Biking and Fly Fishing Trip

[moosekid]

Has anybody ever taken a bicycle-camping tour centered around fly fishing?? The Mickelson Trail in the Black Hills of South Dakota is supposed to be radical and it goes through the heart of some pretty cool trout country. I'm trying to plan a trip with my dad where we can cover some miles but also get some fishing in every day. So far, the Mickelson Trail seems like the best option but I'm sure there are plenty of cool trails out there. Does anyone know about similar trails??

SD GFP | State Parks | Directory | Mickelson Trail

 

[thrashers.wheat]

Bicycling the road/trail that follows the most downstream portion of the Deschutes is popular for summer run steelhead

 

[WBDluver]

There is a trail along the Cranberry in WV and you can just pick a spot and camp also.

 

[Trout Guy]

Even though you probably have Swiss cheese brain from all the head cement huffing over the years, I do find this appealing. I always wanted to bike-pack and fish too.

 

[Trout Nazi]

This sounds pretty cool. How many miles you plan on covering, and what kind of bikes do you plan on using?

 

[mob201]

I'm loving this thread. Always wanted to do something like this, so keep the suggestions coming. My info is on the Youghiogheny, about an hour from Pittsburgh (so, only about 5 hours from NYC, Moosekid). It's a tailwater fishery with very good trout and smallmouth fishing and a bike path through the woods right next to it... not much development around the river... it's part of the Great Allegheny Passage, which runs along trout and smallmouth water for much of its length, and has campsites along the way.

 

[moosekid]

Thanks for all the suggestions, those river systems look pretty cool. My dad and his friends commonly bike and camp along the north shore of lake superior. They camp, take day hikes and fish, usually hauling trailers and sparing no luxuries--but they are serious cyclists and it's a pretty flat path. Soo if I were to do the South Dakota trip, we'd have access to that gear because I'd just drive there from MN. I'm not sure what the trail is like, but I'd imagine the go-to bikes for the tour would be cyclocross bikes. Not sure about the mileage, but if the fishing's good--i won't be moving too much. I just need to train so I can keep up with the old guys 'cause they haul-ass. :crap:

 

[Petergoodman]

There was an article in either Fly Fisherman or Rod & Reel a couple years ago on outfitting a trail bike for this - how to mount rod tube best on frame, etc. Wish I could be more exact, but remember at the time that this would be a lot of fun. As we all know, get 100 yards off the road for better fishing - so getting a couple miles out...

 

[Rusty Spinner]

I did some of this back when I was a teenager in Vermont in the late 70s/early 80s. We took 3 or 4 day camping trips and often crashed at the homes of friends across that state if we didn't camp in a campground. But sometimes it becomes more about one thing than the other because you can't bike and fish at the same time. So it's good to talk it through with everyone on the trip before hand so they all get enough fishing or biking in (a problem we ran into when one of our crew didn't fish and grew weary of our frequent fishing stops on one trip as I recall). We did road bikes, but that was before mountain bikes were all the rage.

 

[moosekid]

The cold water thread reminded me that I left my home-turf out of this discussion.
http://www.lanesboro.com/cms/files/2012RootRiverTrailMapFINAL.pdf
This is a SICK trail that goes through the heart of amish country in southern Minnesota. There is great fishing, beautiful trails, tons of campsites, and EVEN more cutesy bed and breakfast type places dotted along this trail. Make it happen, dudes.

The river is really high and off color in this video but it gives you an idea....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHJQEseQWsw