ddeand 

Thanks to all who helped me sort out a few things with the bike I built up to get me to the fishing hole. I had picked up a '69 Super Course frame and fork for a very fair price and decided to see if I could put together a bike using mostly parts I had on-hand. Ultimately, I ended up with a funky old bike that has just under $100 into it. There were some very interesting (and perplexing) challenges along the way for which many of you gave me your advice. If any of you have ever worked with a late 60s Raleigh SC, you know that the bottom bracket is different from most everything else. Here's what I ended up with, as well as a few of the "fixes" that I applied:

- 1969 Raleigh Super Course frame, fork, crankset, and pedals
- Swapped in a square taper Dura Ace crankset with outer chainring removed and replaced by inner ring (39t) - running as a single
- Bottom Bracket reconfigured a la Sheldon Brown - BB is 71mm 26tpi as opposed to the standard 68mm 24tpi - I found a "7" marked spindle in Boulder, Colo (thanks to my son-in-law) and added resized bearings
- Cobbled together a Shimano XT rear derailleur from three old RDs
- Picked up a stem, Suntour Barcon shifter, freewheel, and cable clamps for $30 at a local bike co-op
- Used a mtb 7-speed freewheel (14-34)
- Repainted an old Blackburn rear rack that was laying around
- Added on all the other extras from the parts bin
- Reused some old Campy rims w/EX600 hubs and Challenge Almanzo 700x30 CX tires
- Post-photo, added orange ISSI SPD pedals
- Fly rod goes in the bottle cage on the downtime (with straps)
- Wading boots, lunch, water, and fly kit ride in the bag on on the rack

The bottom bracket was a challenge, but it seems to working well, and I'm slowly getting used to having only seven speeds. My trout stream is 17 miles away, so I'm slowly building up my mileage to be able to adequately do the round trip (I'm pretty old) as well as fish for an hour or so. There are still a couple minor tuning things I want to do, but so far, the bike fits and rides very nicely. Basically, I hope to get a nice mixed surface ride in (pavement and gravel) coupled with some relaxing time on the stream. I have no expectations of catching anything - that's not the goal - so any catches will be added value to my outings.

So, who else has a fishing bike? I'd like to see them! And thanks again to those who helped me with the bottom bracket advice.

bikemig 

I really like builds like this. It's eclectic, practical, and it's your bike. No one has a bike like this.

I don't own a fishing bike but when I was in grade school in Madison WI, I used to ride my green Robin Hood 3 speed down to the point on a lake to go fishing. I had a cheap cane fishing pole with a bobber and a hook. I never caught anything worth remembering but I had a great time.

mcgregorj 

Very nice - love your setup. I don't ride anywhere without at least a tenkara rod these days - last year I didn't get out to our trout streams as many times as I wanted to, but lots and lots of rides included finding pan fish in the little ponds and streams I rode by.

mcgregorj 

Also - regarding full fly setup on the bike - what waders/boots are you using? My Redington waders pack up pretty nicely, but my old Cabelas boots are as klunky as they get. Usually my bike fishing just is limited to wet wading in Chacos or Bedrocks.

ddeand 

My typical setup is a shoulder sling pack for my fly gear and net, and I generally wear waist waders. The stream I'll be going to on the bike will consist of mainly shore fishing, just because it hasn't has a ton of improvement done on it. While the stream is a trout stream, it has a fairly inconsistent bottom with quite a few quicksand-like areas. The local Trout Unlimited is starting to do some habitat improvement work on it because it's one of the few trout waters close to the Twin Cities. If I do get into the stream a bit, I'll mostly be wet-wading. I'm also scoping out a great trout stream that has a six mile MUP next to it - but I have to drive to get to that. I picked up a 7 1/2 ft, 3wt backpack rod for my project. I'm sure I'll modify things as I do a few of these excursions.

dedhed

I haven't found anything yet to pull the 16' Smokercraft.

mcgregorj 

Sounds nice! Here in Northern NJ we have some great trout streams, about an hour drive. There are some small wild trout streams that are about a 30 minute drive, bikeable, but then a hike in.

juvela

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...no doubt a bicycle could be capable...

...it's the power source that would be the problem...

...picturing it in me mind makes me think of some of the stunts performed by Jack LaLanne...


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nlerner

@rhm has posted various examples of bike towing a canoe or small skiff.

tiger1964 

I presume Catch And Release? I don't see a way to get the fish home, unless in the back pockets of your jersey.

Chinghis

Once you get it going, I think stopping would be the problem.

Did you have a picnic?!

I used to go ice-fishing for perch in Madison, long time ago, around there. Best days of my life. Walk out the door, go fishing.

bOsscO

Love this! If you haven't already check out the various bike-fishing videos by Path Less Pedaled on YT.

sced

I'm wondering about beer...........

non-fixie 

I don't fish, but if I did I'd like a bike like that. And also in green.

rhm

True. I tow a canoe, kayak, or sunfish behind my bike in the summer. But I'm going a half mile with negligible traffic and no hills to speak of.

If i wanted to tow a boat for any distance over five miles or so, I'd choose the lightest thing that would serve the purpose, like maybe a sit on top type plastic kayak, and my trailer would have brakes.

ddeand 

Generally, I have to drive an hour or so to get to good trout water - actually, very good trout water. And I almost always do catch and release unless the DNR is trying to clear a species out of a stream to enhance the native species. But my wife and I have scaled back to one vehicle, and I don’t want her to be without a car for a whole day. I figured this little bike venture might get me out on the water more often. If all goes well, the plan is to fish, have lunch, and ride a combination of pavement, gravel, and near single-track roads. I’ll reserve the brewskis for my post-ride cool down!