I’ve been fishing out of my 2000 Ford F-150 CrewCab for the past couple of years. It’s a 2WD model. It’s been a good truck, but there have been some real problems with it for me.
First off, I like to do a “cast-n-blast” every once in a while where I start out fishing and then head to the skeet range for some afternoon shooting. Fitting 2 fly rods, vest, waders, boots, 2 shotguns, vest, tubes, and 600 rounds of ammunition in the truck got to be problematic. Add a cooler for lunch and there’s no room to take a friend. I’m certainly not leaving any of the stuff in the bed.
Also, the trim level on my truck has carpet. Nice, but I really hate leaving my wading boots leaking on the carpet. And once we got a dog, there were muddy prints all over.
And finally, when I’ve gone bird hunting, we’re ususally following some muddy tracks that have me fearful of being able to get home with 2WD. I wanted a 4WD vehicle, enclosed, with rubber floors and easy-to-clean interior. Preferrably something that would run forever (like an old Land Cruiser or Scout).
So last summer I saw the Toyota FJ Cruiser for the first time. I thought that it might be everything I wanted in a truck. My wife has a 4Runner that we love, and this has the same powerplant and similar frame. Rubber floors, neoprene seats, 4WD in manual or auto. I was in love, but it was out of my price range.
So for 6 months every time the salesguy called, I told him the same thing. Meet this stupid price, you have a sale. Doesn’t matter when, I can wait until you can meet it. My F-150 is paid for, and it’s got a lot of life left if I have to wait.
Well, a week and a half ago, they got me to come down to look at what they had. They had a Yellow one with the options I wanted. But they were a long way away in price. I thanked them and left.
45 minutes later, I had a call that they would meet my price. 2 hours after that I left the showroom in the fishin’ and huntin’ truck of my dreams.
I’ve now fished out of it a few times, taken the dog around in it a bunch, and shot out of it. It’s everything I was hoping for. A 9’ fly rod can sit assembled from the back up to the front without touching the windshield. The rubber floors mean I don’t need to worry about putting wet boots in back, and the neoprene/fabric seats shed water if I don’t take my waders off before I drive.
Here’s hoping it gets to look like some of the old fishmobiles I see driving around the Smokies - ususally old Land Cruisers or Range Rovers.
Now where did I put that “Sage” sticker?
