I saw a donkey at the stream today!

Well that was just nice terminology on a family fishing board ... this guy was a real ###. I took my boys fishing today for my youngest son's B-day(turned 6 today). We caught a few fish (4 for each of my boys). My youngest boy wanted a palamino bad ... his b-day so we tried like heck. Had the one on and it came out of the water and threw the hook like a dang bass!
 
Well I told my oldest boy we had to go and to put his final trout on the stringer that was in the next hole up (couldn't see it though due to brush). He came back and said they were gone but 3 lay dead on the ground.
 
I asked the people that I had seen twice earlier if they had seen anyone with 2 orange and green stringers. All said no. I asked a nearby kid and he said ... yeah ... the people I had just asked took them! I pretty much came unglued. It got a little ugly but no cussing or physical stuff. I got the stringers back but not the fish (except the 3 on the bank).
 
The little guy was awfully proud of those fish ... he took it well though.

this has to be the most pathetic act i have heard of in quite some time. im really starting to wonder if te level of morons around here is seeing a sharp incline anymore.

Well I told my oldest boy we had to go and to put his final trout on the stringer that was in the next hole up (couldn't see it though due to brush). He came back and said they were gone but 3 lay dead on the ground.

 
Not be be critical, but you shouldn't be leaving an unattended stringer on a creek, even if it is "just around the bend" or "on the other side" of the bushes.  I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I just think if you're going to harp on someone elses bad manners and/or habits, you shouldn't be promoting your own by teaching your own children bad habits.  I've stumbled across enough lost or deserted stringers in my day.  Not say you would of left it there, but people do forget things! 
 
If you want to get technical, it could also be considered littering.  You're leaving debris unattended on a stream.  From the PA Guide Books section called, It's unlawful to...
 
To throw, leave, discard, or deposit litter, debris, or trash of any kind in or along waters or lands adjacent to or contiguous to waters of the Commonwealth.
 
 
That being said.  People never cease to amaze me.  Stealing fish from someone elses stringer is pretty low.

Sounds like you are quick to point out faults in others, but slow to admit yours. I think smallie was just trying to help you avoid that type of situation in the future.
 
No doubt the people you encountered were ****es, but if you fish crowded areas you can't expect to be able to leave a stringer and move to the next hole...

All I'm saying is don't leave your gear and/or stringers unattended.  If you left a $100 bill on a rock out of sight and someone took it, would you complain about it?  If you leave something out of sight and it's gone later, you really have no one to blame but yourself.  I think you're the one that needs to get the grip my friend, a little better grip on reality.

Trust me, had you met me on the stream that day, you wouldn't of lost your stringer, I would of made sure you took it with you back to where you were fishing.