Fishing Vehicle

[littledavid123]

Some authors describe their fishing vehicles with reverence and its stains, dent and trappings as trophies of cherished memories. Currently my fish finder sits in the barn stripped down to the frame and under going a complete reconstruction. It's a 92 Jeep YJ Wrangler and when my hands touch the steering wheel, the mind is flooded with memories.

Blackberries so thick and covered with chiggers we drive thru the patches and pick from the windows. Water running over the hood and me white knuckled, fording a creek to find better fishing water. Those memories and many more always bring a smile when working on it, hopefully next winter it will be purring like a kitten again, with a V8 engine, new transmission and best of all heated seats.

What about the rest of you? Is there a special vehicle designated as the official fish finder?

Dave

 

[fredaevans]

Ahhhhh yes. Have a '02 Jeep Liberty now that replaced a 1986 Ford Explorer 4x4 in '04 or '05. Totally 'faithful' ride, just do the required maintenance and that was that. Only 'mechanical design' issue was the brake system; far too light duty.

Only reason I traded the thing in was my then wife thought that driving around in a 20'ish year old car was beneath my (her?) financial status. For context, she was driving a Lexus.

fae

 

[wannafish]

Not exactly what you might expect in a fishing vehicle, my little Toyota Echo with 300 000 kms gets me to the Miramichi and back for about 8 bucks. Sometimes making three trips a week I'm hoping it holds together for another 100 000

 

[jhammer]

Mine's a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 193,000 miles and still going strong!

 

[Ard]

Hi Dave,

Ever since I used a Schwinn 10 speed (age 14 - 15) every thing I have ever owned has been a fishing vehicle. My longest trips mileage and time wise were made with motorcycles. Those are the most vivid memories of many thousands of miles, many camps, and all the people I met while on the roads and dusty trails.

 

[diamond rush]

I've never lived within an hour of good trout water, so my cherished trout vehicle is my '99 Saturn SC1 coupe. Getting 40 mpg trumps everything else when you live an hour and a half away from your favorite stream.

 

[drlaser]

Mine is a 2004 ford explorer with oh i think about 60,000 miles on it. (don't look at me in that tone of voice i live in the city)

 

[MoscaPescador]

I'd love to have an old Jeep CJ that's rebuilt to whatever specs I wish. I'll figure that out someday.

My current fly fishing vehicle is a 2005 Subaru Outback. It has about 95K miles. My previous 1995 Outback had a bit over 200K miles. I could had done some more upkeep, but I decided that I wanted something new.

Dennis

 

[fyshstykr]

Toyota pick ups have served me well over the years since about 1990, had 3 of em. Mrs fysh and I have traveled in a Toyota 4-Runner since 2004 and I see it being around a few more years.

We see a Ford f-350 4x4 van all the time in Idaho and kinda think that would be really groovy too!

 

[mudbug]

2000 Chevy Z71 with 140K + miles.

It's now my second vehicle, relegated only to hunting and fishing, but it has always done what I asked it to. It's towed my boats and taken me on roads that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I love this truck.

 

[mbphotos54]

up till a bit over 2 years ago I had a 95 Grand Cherokee Orivs edition... little did I know at the time that 2 years after I got rid of it for cost issues, I would get into fly fishing and only now figuring out the orvis connection.. it even had a fly fishermen imprint on the leather.. wish I still had it,, but dont miss feeding it. I sunk to a van. hope to change that soon...
MIke

 

[caseywise]

ours (my wife and i often fish together) is a 2008 honda crv.

great rig and i can strap my fishcat 4 on the back of the pop up


casey

 

[9piferad]

Right now for me it is a 2000 GMC Sonoma 4x4 with an extended cab, I'v had it since 2004 and love that truck, even with its bumps and bruises, and maybe a little rust from the lovely salted michigan roads (it just builds character is the way i figure it). But ill drive that until it dies, love that little truck.

 

[wannafish]

ours (my wife and i often fish together) is a 2008 honda crv.

great rig and i can strap my fishcat 4 on the back of the pop up


casey

I don't know if I'm more jealous of the nice outfit you have or the fact that your wife fishes with you I outfitted my wife in 2010 and took her on one 3 day trip and that was the end of it; too many mice in the camp I think :yikes:

 

[wabi]

Whatever is setting in the driveway these days, but one from the past comes to mind with pleasant memories.

A brown 1976 Ford Pinto station wagon.
Bought it new as a family car in '76 and it turned out to be one of those like the Energizer Bunny - kept going & going.
Long after we had a new family car and I had my work truck in the driveway I still kept getting in that old Pinto for my hunting & fishing adventures. It was one of the few that didn't rust out like so many did, and the little 4 cylinder engine was a good match for power for the vehicle size and even after a new (Champion) spark plug fell apart & scored the cylinder walls on one cylinder making it essentially a 3½ cylinder engine (it lost some compression & power, but kept running) it still got me there & back for 3 or 4 years.
I finally sold it to someone that couldn't afford a nice looking car but needed dependable transportation.
That old Pinto would go anywhere my truck would go (2wd truck), and when the snow season hit all I had to do was add a couple hundred pounds weight in the back and it went right on!

 

[kibby]

Here's mine. The only problem is, I got to be sure to park far enough away from the water so as not to scare the bejeezus out of the fish.

 

[Rip Tide]

I've had two minivans that I converted into campers. They weren't quite ideal but they were close.
If I could afford the MPG, one of these would be better

We see a Ford f-350 4x4 van all the time in Idaho and kinda think that would be really groovy too!

 

[mcnerney]

Here's mine. The only problem is, I got to be sure to park far enough away from the water so as not to scare the bejeezus out of the fish.

Kibby: Now that is a great looking fishing vehicle! Gotta love a ride like that!

 

[mbphotos54]

cool shark truck.

 

[kibby]

From the looks of the cab, I am guessing it was once an old Ford pickup. Kind of cool, but what an eyesore parked in someone's driveway! I certainly wouldn't want one in my neighborhood.

I love the idea of an E350 4WD van, but by the time you got one, and had to feed that monster, one would be just as a well off getting a 3/4 ton 4x4 truck with a camper. In my head, that's probably the best solution of all. At least you'd have some amenities and some comfort. Still, travelling light is probably the way to go.

---------- Post added at 10:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 AM ----------

Holy Carp, I just thought of something... Here is the all-time greatest fishing vehicle in the world!

I've always wanted a Schwimmwagon.