In a dream where I win the lottery, I wake up in my house, have breakfast and walk down to my own stretch of river and catch a few trout. Coming back to the real world for a moment it would be pretty cool but when I go fishing part of it is the journey I make to get there. It might be a 10 minute drive or a two hour trip. I have even made longer ones from Devon to Yorkshire for a day's fishing but that is another story in itself.
My buddy Ray and I first used the term Fishing Mobile on one of our first fishing trips together some 10 or 12 years ago (it is probably longer). It was a VW Golf that he would throw wet waders into the back of and always had a broken down rod ready for action on the back seat. This was if he was heading to the river or not. We would jump into it in waders and wet boots if we were heading to another river and there was nearly always a stray fly on the passenger seat that I had more than a few close shaves with.
The Fishing Mobile V.1 lasted a good many years and a lot of fishing trips. I think it would still be in service today if Ray hadn't moved to Denmark. We had discussed that it needed to have a proper send off befitting a fishing car. It was only the law that stoppped us from doing so.
I was driving estate cars at the time and although they are perfect for shoving a made up rod through, they never really felt like the real deal for me. It was only when I came back from fishing in Colorado that I got this thing for pick up trucks and how they would make the perfect fishing mobile.
My first one was an old import from Cyprus. It was a red Isuzu but as it came from abroad it was badged as Chevrolet. That made it feel even more like I was in the wilds of the American Mid West, even though I was, at the time, in the flat lands of Essex. Nevertheless it felt like a proper fishing mobile. It had a canopy on the back and I'd leave my gear in it and the dog would jump in there when I took him fishing. It was perfect for the job, although circumstances changed meaning I needed an estate car again.
Things changed again when I moved to Devon and started to work in fly fishing. I needed a pick up again and this time I bought a Toyota Hi Lux. This car, over the 6 years I owned it, qualified as a bona fide Fishing Mobile V.2. It did everything I needed it to and more. There were flies stuck in the dashboard, rods all over the back seat and wet waders living permanently in the back. I kept magnetic rod holders on the roof and bonnet and it had roof rack that would hold my fishing kayak on the roof.
I covered many miles and many trips in this car and was sad to see it go. I have a slightly newer truck now that has a lot to live up to but it earnt its wings recently on a week's salmon fishing in Scotland where we made the long drive from Devon to Banff near Aberdeen.
For me a true fishing mobile is the sort of car that you don't flinch when someone gets in it with wet waders or you don't care if some of the take away you are eating while waiting for the evening rise drops down by the hand brake. It might even have a fly stuck in the dashboard which was the holy grail that day and you just didn't get round to tying up a few more.
So that's a bit about fishing mobiles I have known, do you have one you'd like to share with us?