TOP specimen ace Matthew Fernandez suffered a horrible tackle theft during a fishing trip. And despite publicity for the case he is no closer to recovering his kit.
The 32-year-old was on his local River Itchen near Mansbridge, early in October, when scumbag thieves targeted his car.
Matt took to social media to get the word out, and the story was covered by the on-the-ball Angler’s Mail magazine.
Weeks later, Matt is still at a loss as to the where his tackle went after it vanished from beside the River Itchen.
Precision engineer Matt, from Southampton, Hampshire, explained: “Some low-life piece of rubbish robbed me of my river fishing kit out of my car.
“I parked up and went for a walk to see where I fancied to fish and was only away from the vehicle for ten minutes, maximum.
“On my return my rods, reels, rucksack full of end tackle, bait bucket, landing net and unhooking mat had all been robbed.
“I worked bloody hard to buy all that of that fishing gear and some scum had it away within minutes.
“Paranoia has well and truly set in now but I’m convinced I was targeted, and that the people behind this knew who I was and what I drive and knew where I fish.
“The sad thing is I can’t afford to replace the items that have been stolen so it’ll take a long time to replace what’s gone.
“When I brought the majority of the kit I didn’t have kids or a missus so I was in a position to waste lots of money on fishing gear.
“Sadly that’s not the case now but it won’t stop me from fishing, that’s the main thing. Maybe karma will give me a monster barbel.
“If any of these items become available on any for sale sites please let me know. Most of it is in mint condition,” concluded Matt.
Kit stolen in the River Itchen raid included:
- a two-rod Drennan quiver
- Drennan Martin Bowler 1.75 lb barbel rod
- Drennan Medium Match Pro feeder rod
- Drennan Acolyte float rod
- Shimano 5010 Baitrunner reel plus a Shimano match reel
- two Daiwa SS1600 reels
- two Fox Micron M alarms
- Dave Swallow MK1 centrepin
- Thinking Anglers coolbag
- Korum chair
Updating Angler’s Mail, he said: “Thanks for putting the story in the magazine.
“Sadly I haven’t heard anymore. There’s been lots of thefts in the area though, sadly. Lots of vans have been broken into and tools are being stolen.”
With none of Matt’s gear having been recovered at the time of this story going online, if you can help please email him. His email address is: mattfernandez1986@hotmail.com
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