Over the years, we've discussed just about every kind of fishing gear or strategy imaginable. But it struck me the other day that there's still one indispensable piece of gear that every one of us uses: the vehicle that gets us where we fish.
I assume that for most of us, our fishing vehicle is also our daily driver that spends most of its time making trips to the store or commuting. For some of us in a multi-car household, a second vehicle may be much more appropriate for fishing. A very few of us may actually have a rig dedicated just for fishing, refined over years of use. To get the ball rolling, here's my own 2� on the subject: I've always owned a pickup. In fact I can only remember a couple years when I didn't have one. My current ride is a 1998 Ford Ranger XLT extra cab 4x4 with a 4.0 liter V-6 and an automatic. Wish I'd got it with the small, half-sized doors to get behind the front seats. However, a retractable cover keeps things out of sight back there. The bed will hold a couple float tubes fully inflated or my 9 foot pontoon boat (I haven't tried stacking two pontoon boats back there yet.) There's plenty of room left over for gear bags, coolers, oars or rod tubes. Plus, the bed doubles as a place to sit and wader up without rocks that can tear up my neoprene wader feet. But having a pickup does pose some limitations. Leaving stuff in the back is an open invitation to theft if you leave it there even briefly. And relatively light weight stuff needs to be tied down to keep it from becoming airborne at highway speeds. My truck's bed isn't long enough that I can stretch out in it to sleep, and I'd need some sort of canopy to stay dry in the rain. The space behind the seats doesn't hold very much gear (long rod tubes are an especially tight fit) and it's a real pain to get to. Finally, if I owned a boat and trailer, my rig is probably much too puny for serious towing. But for the most part, it works well for the kind of fishing I do. The 4wd and high ground clearance are a real plus on marginal roads. I'd sure like to hear how other subscribers have adapted their vehicles for their own fishing style. Kent Lufkin
