Without a doubt there has to be a special place in hell for the scum-sucking slime who snatched roughly seventy percent of the Stonefly Outfitters’ (Twin Bridges, Montana) inventory during the wee hours last Saturday.
Those who frequent Montana fly shops during the summer season understand that there’s a pretty damned small window during a 24-hour day when a fly shop isn’t open; these guys were hit between the 11pm closing on Saturday night and the 5am opening on Sunday.
From the new reports (Billings Gazette’s here) the bastards cleaned out the Scott rods, Hatch and Nautilus reels, Simms gear, cash and even the cash register; retail value of the haul was in the neighborhood of $20,000.
Rooster’s crew had been hit earlier in the summer when someone liberated four Yetis chained to the front porch.
This isn’t the first fly shop to be hit in the past year and it probably won’t be the last; there was that rash of theft from the Colorado shops a year or so ago and a shop we know of in Tacoma (Puget Sound Fly Company) has been cleaned out twice in the past year, one time by thieves knocking a freakin’ hole in the wall from the empty shop next door.
As this stuff gets fenced off it sure should make you think twice about that screaming deal on Ebay.
The shop has been promised rapid replenishment from suppliers though that still doesn’t wash away the sense that assholes have been pawing through your business and cleaning out the high-value items.
We’re convinced that those who wreak havoc and plunder the hard-working among us will get their due in time; may it come quickly for the asshats who hit the Stonefly.
