Here's a fresh "Best of..." thread for your consideration:
What is the best auto you've ever used for your fly fishing adventures and why? Give us the juicy details. Inquiring minds want to know!
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Here's a fresh "Best of..." thread for your consideration:
What is the best auto you've ever used for your fly fishing adventures and why? Give us the juicy details. Inquiring minds want to know!
1985 F-150 (with cap). Always got me to where I wanted to go, never left me stranded, plenty of room to sleep in the back. Lots of good memories of fishing Yellowstone, Rock Creek, Blackfeet Reservation.
Regards,
Scott
Last fall I bought a new Dodge Mega Cab 4X4 and I absolutely love it. It seats 4 or 5 very comfortably and there is actually more room in the back seat than in the front seats. The back seats recline a bit so those passengers can relax and take a snooze if they want to. I have put on 25,000 miles on trips to North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Oregon. This truck is fantastic on the road, extremely comfortable yet sturdy. I ran into a blizzard in North Dakota with 40 mph+ winds and temperatures down to 6*F, with absolutely no problems at all. I organize a lot of fishing trips and that is why I wanted a vehicle that could handle 4 to 5 people in comfort for those long rides to our destination.
Larry ---sagefisher---
although I hate to admit it, because I just got a used truck... my best fishing vechicle was my 2001 Ford Explorer Sport 2 door 4x4
Decent gas mileage, relatively small but could hold a 11 foot rod assembled from dashboard glass to rear, and I miss the upswinging tailgate of an SUV during the raining days. It's nice to lift of that tail gate and have a hefty umbrella above you.
with that being said, I haven't had much time to play with my 2004 Dodge Ram1500. but the tailgate, and the truck bed, has been really nice for holding muddy boots, soaked waders, skunk sprayed sweatshirts, etc etc. I think a Soft tonneau cover though is in my near future for sure.
Yukon XL, lots of room, American made. :cool:
http://www.gmc.com/yukon/xl/index.js..._XL_|_yukon_xl Edited to add a link.
For a shrunken version will be interesting to see one of these close up: http://www.gmc.com/terrain/terrain/i...xact_|_terrain
Here's mine, we call it the "toon hauler". Holds up to 5 bodies, good on gas and carries all the shtuff! 2002 GMC Sonoma 4x4. Slider window in the back so I can carry fully rigged rods from one spot to another.
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/P7060340.jpg
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/P7040330.jpg
Works for me!
Kelly.
I'd have to say my truck. Chevy Silverado Extended Cab. Like others, it carries everything, has a hard folding tonneau cover, and while moving between fishing holes, i can take the rod apart in the center and hit the road, putting it back together at the next hole extremely quickly.
Ford Excursion
Not only can you fit a 9'ft rod inside without breaking it down, you can fit a 12 foot kayak ..............................
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INSIDE!!!!!!! Done it!
Actually you can put about 8 rods inside along the roof without breaking them down without making it uncomfortable for anyone.
How many kayaks you want to take on the roof?
Can sleep 2 in the back very comfortably. Can take 6 fishing buddies with you in total comfort.
Just pull into a campsite and you have your own 'camper'.
Plus with the 7.3L diesel it gets decent mileage 17.5 mpg on the highway at 75 mph or 20 mpg on back roads cruising at 50mph and last and not least you can tow ANYTHING behind it.
2) VW New Beetle.....huh?
Can put a 9ft rod inside it too :)
And with the diesel engine you're gonna get 42 mpg...........................AT WORST! 50 mpg highway. For one-two person trips, it's great.
Diesel...........the REAL 'hybrid'.
1976 Full Size Chevy Blazer Full Time 4X4 Went anywhere & everywhere, had it 18 years, daily driver...never, ever let me down. I had it long enough to stress test it, and it had plenty of cowboy pinstripes and battle scars. I loved it, and it had an awesome roof rack that went front to back and side to side. Put anything up there ya want. permanently mounted rod tubes on both sides of that rack, a 12' rod would go in fully rigged and loaded. Finally wore the old girl out....... now I have a 2000 Chevy Tahoe...
I'm more careful with it, but in the year I've had it, it's proved to be everything the Blazer was and more comfortable......Oh, and it gets 19 mpg, The Blazer got 8......
...............................ModocDan ..... and...I love the AC....:)
2005 Subaru Outback. AWD, fits assembled rods, room for four and gear, 24mpg, plenty of ground clearence, heated seats, room for a queen sized air mattress in the back, roof rack, trailer hitch, and did I say.....AWD. :)
http://inlinethumb08.webshots.com/27...425x425Q85.jpg
2000 Chevy S-10. Took me over most every dirt road in Southern Oregon and never let me down. Probably the only vehicle that amassed 160,00 miles without a flat tire.
PS: My new Ford Escape is still in diapers, only 4500 miles.
Tim
My plain vanilla, 2WD Dodge pick-up. Ain't fancy, ain't purty.....kinda like me....but it always gets the job done.....kinda like me.
Vic
Well, my favorite, back in the day, was my 1972 Toyota Land Cruiser.
Wish I still had that sucka! It could climb a wet goat trail!
Nowadays, as I'm more pedestrian, it doesn't really matter. Just get me from home to the water.
My little Nissan King Cab gets me to where my legs can handle it.
Have enjoyed reading what others use these days to get to their fishin' destinations!
bobbyg
I liked the F150 with crew cab and truck cap with the pass through window for assembled rods. Lost of room, decent mileage even with 4 WD.
This is my "go to" fishin vehicle. 2008 Jeep Liberty .
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...3/IMGP1983.jpg
Hopefully it'll never suffer the abuse of it's predecessor
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...icsJEEP008.jpg
And as a PS, sorry to those who have seen the "brink of abyss" photo TOO many times. I'm just gald to be here after that incident.
Mark
Whoops, I forgot to answer the post after Marco's pic. 96 model F150 4WD gets me where I want to go, and so far its got me back. :)
When I was younger and healthier and was bow hunting for elk, I had a 1972 camperized chevy van. Double bed with storage underneath. 20 gallon water tank with manual/electric pump. 2 burner stove. Camper refrigerator freezer. Swivel captain's seats. Power steering & brakes. AM/FM stereo cassette player. I called it the MEAT wagon. (Mobil-Elk-Assault-Truck) Man, I wish I had another one like it. It was red.
I had a 1974 GMC Jimmy that I ran the wheels off of. Got almost 200K miles on the first engine and teh body was coming apart before I wore the second one out. That thing hauled a 28' travel trailer into and out of some places in Wyoming that hunting buddies were positive I would never get to. It was a challenge for them to try to keep it out of hunting camp.
Now, it is either a 71 Chevy Pickup or the 2000 Ranger, both 4x4 and both in great shape. The old Chevy just got a new engine and runs strong. Gas mileage sucks, but it sure runs good. :)
Due to high gas prices and the need to reduce the cost of commuting 2 years ago, I traded my beloved Jeep Grand Cherokee for a smaller commuter vehicle. I was pleased, and amazed, to find out that a 9 ft. fly rod will fit, fully rigged, along with all the gear for 2 flyfishers into a Toyota Prius! With 50 miles per gallon and 60K miles on her, I'm still happy.
Since I haven't figured out how to haul 120 lb. of kayaks on the roof of the Prius, our best all round vehicle is a 2004 Dodge Ram 4x4 w/hemi & 4 doors. This baby is comfortable and it's also paid for! What more can you ask...
07 Jeep Grand Cherokee that replaced the 2000 that got totaled, that replaced the 87 Cherokee Sport that got traded in. That 87 would go places that were just...scary bad. The only thing that I didn't like about it were the running boards that were on it. The wife wanted to trade it when it rolled over 100K. The 2000 saved our lives during a bad highway accident, but it didn't survive the ordeal. The wife won't drive anything else...But my 99 Nissan Frontier has been a pretty good fishing truck, too.
An 4-door '73 Impala back in the day... <insert fog of a proto-fogey's memory>
It would take 5 or 6 of us from college to the streams that we fished. Fish were caught, but more weren't. Tales grew like Douglasfir on the Pacific NW coastal region, tall and thick.
Only one of us owned waders the rest waded wet, even through snow (legs turned blue, probably not a Good Thing). We learned only a little about fly fishing, through our blundering about.
We took turns at good holes. We caught stocker 'bows, occasionally a carry-over or naturalized fish. About mid-day, we ate Chef Boyardee straight from cans that had "heated" under the South-facing windshield and drank warm Cokes and water. We thought that we had found our slice of paradise-on-Earth.
Those were Days of Yore and Legend. <floating out of my lunchtime cubical and back into a world of magic and memories>
:)
Ed
Well i have 2004 nissan sentra :lol:. Not the best but has survived so far. It can fit a 9'-10' rod assembled from the end of the trunk to the windsheild. Almost got it stuck in the mud on dirt roads but its survived. Looking for a better fishing car in the future.
I will second the Subaru Outback, I wouldn't change a thing about the car after 200,000 miles. Fits everything, AWD, ground clearance and gas mileage, also have found good use for the weatherband radio on numerous fishing trips.
I am working on my second subaru outback, both were bought used with around 60,000 miles, the first one made it up to 190,000 and the second one is doing good at 115,000 miles.
Lots of storage, AWD, good gas mileage, and most importantly they take the abuse and last a long time. Alot of the jeeps and ford explorers that people are talking about in this thread just fall apart way too quickly.
The ultimate fly fishing vehicle was not mine but one I camped next to in Yellowstone in the 1980's. I had a GMC motorhome but the space next to me was a Unimog all decked out as a camper with 4 spare tires and gas cans on the top of the Mog. It had been shipped from Europe to Alaska and the owners were driving from the Alaska down to the tip of Chile.
Here are some specifications for the Unimog
Paquette's Unimog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppBN5...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHhMzCtAx0M
1987 mazda b2200 pickup w/ canopy. my wittlefishtwuck!
still gets me there.
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...1-2104_IMG.jpg
2007 Pontiac Vibe
Although this vehicle isn't for really serious off road work it provides good traction and a lot of flexibility in its interior with back seats that fold down flat as well as a passenger seat whose back folds down. It can carry a bunch of stuff inside. You can sleep in it if you want to, and I've carried a small kayak in it with the windows closed. It has a lift gate if you need to carry real long stuff, and with the gate up its a good place to "suit up" even when its raining. Although mine is a front wheel two wheel drive which has handled 8 inches of snow they also come in with four wheel drive. It has a roof rack and gets 30 miles to the gallon. This vehicle is a joint venture between GM and Toyota and although GM is dropping the Pontiac Toyota's version called the Matrix.
I was going to say just about any Toyota 4Runner, but those Unimogs are sure hard to beat!!!
I really did like my old Chevy Van, as mentioned before, but this is the rig that does the job now. Lots better mileage.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...toFishLake.jpg
'05 Toyota Tacoma access cab 4WD, V-6, automatic with a Snugtop shell. Just turned 115,000 miles. Has averaged about 25-26 mpg since I bought it new, and still consistently gets that kind of fuel economy. Has many, many miles on dirt, gravel and rock accessing some really interesting country in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Best part is that it has seen well over 500 fishing days with no problems.
At Greys River Wyoming.
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...029_edited.jpg
And it does well as my mobile bed and breakfast.
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...039_edited.jpg
John
03 Nissan Frontier 4Squirrel/2WD X-Tend'OKab
Got me and the gang wherever we needed to go. Did it well on the highways and put up and shut up on the dirt roads that lead to the really good fishin' spots.
Toyota 4-Runner
Gets me pretty much anywhere and back.
4WD gives me the potential to be stuck way further back in the boonies than most people.
(250,000 kms on original brakes)
DuFf
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/data/500/medium/G1.JPG
http://inlinethumb44.webshots.com/45...600x600Q85.jpg
Here is my Ford Escape, he has taken me where I wanted (or dared to go)
My vehicle is a compromise between day job and fishing vehicle.
I like that everything can be locked up tight in the box, there's room for 4 and it can tow what I need.
Not the very best for ground clearance, then again, my home waters are pretty easy access.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_pnHJrpe2xK8/Su...o/P7040244.JPG
Strung up rods get transported on the roof.
Everything I need for day tripping or extended days fits in the box.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_pnHJrpe2xK8/Sr...2/Dcp01767.jpg
Well, I'll post mine now.
1997 Mitsubishi Montero 4wd 4dr import offroad model w/full skid plates, offroad shocks, 6 cylinder, hvy duty battery, locking differential, selective overdrive, full spare, and recovery hooks. It had 3rd row jumpseats, but I removed those to create more cargo room. It gets 20/26 mpg.
This thing has been a serious work-horse! We bought it with 99,000 miles on it for $6,800 in 2006. It now has 218k miles on it. I've spent a whopping $3,000 on ALL repairs/major maintenance (everything but oil changes and such). So that's under $10k for 119k miles of HARD use...at least 15k of that off pavement and probably 5k of that offROAD. Most of the rest has been long-distance highway driving between fishing and hunting destinations. I've camped IN it several times, camp OUT of it most of the time, and haul my Weimaraner, camping gear, fishing/hunting gear, etc. all the time. Often times for 2 people. For a day trip fishing/hunting, it can handle 4 people and the dog comfortably.
Drawbacks: I'm 6'1" tall and it is about 3" too short to sleep in the back comfortably. So 2 nights in a row is about all I can stand. A 9' fly rod has to go angled and bent a bit from back to windshield. I don't like that. 8' rods fit fine. Side-hinged tailgate door. I'd prefer overhead door. Driver seat could be more ergonomically designed.
Major benefits: Extremely rugged and durable. Will boldly go places no other SUV I've ever been familiar with will want to go: down the sides of canyons, arroyos in the desert, up shale slides and sand dunes, over 2' shelves in bedrock. That sort of stuff. 119k mi /$10k = total cost of ownership of about $1.19/mi + gas/oil. (I almost never add oil between oil changes under 10,000') The transmission (auto) has NEVER been serviced! Fluid topped off once with 1/2 quart.
Here's a pic from last month with my buddy, Bob Stehwien, MCI, AFFI in the foreground @ Rim Shoals, Cotter, AR...
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._7323814_n.jpg
Here's a picture of my present fishing vehicle, a 2009 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited.
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...6051_23519.jpg
I wouldn't say that it is the ideal vehicle but it will get a guy from Point A to Point B without many problems. A guy could sleep in the back in reasonable comfort (I have not yet done so though), you can transport 9' rods inside with taking them apart, and there is ample carrying space for up to 4 guys and their gear. With the rack on top I can easily transport the frame for my 11' cataraft, and/or other goodies if need be. It got me and my freinds, and towed my Clackacraft driftboat behind, everywhere we asked it this past summer in Montana
In many respects, I liked my former fishing vehicle better than the Jeep. That was a 2000 Ford F250 truck.
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...uler_Rack1.jpg
Unfortunately, I sold it a just over a year ago. (Not a very smart thing in hindsight!) The only drawback to the truck was I could only take 3 people in it (if that's a drawback?), but there were many nights when I slept in the back in comfort (sometimes 2 of us slept in it). My wife made removable curtains for the windows in the cap, and I made a raised bed frame complete with mattress, so it was very cozy and confortable for fishing overnighters (sometimes these overnighters extended to a week if fishing was good!).
I had a removable Hauler aluminum ladder rack for over the cap (pictured, taken off) that would carry anything that I cared to put on it, and we often had a couple inflatables on it. The mounting brackets for the ladder rack stayed on permanently, and made a very convenient place to put rods alongside the cap, such as when I was sitting on the tailgate eating lunch, putting my boots on or off, etc. However, I once forgot my rod and reel was there and drove off, loosing my Sage SP rod and Abel reel. UGH!
My wife and I spent the better parts of 6 (or was it 7?) summers and falls with this truck, towing our travel trailer and chasing fish, all over the Pacific NW and Canada. It could tow about 10,000#, and when we got where we were going and set-up the trailer, it had high ground clearance and 4x4 off road capabilities, which often came in handy getting into and out of the kinds of places where I often fish.
OK I'll play. You'll notice I don't go off-road much! (ANY!)
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/g...07shelbygt.jpg
I could probably put a strung up rod from the trunk to the windshield, but I've never tried.
If we all go, we take my wife's Avalanch. Room for 6, semi comfortably, with lots of covered storage in the back.
Kirk
Well I wish I could say I have one but I don't. I'm ok with my Rendezvous for the time being. I'm at odd with my other half. He's looking at small cars, since he doesn't do much of the outdoor thing...and I look for the "eat my dirt" back country 4X4s. The all wheel Rendesvous it the compromise at the moment and it fills the bill ok. (Clearance is a bit of a problem) If I had my choice...it would be this puppy:
http://picolio.auto123.com/art-image.../scale-484x363
I'm waiting for them to work some bugs out...like the blind spot issues and dress up the interior a little better. (it's ugly).