Community rallies round as ghillie loses £5,000 worth of fishing gear

The salmon fishing community has rallied round a Tay ghillie after he had thousands of pounds worth of gear stolen just hours before the start of the new season.

Head ghillie Andy Gunn had stored several rods in a bothy on the Newtyle estate in anticipation of yesterday’s opening day.

However, thieves targeted the shed over the weekend, ignoring machinery and other items to take the tackle.

Andy said the equipment was conservatively valued at £5,000, with each rod costing upwards of £500 new. He said the stolen rods would usually be loaned to anglers who may have forgotten to bring their own gear.

“I’d put the rods in ready for the start of the season – they were in an old gun cabinet that I’d screwed to the floor,” he said.

“They cleaned it out – they stole every bit of fishing gear that was in that hut. It was 20 plus rods – there was eight or 10 set up with reels.

“There was a generator and other things in there and they walked right past it to the fishing gear – which I’m amazed at.

“It’s hard to tell (if we’ve been targeted deliberately). The hut’s got no windows in it, so nobody would know what was in it otherwise.

“It’s annoying, and the fact it might be someone I know is upsetting.

“I would have used some of the rods today and I’ve had to rake about to use some old stuff.”

He added that he hoped the distinctive nature of some of the equipment would help trace it.

He said: “Some of these rods were bespoke. Hopefully if someone tries to offer them for sale someone will get in touch with me.

“I put a post on Facebook and so many people offered me tackle, which was unbelievable.

“That was really touching – it’s good to know that there are people out there that are backing you up.”

A spokesman for Police Scotland said officers were appealing for information in relation to the theft.

He said: “Between 5pm on Thursday January 11 and 10.30am on Saturday January 13, a storage bothy was broken into, and about £5,000 worth of fishing rods and reels were taken.

“The rods were Farlow, Diawa, Bloke, Abu and Sonic makes, while the reels were Shimano and Diawa.

“Given the secluded location of the storage shed where the theft took place, it is unlikely that anyone would have directly witnessed this theft – however, it is quite possible that people have been offered these items for sale.”