By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Dealing with theft is always difficult, but for the Hays Bass Anglers Association, the sting of a recent loss is punctuated by the impact the loss will have on area youth.
During the evening of Nov. 19, the club's new trailer — and all of its equipment — was stolen from an area parking lot the club had used for years.
Now they are asking the public for any information that might lead to the trailer and equipment being recovered.
The club's old trailer had served the club for around 20 years, but after years of use, the trailer was beginning to show its age and was becoming increasingly worn — to the point full-speed highway travel was becoming dangerous.
The old trailer was clearly marked and was stored in a local business lot for years while not in use.
"We had our logos and our sponsors' names and stuff like that on that trailer," said Steven Hausler, conservation director for the club.
After years of saving, the club searched and found a perfect replacement just months before the theft, but insurance had not yet been secured on the new trailer.
"We were talking about insuring it, but just hadn't gotten it done," Hausler said.
"We had enough money to purchase the trailer last year, and it was right before our September Big Bass Challenge, and we bought the trailer and took some time to modify it to hold the fishing equipment and the boxes and all of the stuff we have to have as a bass club to do the kinds of things that we do," he said.
The new trailer had no markings on the outside but was parked in the same location as the club's old trailer.
And even though the theft was captured on video from a nearby business, no leads in the case have arisen.
"So we watched the surveillance video and the people that stole it — it was more than one person," he said. "They just drove up to it, cut the lock off, hooked it up, and were gone."
"It's just a sad thing," Hausler said. "We are pretty disappointed. We are disappointed in ourselves that we ended up losing a trailer and all of the materials inside."
According to a press release, "The value of the trailer and its contents, which exceeds $5,000, contained items the club used to conduct fishing tournaments, youth events and tools used by the club for fisheries habitat and conservation projects. Most hurtful, the trailer contained more than a dozen fishing rods and reels used for an annual fishing event with children from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ellis County. The theft also included tents, poles and targets used for the club’s Kids Casting Competition. The Kids Casting Competition is a popular event that routinely draws more than 100 participants each year at the Youth Outdoor Festival in Hays."
Club members have been monitoring area online classifieds, eBay and other online sales platforms for any sign of the missing items, but so far no leads have been produced, Hausler said.
"It's gone nowhere, so we are trying to find a way to replace the poles that we use for the casting kids and for the fishing events that we do for Big Brothers Big Sisters," he said.
Those events organizaed by the club are also a way to raise funds for their habitat work.
"We do habitat work at all of the area lakes for wildlife and parks," Hausler said. "We volunteer our winter time when we are not fishing to do that kind of work."
He said doing that work is a way for the club to give back to the community, but after the loss, many in the club are dipping into their own pockets to secure new equipment.
"It's a small club, but we do a lot of work for the community," Hausler said.
And the equipment is what made that work possible.
"It's important for us to have that equipment so we can do those kinds of things," Hausler said, "so it was a devastating loss for us."
As the club remains hopeful the trailer and its contents will be returned, as time continues to pass the club is hoping someone in the community will do the right thing and report any information to the Hays Police Department.
Outside of information, they are also accepting donations to replace the trailer and equipment — in case it is never recovered.
Donations can be given directly to any member of the club. Hausler also said he can be reached at 785-623-1782 or via email at [email protected].
But ultimately after the loss, the club is just looking to get back to doing the activities the members love.
"We enjoy improving habitat at our area reservoirs so that everybody can enjoy better fishing and better fishing success," Hausler said. "And certainly the youth activities with Big Brothers Big Sisters, we do one-on-one teaching and they actually get to go fishing and catch fish. That's something that we are pretty prideful of."