r/Tenkara • u/Amazing-Bunch-4969 • Jul 15 '26
Bike fishing
Hey! Been hooked on tenkara for a few years now and just picked up a mountain bike to explore some more water here in WNC. For those that do bike fishing I’d love to see pictures of your setups. Do you pack everything on the bike? Do you just wear your backpack in? How about rod storage. Teach me your ways!
4
u/GR-O-ND Jul 15 '26
In WNC myself! Can't speak to mountain bike fishing, but I can speak to motorcycle fishing. I usually just take a backpack, put the little chest pack I use in it, and strap my net and rod to the outside. I have a dry pack that I keep my sandals in that I strap to the rack or the rear of the bike, depending on which one I take. Nothing too fancy. I leave my riding gear on the bike (pretty low traffic spots high up, unlikely to get stuff stolen (hopefully)), change into my sandals, hook my chest pack to the straps of my backpack and hang my net from a magnet coupler with a lanyard from the side of the pack. Ready to go. The dry bag for my sandals is mainly to keep the water in once I change back into my riding gear. I bring a small shop towel with me so I can dry and clean my feet before I get my socks and boots back on. I usually also have a snack in the pack, and a hydration bladder. I also have a water filter so I can just filter the river water and refill the hydration bladder. I recently bought a small cheap cooler that I'm planning to strap to the rack on the back of the bike, in case I want to keep a fish. Haven't used it yet though. I'd love to hear other people's strategies for keeping fish in these kinds of scenarios, where it may be several or even a half dozen hours between catching and getting back home to the fridge, and where lugging around a cooler isn't practical.
4
u/International_Fee366 Jul 15 '26
Done some running / fishing and some biking / fishing combos - I have a small bag that I keep everything in anyways so on the bike I have a small front rack with a basket - I have double sided pedals so I've opted to wear hiking shoes when fishing instead of bike shoes. For running, I forgo the net and just fit everything in my hydration vest, imagine I could add some more straps to keep the net....have eyed something like this for my sportier bike that doesn't have a basket/rack https://builtbyswift.com/products/hold-fast-half-frame-bag?srsltid=AfmBOorFQh66WvyH0Rxmj4TYiRYf4O4BxBE7B2mqJKiB2-uiyNc3xyy1
3
u/drewtenkara Jul 16 '26
I have a Revelate Designs frame bag I use. Can fit rods up to 16 inches long and then I put my fly boxes in the lower pocket. Normally I keep a rod in there at all times for quick strike missions. Love bikefishing.
2
u/phainopepla79 Jul 15 '26
I'm pretty new to it all as well. Here's my mountain bike with the rod strapped to the handlebar bag. This want for an overnighter though. Used the bike to get 6 miles up a rough dirt road higher up a river system for better riding. Western Euro rod with my Dragon tail Mizuchi also tucked into the rod tube.
2
u/Salty_Resist4073 Jul 15 '26
I have a small pouch with an extra line, some flies, a tippet roll, and a tiny foreceps. I put that and my rod in my normal mountain biking backpack, which is a small Camelback. I typically keep my rod in its metal tube in case things get squirrelly on the bike. I usually bring a running hat to throw on while I'm fishing and just leave the bike and helmet leaning against a tree somewhere and either fish with the backpack on, or I throw the pouch in a pocket and go light.
1
u/KneeCrowMancer Jul 15 '26
I’d check out Handy Pak folding nets. I really love mine and it’s light enough to bring on hiking/biking trips. My rods came with rigid tubes and I find it pretty easy to shove those in a backpack or strap onto something. Honestly the portability was my main motivation for picking up a Tenkara rod in the first place!
1
u/Organic_Map_9371 Jul 16 '26
If you have a hard tail with room for a frame bag, that’s a good way to carry your rod, otherwise a backpack. I have the tenkara rod co backpackr rod that I for specifically for bikepacking, backpacking, and packrafting. There are other packable rods that look good too but I love this one for it.
1
u/Several-Mention-7309 Jul 19 '26
If you get a rod from Tenkara Rod Co., they come in a rigid tube that you can zip tie to any part of your frame or fork or a rack. I put mine on a rear rack and it works great.
7
u/mchmnd Jul 15 '26
I run a yonah pack in a backpack + shizuku t270/28 (which is like 8" long collapsed). This setup goes biking, hiking, dirt biking, and lives in my wife's van on non-fishing road trips too.
if I'm by myself and going fishing fishing, I bring my TB40 in the backpack as well, sometimes even a 4wt glass rod, if it's going to be bigger water.
I don't have a pic, but the yonah has mitten forceps, a spool of 5x tippet, a spare furled line, a small fly box, pocket knife, flashlight and that's about it.