Monday, June 29, 2009

Fishing and your bicycle

Disney Princess Fishing Rod
When I was a kid my friends and I just carried our rods in one hand while controlling the bike with the other hand. I still see people -- children and adults -- doing the same thing today, but there are fancier options available: special mounts for carrying your fishing pole on your bike hands free, and collapsible "fishing pen" rods that you can carry in a backpack.

Daniel Canfield in Boise, Idaho gives a rundown of some available options. There's a Bike Fisherman fishing pole bicycle mount, the Mini Pen fishing rod, the Coleman Fish Pen, and other similar products.

A fishing rod not mentioned by Canfield are child fishing rods. When my daughter outgrew her short Disney Princess fishing rod it's a short enough rod that I used it for bike trips to the lake a few times. Child rods are cheap but they're also very portable.

Read more here at Examiner.com.

Edit: See also Noah's post with his practical experience shopping for fishing gear that works well with cycling.

8 comments:

  1. I threw a nice bike-friendly fishing kit together a few weeks ago. From a usability and total length standpoint, it beats all those chintzy fishpen style rods the article links to, but it is a little heavier and packs larger. Easily tucks into my panniers, though. Set me back $17 total. I tried it at the local lake and as far as mechanicals go, the thing works great. I need to find a better lake nearby to fish in. I can't wait to take it on my next bicycle camping adventure!

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  2. The Shimano Pocket Fisherman inserts into the end of a mountain bike flat bar. It uses the rear STI shifter as a reel and the rear shift cable as line. The frayed cable end forms the hook. Fiendishly clever.

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  3. Howdy--

    As a kid, I used to tie my spinning rod to the frame of my Sting-Ray with twist ties. More recently, I've carried my less-expensive fly rod into the backcountry by strapping it diagonally across my hydration pack, dangling the reel as low as I dare so the ferrules aren't too exposed at the top. For road accessible trips, I just use a Lone Peak grocery bag on my Long Haul Trucker. It breaks down to about four feet, so it's not as though it's snagging power lines.
    Happy Trails,
    Ron

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  4. The Disney Princess rod works great, but the Scooby Doo model suits me a bit better.

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  5. I'll keep the Scooby Doo rod in mind the next time I go shopping for fishing stuff.

    For those of you in Colorado: the state Division of Wildlife gives out free fishing rods to children during their fishing promotion events. My children each have a green & yellow Colorado fishing rod.

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  6. On a bike, I think the challenge is not the rod, but how to carry all the *fish* you catch!

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  7. Since I rarely catch keepers, I haven't had that problem!

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  8. Very interesting concept and I couldn't help but notice my daughter has the same fishing pole mentioned above, the thing's more than worth the five dollars I've payed for and it's extremely durable.

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