Lots of stolen stuff.. bunch of punks.. from my buddy Cliff Barker

flybill

flybill

Legend and Spey Jedi!
Forum Supporter
Just found out from Vern Jerimica at the tying section at the FF Bellevue show that Cliff Barker had something like 40 rods / reels I assume and FF gear stolen from his house. They supposedly broke in over 3 days and cleaned him out. Cliff is older, way older than my mother and a dear friend.

I don't have a list of whatever was stolen, but will say he has a long of old gear and very cool stuff.. Any of us would be lucky to have his collection.

I will post more if I find out anything. I worked with him at XRodz a long time ago and even reached out to Jim Mercier.

If you see any too good to be true deals, please consider it could be stolen from him or others.

Fuckers who steal.. anyone have great detective skills or contacts at the Bellevue PD let me know. I might need a pose as backup. And am going to check some of the local pawn shops.

Thanks,
Bill
425.531.3396 (please call or text) or just post here.

Can we pin this thread at the top! Admins.. @Evan B @Josh

I also posted this on FB and may do Intsa.
 
Last edited:
That totally sucks!

Sounds like a targeted attack that was well coordinated and planned out. There are groups of thieves that move items up and down the coast by selling items in CA. that are from WA. to avoid detection.

IF you can identify some specialized, unique items and provide them privately, I would be more than interested in helping with the search. Fishing is slow and I have time to be a keyboard researcher in the basement. Just do not post them publicly in case they are on this site.

Lets get the gear back!

RCF
 
Last edited:
Bill Kiene’s site is still up and running so someone might reach out to Bill directly and let him know without posting direct to site and warn the turds off. He’s living in Fla now but the site is Cal / Baja focused. Might be worth a DM to him. Just a thought.
 
ttt

can we pin this? Or can I?
 
Talked to Bellevue PD, got the case number and Officer Barnet at Bellevue PD. These guys who ripped off Cliff were squatting in his house while he was in a home or the hospital. Cliff is okay, the house is clean. More to follow..
 
Complete and utter BS on Spey Pages.. who has Dana Sturns contact info.. I will repost it, just to piss the admins off or fuck with the Bots.. fuck AI!

Actually to piss of the admin, or the bots.. or just so it won't be noticed, I posted this in the General Forum and the Tackle Forum...

Big BAD FlyBill

Screenshot 2025-02-20 021316.pngScreenshot 2025-02-20 021705.png
 
Last edited:
And to boot, I've been on the site since 2003. I believe the company that bought WFF.com also bought SpeyPages.com.

Screenshot 2025-02-20 022158.png
 
VAGABOND said:
Bill Kiene’s site is still up and running so someone might reach out to Bill directly and let him know without posting direct to site and warn the turds off. He’s living in Fla now but the site is Cal / Baja focused. Might be worth a DM to him. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Signed up on his site, thanks for pointing it out, I had never heard of it. My account is pending approval, but will post when I can.

As far as the gear, I do not know what he had or had stolen. Nor does Jim Mercier, Dov Young or probably even Cliff.

Please just keep an eye out for older gear, custom rods (many with Cliff's name), reels and not just fly fishing gear.
---------------------------------------------------------

If you see something suspicious contact me directly, RCF or Bellevue PD. We have probably done all that we can. Since the theft involved so much stuff, it will be worked on. These guys were most likely homeless and squatted in Cliff's home. Keep an eye on your neighbors property and maybe let a few neighbors know when you're gone for any extended periods.

And one more thing, years ago I had sold a Remington Wingmaster to Cliff. A shotgun! I never bothered to transfer ownership and doubt that he did. I notified Bellevue PD and they weren't aware of any guns involved or stolen. Still I had to let them know.
-----------------------------------------------------------
I did let the WFFC club know at the monthly meeting I was invited too. I also met a cute, but married woman to fish with.

Today at Gig Harbor Fly Fishing, I let Doug know. I hung around for quite a while.
------------------------------------------------------------

I have not heard anything new yesterday and may call at the end of the week. I would prefer to let them do their job and notify me or contact me for additional info if required.

Peace and love!
Bill
 
3rd times the charm.. we'll see.. really posting because as annoying as the site software is, it's actually pretty funny!

Hope you enjoy my drama.. we should make a TV show out of it...

[td]
Spey Pages
[td][/td]​
​
[/td]​
[td]
GR8LAKES FLYER replied to your conversation at Seriously, you deleted this thread on Cliff Barker getting **** stolen
This is the statement in question and the member was asked to edit or re-write the content: " ****ers who steal.. anyone have great detective skills or contacts at the Bellevue PD let me know. I might need a pose as backup." Yes, the latter part of the highlighted statement has malicious...
View Conversation​
View All Conversations​
​
[/td]​
 
Judging by the caliber of the individuals that did this my guess is that they lack the brainpower to list on forums or places like Keine's.
My guess is that it would be more likely that items would show up in low end pawn shops or be listed on Craigslist or Facebook.
I had a theft a couple of years ago and one thing I read that concerned me is that some of the unscrupulous pawn shops have been known to buy and backdoor goods to a shop in another town that they are in cahoots with.
Good luck... I hope they flub up and get caught soon.
 
Spey Pages has always been a well run, non-rant fountain of knowledge forum, and as their primary objection to your post is the use of swear words which violate their forum standards, why not just rewrite it without them?
 
SurfnFish said:
Spey Pages has always been a well run, non-rant fountain of knowledge forum, and as their primary objection to your post is the use of swear words which violate their forum standards, why not just rewrite it without them?
Click to expand...
I made a comment about hunting them down, the thieves. Removed it and it's all good. Thanked the admins..Yada yada.. Just took multiple tries to figure out what was wrong with my post.

My aunt in OH is in the ER with chest pain and had a major heart attack about 6 weeks ago.. shit just keeps rolling..
 
Millsfly said:
searchtempest.com is a great aggregator of marketplace and CL feeds that allow you to search for specific items on a very wide regional range. Good way to look for the stolen items.
Click to expand...
Very cool! I have something similar.. thanks for the info!
 
Looks like some nice stuff of Cliffs was found at a pawn shop up in Everett. I'm not stating the name of the shop, but called and thanked them for holding it. An eagle eyed gentleman named Jesse contacted me as he saw my posts. He just signed up on the board and his username is Throwback! Just happened to be looking at the shop and noticed Cliff's name.

Ill be contacting Bellevue PD tomorrow morning! Yeah! One down, many to go.. this gives you an idea of the type of gear Cliff has / had.. that's an older Orvis rod, not sure on how old..

IMG_20250220_173011.jpgIMG_20250220_173004.jpg
 
Last edited:
Yard Sale said:
Thats cool they found some of it! It would go a long way if a list could be provided.
Click to expand...
I've been back and forth on this.. the downside of this is publicizing to the thieves what they have.. anyway, it's a moot point.. none of us, who really know Cliff know exactly what was stolen.. even Cliff doesn't, although he would have a general idea. He's 87 and spent his lifetime collecting and buying this gear...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top