the new times will add to the old ones.

"Yea, it's going to be a good weekend," Tyler said. "it wasn't shaping up that way but now I'm pretty stoked."

[JeffB]

I'm glad to see he got it back, and I am glad to see most peoples attitude of lets keep our ears open and get this guys fish house back. No one deserves to be stolen from. These people will always find something to steal so we need to stick together and catch them.

[chris63]

Just post a real barking,snarling,snapping dog and no thief will dare break in!c63

[dewey1980]

Great response shackbash,makes a person feel real good with a response like that.

[Shack]

Thanks Dewey

[Glockwinger]

I'm glad to see he got it back, and I am glad to see most peoples attitude of lets keep our ears open and get this guys fish house back. No one deserves to be stolen from. These people will always find something to steal so we need to stick together and catch them.

My thoughts exactly. Glad they got it back. Hopefully the idiots that stole it will get what's comin' to them.

[Gary Crichton]

OOOOUCH wow Shackbash, you are taking a beating. I do agree that if you do leave your stuff out NOWADAYS it will get taken by someone. It does suck that this world has come to this type of low life behavior among all of US humans.

Someone asked how to we stop or prevent this. There is a solution, but I can not say it on here as I know it will be removed. There is a country who have laws to combat stealing, and it is working beautifully. Thefts are DOWN 90% and going up.

I am glad they got there house back, but there is a LOT OF PEOPLE that can't say that they got their stuff back.

G.C.