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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | wow is right
wanting to jump on a 14 year old kid after taking your own risk with something very expensive. did he tell the kid how much it was worth and you break it you buy it? did he understand the consequences before he got to use it? chances are that if he did, the kid would have opted out ... but he didn't get a chance.
wow, what a bunch of sallies ... i hope you guys never meet my kids ...
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Posts: 2378
| I'd chalk it up as a lesson learned for both of you. If it were my kid I'd offer to replace it, but if it were my combo I wouldn't expect it.
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Posts: 367
Location: Chicago | I'm with sled. Not like he sank the #*^@ boat after taking it without permission..... |
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| Pretty much the same here.
I have always encouraged my kids, my siblings, and my nephews and nieces to fish, and musky fish if they would. I have offered good quality rods and reels equal to my own, but perhaps not my "pet" combo, to fish with at anytime. If I wasn't fishing, they were welcome to use my "pet" combo too. Many inpenetrable backlashes, broken rod tips, lost favorite lures and a couple of fishing rods later, I cannot think of money I ever spent better or that yielded more life value. Not knowing how the kid lost the rig, it is hard to really respond to the thread. If it was an accident, I think then that is the price of doing the business of taking kids fishing, and you bite both the bullet and your tongue. You knew the risks and if you were unwilling to bear them, you shouldn't have made your equipment available to a 14 year old.
I took my own dose of bitter surprise a couple years ago when my kids, who I always encouraged to play guitar or any instrument, took my 30 year old accoustic guitar to church with them and brought it back in two pieces, and we are still not quite sure about the story on how. But, I really felt that I had encouraged free use of it, and on reflection, it is one of the things that can happen, and I didn't get bent too much. I was actually kind of depressed about what had happened to it, and monetarily it cost me more than any 4-5 fishing rigs in terms of devaluation, but I eventually looked at it like the occassional car accident or other damaging accidents, it's just a thing. I didn't run my kids off the guitar and one of them plays better than I can, and in the long run that has more value than any guitar I might own, so...
Generosity and forgiveness are never bad traits in a person or a relative. |
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Posts: 1516
| My 2 cents I would not buy the kid anything. But, I would not really expect them to come up with a replacement. I guess I wouldn't have left the high dollar stuuf with the kid. I have some older stuff I don't use so that's what i would have left them to fish with anyway it's to bad you lost the rig but thats the way it goes. If you want to fish with him again better to forgive and forget |
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Posts: 267
Location: Right behind you (tap, tap) BOOO | I have some old setups that work fine, I just don't prefer them any more and if I have a guest in the boat these are the setups they use. Some make comments like why can't I use the St.Croix that you aren't using or something like that and I just plain and simply tell them, if they want to use the St.Croix we'll stop at Gander on the way home and you can spend your own coin.
As far as the 14 year old, I would let it go, it's a solid excuse to go out and get a new rig, only this time you can make some changes that you wish the other rig had. I have been in his position, ruin my godfather brand new in the box on the counter reel, it was an open face spinning reel and I decided to take the handle out and put it on the other side (being able to do that was new at the time) and in the midst of my screwing around I cross-threaded the post, OOOOPS. I felt horrible and explained what happen he was mad that is for sure, now we laugh about it almost every family get together.
I'm sure he has beat himself up plenty over the blunder and having made the phone call, he owned up to his mistake like a man, LESSON LEARNED, I'm sure.
just my 2 pennies
Edited by esox23 7/16/2007 9:06 PM
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Posts: 38
| Ha, my girlfriend dropped my nikon digital camera in the lake with all of my musky photos from last season! She said OOpps sorry...
Makes fishing rough sometimes..
Joe |
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Posts: 8863
| Sled, if one of your kids lost one of my rods, you would probably run out and get me a new one before I even knew it was gone. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't just shrug your shoulders and say "sorry dude, I know that was a $500 combo, your loss..." and walk away. |
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Posts: 910
Location: Hastings, mn, 55033 | I agree with many of the comments but would maybe take a bit different approach. Instead of having the nephew buy a replacement for the lost combo, I would have him save his money and buy HIMSELF a new combo. That way he still has a sense of the value of what was lost while at the same time learning whats involved with caring for your equipment. When I was old enough to get my first shotgun, my Dad made me buy it myself while most of my buddies Dads bought them their first guns. Needless to say I still have my first shotgun and its in as good of condition as the day I bought it. Most of the others cant say the same thing.
When a kid has to spend their own hard earned money on something it has more value and more "meaning" to it than if they are given something/ |
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Posts: 785
| Thats why kids get snuppy poles to use! I dropped my share of stuff in the lake. The difference is back then my whole families rods, reels, and tackle probably didn't cost as much as that one set up of yours. Just be glad you could afford to buy it in the first place LOL.
No in reality I hope his parents reimburse you but I know how the kid feels, gone through enough. Take him fishing again asap is the best advice... and give him the cheepest combo you own to use! |
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Posts: 743
| i agree with Baldy and Sled. if my kids dropped it in and lost it,i'd replace it. but i would NEVER expect some one else to pay for a Kid's mistake. if you are gonna let someone else's kids play with your stuff, what do you expect? if you would have told him "this is an expensive rod/reel, are you sure you want to fish w/ it because if you break it, i'm going to tell your mom", then i bet he just would have not fished at all. and that would have been no fun for anyone.
if you have gonna let kids play with the big boy toys, expect stuff like this to happen.
tomcat
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Posts: 128
Location: ontario canada - Well Anderson Indiana now | BALDY - 7/16/2007 7:17 PM
I'd chalk it up as a lesson learned for both of you. If it were my kid I'd offer to replace it, but if it were my combo I wouldn't expect it.
But did the kid learn a lesson? I mean what kind of kid is this? Is this a fourteen year old who makes good decisions and learns from his mistakes? If this is a delinquent child this would be a great chance to teach some responsibility. On the other hand if this is a good kid...oh well mistakes happen.
Bottom line is that none of us know this kid so how can we pass judgement on how to handle this situation???
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Posts: 462
Location: Syracuse, Indiana | Similar situation happened to me recently. My fiance's brother's oldest (14) dropped a combo of mine in the drink. In fact, the kid fell completely out of the boat. He was so embarrassed and apologetic, and is such a good kid, I just chalked it up to experience. He offered (on his own) to get me a new combo, but I declined. |
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Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI | esoxaddict - 7/17/2007 9:46 AM
Sled, if one of your kids lost one of my rods, you would probably run out and get me a new one before I even knew it was gone. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't just shrug your shoulders and say "sorry dude, I know that was a $500 combo, your loss..." and walk away.
I'd be willing to bet Sled's kids have their own stuff. This is a family situation. I say be glad the kid wanted to fish. He feels terrible would be my guess. Imagine this kid's excitement when he was casting for muskies with the equipment his uncle let him use. He thought that Uncle was the coolest guy in the world. I bet he went from thrilled to absolutely terrified in the two seconds it took for that combo to sink out of site. Plenty of punishment right there.
I'd pat him on the head, tell him accidents happen, don't worry about it. If the Mom or Dad try to make good, great. If they don't want to, or it's beyond their means, big deal. It's a fishing rod. If they don't want to or can't, that's just one more reason to get another combo in the kid's hands and get him on the water.
Personally when it comes to STUFF, I'm willing to let anyone use anything I have, family or not. If an accident occurs, I could care less. The chances are always pretty slim there will be an accident, and I'm willing to take that kind of chance for friends, and especially family.
Sheesh, I have given people close to me money when they were in need. Some have paid me back and that's great. Others have had their struggles and I don't hold my breath waiting for pay back, or hold it against them.
A kid losing a rod and reel? I say who gives a crap. You might as well get really pissed if your kid spills some grape juice on the carpet. Kids break, lose, and spill things. That's why they're kids. If they don't, it's kind of scary.
Kevin
Reeling in King salmon in five foot waves will tire you out. I'm not kidding. Two 10+- pounders and I was tired. |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Ok- Been there done that! If you let a "kid' use your gear be prepared for unexpected results. My grandson (Xavier) tossed my 6'6" G-Loomis out of the boat. Haaaaaaaaaaaaa! big surprise! It has enough cork in the handle to float with a fully spooled Shimano Curado 200 on it!
Worried abouat rod floation issues go with a Professional Edge Custom rod with the extra large 18" cork handles- way eaiser to handle and very comfortable. This year that's exactly what I did-2 9 ft xxx heavy St Croix from Professional Edge.
I don't know about Diamond Back versus XYZ. My PE Rod's are everything I expected and more, i.e very rugged-light- and fish fighting machine's. On a recent trip to Dogtooth in Western Ontario (Kenora area) my 15 year old nephew was using all of my rods, including the Pro-Edge 9'rs, and while using them he put two 41 inch Northern's into the boat. The really great part of the trip was watching him realize what we were discussing about fighting fish, was reality based on lots of years of experience fishing different species, and that it was proving true at that very instant in time!
One time he muttered something about losing a nice small mouth to barbless hooks~ I immediately took offense! I responded with, that, I thought his fish fighting skills were not up to parr! Naturally "Uncle Al" was on/in for the bet, I told him what I thought he was doing wrong and I also showed him how to set the reel for the lure & the rod. We also talked about hookset's and backing off the drag! At the end of the trip- his hookset & fish fighting skills were with the best.
Have fun!
Al |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | ea ... it's a good bet you would want to borrow his, but he probably wouldn't have room for you in "his" boat ... we use our stuff and if .... oops, when stuff gets broken, we fix it or replace it. we use our own stuff and if the neighbor kids come in the boat, they use and break our stuff ... but we invited them, so we've also taken the burden of the risk ...
my guess is the possiblity of one of my kids borrowing your rod is pretty slim |
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Posts: 484
Location: St. Louis, MO., Marco Is., FL, Nestor Falls, ON | I would ask the nephew what he thinks should happen. Lessons on personal responsibility can't wait till you reach a certain age. They begin when they are babies and don't stop. If you want responsible young adults, let them make decisions and enjoy the results of good decisions and the consequences of the bad ones. Just don't let them make wrong decisions that could harm them. If I as a child did not work to replace what I had lost or damaged, I would have felt bad about myself and guilty everytime I thought of it. Letting the nephew work off the cost of a new rig will make him look back with pride at doing the right thing and taking responsibility. Perhaps he can work it off around your house doing odd jobs. This will bond the two of you closer while he learns a good lesson about life. Don't be too sheltering of 14 year old kids. They already have one foot in adulthood. |
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Posts: 8863
| "my guess is the possiblity of one of my kids borrowing your rod is pretty slim"
That's a safe bet considering the fact that if your kids broke or lost something of mine it would be my fault for loaning it to them! |
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Posts: 572
| While growing up, I was taught to be responsible for any thing I borrowed. If something got broken or damaged, I was to replace or fix it. Funny, I learned to respect others property more than my own.
I've also learned it is my responsibilty for loaning any of my property. If the property is loan without conveying the responsibility, that is my fault and loss....and it may be my loss even then.
What I find interesting about this story is no one seems to mention much about the brother. It disappoints me that the brother can't step up to the plate and discuss his feelings to come to an agreement on who is responsible for the lost.
As to this whole situation, perhaps a little time could have been spent showing the brother and kid how to adjust the brother's rod and reel the kid was fishing with.... Afterall, that's what the brother thought was good enough to use. Replacing it with the loaned (expensive) rod and reel was like saying the brother must go out and buy an expensive rod and reel for the kid to fish with.....wrong...the brother was being left out of the loop.....what? Who provides for this kid?
If the brother and kid is a father / son relationship, leaving the expensive rod and reel was WRONG, not for the loss of the rod and reel, but the loss in the father and son relationship.
As it is now, this unfortunate situation may result in the brother and kid from being together a lot, whether fishing or not.
So, I feel the brother should be contacted, not for the lost of the rod and reel, but to help in adjusting his rods and reels.
If the brother feels new rods and reels would be best, then it would be best to make recommendations on how to select a good rod and reel. If money was a problem, then a little help might go a long way.
Relationships are more important than a lost rod and reel......by simple mistakes....regardless who is at fault. |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Like I said above if you have the right rod's they'll float. Here's the "Twin's" . One has a Calcutta 400TE and the other a Luna 300. My G Loomis's also float, i.e., 6'6" and 7' 6", both have Shimano Curado 200's on them.
Have fun!
Al
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 KT PE Rods 001.jpg (41KB - 167 downloads)
KT PE Rods 002.jpg (33KB - 155 downloads)
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Posts: 358
Location: London, England | Sounds like you had a lucky escape to me. The kid did you a favor, now you've got rid of the nasty bass tackle you can replace it with a proper musky rod and reel outfit!
Edited by Tim Kelly 7/19/2007 12:01 PM
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