First pedal/ fly fishing trip
 

First bike/float trip. Chose Sacramento River in Redding , California.

Used a Dahon VYBE C7, 20” folder to pull a trailer loaded with an inflatable, one-man Watermaster Kodiak fishing raft , accessories, and fishing equipment from take-out point to where I launched.
Trailer became a luggage rack on the rear of my boat to hold the folded bike.

Purpose was to see if this setup would be RV friendly since storage space is limited on small RV .

Ride was 8.2 miles (all slightly uphill since rivers run down) and float was about the same. Float/fly fishing trip was 6 hrs. Caught 2 trout: 16” and 18” but lost many more. This is a difficult river to fish from a one person boat since many places require rowing to keep the boat in one place and fighting a fish while trying to get to calm water was challenging. BTW, anchoring an inflatable in moving water is not advised.
Loaded trailer was 54lbs and folded bike plus trailer added 42lbs on the boat (12lbs difference was all my fishing and raft accessories). Total gross weight was far below the 450lbs capacity of the 9ft long, 4ft wide Kodiak.

Trailer is the frame from a Schwinn Tandem bike trailer with webbing and bungee cords as the base. Used the same cargo net on both trailer and boat.

Total cost: US$350. For used Dahon VYBE C7, larger all purpose 20 x 1.75 Kenda Kontact tires and tubes plus used Schwinn trailer plus webbing and bungee cords from Harbor Freight.
Fishing guides are US$450 a day on this river.

As a trailer, 2” yellow webbing forms firm bottom with several bungee cords to cradle the load. Trailer turns upside down & is placed sideways as luggage rack on boat. Had to extend one side of trailer since boat is wider mid-boat. Attached 4 pieces of a green pool noodle where the frame would touch the inflatable boat. Attached trailer to boat with 4 bungee cable ties. Bottom yellow webbing on trailer are used to strap the bike on the boat.

Observations:
1) Trailer is harder at slow speed and over bumps- maybe due to the connection to bike or due to my load overhanging the rear of the trailer. Trailer is designed to have weight over the wheels (think kid’s butts) which meant when my items were centered over the wheels, part were overhanging the rear of the trailer.

2) 8.2 bike ride coupled with 6 hrs of floating a river and fishing is a very long day. I will limit my trips to 5 to 6 miles each way.

3) Type of water, I will use this on flowing rivers with Class II rapids, where I will use the boat to ferry me from fishing spot to fishing spot. It is a chore to row this on calm water. http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=514734http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=514735http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=514736

Wow, thank you for the report. Hope you get to use it a lot and get all the fish you want to eat :).

If weight distribution on the trailer is not the best (wheels placed far back on the frame) look into if it is possible to move the wheel axel atatchment brackets towards the front of the trailer. You could also look into moving the towbar from the front of the trailer to what is now the rear end of it (turn trailer platform 180 and atatch towarm in the new front ) or combine the two. Maybe moving axel by using one old hole and drilling one new (looks like there are bolts there) helps, could be combined with moving the towbar. You are closest to the items so you are closest to decide.

Did you catch anything?

He said:

"Caught 2 trout: 16” and 18” but lost many more. This is a difficult river to fish from a one person boat since many places require rowing to keep the boat in one place and fighting a fish while trying to get to calm water was challenging. BTW, anchoring an inflatable in moving water is not advised."

Thanks for sharing. I have thought about similar adventures ever since I saw a blog about pulling a canoe with a bike.

Did you put anything between the raft and the bike to protect the raft from accidental punctures. I'm not as familiar with rafts, but I know some have thinner walls than others.

Did you remove the trailer wheels while in "raft mode"? Are they under the plastic on top of the trailer turned luggage rack?

fourknees:

1) The green pieces of pool noodle keep the frame about 1 inch above the raft and the bungee cords inside the frame keep the bike from touching the raft.

2) The cargo net shown in the trailer picture came with the raft to hold items inside the raft. I just used it to also hold the trailer load.

On the raft, the trailer wheels are on top of that cargo net and under the trailer frame.

Bike sits inside the trailer frame on top of the bungee cords– so the trailer wheels are between the bike and the raft. No part of the bike touches the raft.

BTW: Bike is in the white garbage bag because that is what I had. I think a real folding bike carry bag would be perfect to use on the trailer and on the boat.

A canoe or hard shell kayak may be easier for short hauls, since you would not have the time to unpack & inflate or deflate & pack. My last canoe was a Wenonah that only weighed 37lbs, so the load you would be pulling would be in the 50- 60lb range.

Thanks.
You may be interested in this trailer set up too: http://www.bikeforums.net/beach-crui...d-trailer.html