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Bike fishing.

Duncan Dimbleby

Duncan Dimbleby

Senior Member
Anyone use a bike to get to the river these days ?
With so much of my local Thames ( and Jubilee river ) inacessible by car ( or a very long walk ) I figure it's got to make sense to reach spots I'd not normally get to.
Moreover, does anyone use a trolley attached to their bike to help transport kit and has anyone got any tips or reccommendations.
Hope this post doesn't sound too daft but what with the cost of petrol, risk of vandalism or breakin from many car parks I'm seriously considering this as viable transport option.

Duncan.
 
i thought it was a new species when i first saw this...lol
but yer, go for it, saves the dodgy car parking, good exercise and all that that,
but the only pitfall i see is carrying loads of tackle, you can get trailers for bikes.
 
Duncan,

I would suggest a Haglofs rucksack/seat (the castor or combi), a three piece rod (or 5 piece travel version), and a pafex landing net. With your reel and terminal gear plus bait in the ruckseat you just need to secure the rod and landing net to the frame and you're in business.

This doesn't give you a full seat, but a stool type which is attached to the rucksack. But it is lightweight, balanced, and won't have you wobbling down the road in a dangerous fashion.

Best of luck,
David
 
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I haven`t caught a bike yet but I did once witness someone baiting up with them....I was fishing just above Burghfield bridge on the kennet, anyone who knows this area will know that the tow path underneath is a bit tight and I watched two consecutive cyclists clip the wall and tip straight in. No good for the fishing or my sides!

Mic
 
Hiya Dunc, used a bike to go fishing for years when I was younger as did Pete. The only thing I would bother clipping to the bike are your rods (not made up) and landing net pole. Get yourself a decent rucksack for everything else and travel light, we used to use a creel rather than a rucksack as it provided something to sit on.

Cheers
Paul
 
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Mic Foot said:
I haven`t caught a bike yet but I did once witness someone baiting up with them....I was fishing just above Burghfield bridge on the kennet, anyone who knows this area will know that the tow path underneath is a bit tight and I watched two consecutive cyclists clip the wall and tip straight in. No good for the fishing or my sides!

Mic (former choker of donkeys)
Click to expand...

I don't know about choking donkeys but you nearly choked me on my coco then.....:D:D:D
 
I used to cycle about 45 miles round trip a day for my carp fishing.
Eventually used a sturdy rack with small rucksack and lightweight chair.
Rods clipped to frame of decent road going mountain bike.
Did the same for my barbel fishing but with just the one rod.
You quickly learn what is essential gear.
 
Be careful when mixing bike spokes and fishing rods is my advice! I have shattered 2 fly rods on separate occassions in the spokes of my bike. They were strapped to the frame and came loose whilst cycling! I had travelled 4 miles so decided to fish with the tip section only, managed a small brown trout.
 
What, there are machines which you have to manually propel yourself??

That is such a waste when people have gone to all that trouble inventing engines and vehicles with big comfy seats, just fish near a car park like the rest of us!!
 
Duncan

I was going to give you a bell but I know at night you are easily spoked and quite tyred. With all your vast experience you are the best to handle [it] bar none. Just get to the seat of the problem and throw some light on it.

See you soon, I'll get my coat.......

Mike
 
Give me strength......................... Mr Wilson, and you Mr Durrant.

Crooky, if you'd of seen what I've seen lurking in the depths ( or in this case just under the surface :eek:), but well off the beaten track, you'd be strapping stuff to your bike. That or get dropped in by helicopter ;).

Seems to me that there are vast untouched stretches of water waiting to be explored but only if your prepared to put in the effort to reach them. Almost virgin water and certainly containing big fish ( carp and barbel ) which will likely never of seen a baited hook in most cases.

Rack and panniers for the bike on order, stripped down ruck containing the bare minimum kit and a lightweight quiver for two rods. Ruled out the trolley idea as I think that could prove too heavy and cumbersome.

I'll let you know how I get on.

D.
 
Duncan Dimbleby said:
Crooky, if you'd of seen what I've seen lurking in the depths ( or in this case just under the surface :eek:), but well off the beaten track, you'd be strapping stuff to your bike. That or get dropped in by helicopter ;)
Click to expand...

I do know a few people who work at the Chinook base at Odiham, they should have something suitable ;)

You should get a boat mate, best thing in the world for exploring the thames........or even, dare I suggest it on here...........not sure I should say this.............I will get picked on horribly.............and probably thrown to the wolves.......A...................Canoe..........there, I said it, I am now doomed to a life of being shunned by the angling world!!
 
Hi Duncan,

Glad I saw this post. I ride around on my bike quite a lot and have been known to get up at 3am to ride for an hour or so to catch the rising sun (not literally!) and a Barbel or two.

I strap a JRC Xlite chair to my rucksack, then roll/wrap a Greys 3 piece rod and 30" folding net inside a nicely cushioned landing mat and again attach it to the rucksack. Then take food/drink/scales/small tackle box/reel etc inside the ruck. Works out really well for me and most of the time I enjoy it.

I strongly advise on getting a ruck sack with padded adjustable back support for longish journeys and a well geared bike. Am yet to get a puncture though!:eek:
 
Thanks for the tips Andreas, all sound advice.

I think the key is to travel light, obviously. It's not till you scale everything down that you realise how much unecessary stuff we carry around with us normally. A couple of spots I've been targeting recently have time limited or awkward parking which means time spent on the water minimal. A bike would solve that and I'd have as long I'd like without worrying about getting a parking ticket or security. In other words I can relax and enjoy my fishing.

Duncan.
 
Not for nothing that once, back in the very early 1970s, the Hants Avon-Valley-living family of a very dear and early girlfriend of mine called me "Bicycle Repairman" (after the Monty Python sketch character of that time), for, when I came a-courtin' of an evening, my later leaving for home was inevitably marked by a session outside the backdoor with a bicycle pump to get my Raleigh back down the country lane - much to everyone present's mirth.
 
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