My partner and I fish a private lake in a club we are in and frequently just leave our boats down there. The farmers keep the gates locked unless they are down there farming and even then lock them at night.

Some time between weekend before last and last weekend some one stole 1 of the 2 poles in my boat, my bilge pump (which is loose as I move it between 2 boats), and a small tackle box with crappie tackle. They left 2 minnow buckets, paddles, some minnow dippers, and the boat itself which is a light 14 foot jon boat that they could have easily thrown in the back of a truck.

They stole 2 of the 4 poles in my partner's boat, his crappie tackle box, and a pair of needle nose pliers. However they left his minnow buckets, battery, trolling motor and gas tank.

The same thing happened 2 or 3 years ago.

It's a mystery to us because the farmer doesn't think it was any of his employees, and we know them all and can't imagine it either. Also none of us have ever run into some one who just wandered in when the gates were open, though some one sure could have.
The other perplexing thing is that you would think a thief would get every thing, but in both cases they took some things and left others and what they left was probably more valuable than what they took.