Well, that is the common saying, but in this case, it’s a lie. My preferred ride on most days to the fishing spot of choice is my Zero DSR. It’s an electric motorcycle with hard case side bags.  I can plug in once a week or so and I’m ready to go out for a nice leisurely ride to the creek. Or, on some days a frighteningly fast zoom to get the most popular spot after a late start. Either way, it is fun, but “half the fun”? No way. I think there was a time when a hair-on-fire ride was the focus of the fun, but these days getting on the water when the trout are feeding on top reduces the ride there to a means to an end. A fun means, but nowhere near “half”.

The bike is not the most efficient means of travel. Packing all the gear in a tight space means I spend time setting up, stringing the rod, swapping out boots, etc. when I could be fishing. But I have come to think that efficiency is overrated. Fishing every day changes one’s perspective on the need to make every minute count. It allows me to slow down and find the fun in every part of going fishing. 

I have tried a number of different “fun” ways of getting to the stream.  In the winter I have skied down to the creek with all my gear in a backpack, paddled in kayaks in the summer, and of course, driven in cars. When Bret and I go on longer full-day car trips we can spend an hour or so getting to a creek in a nearby county. The entire hour is usually spent going over variations in fly materials, the length of leaders, or why people pull in behind 3 cars already parked at a section of the creek. The crazy part of these road trips is not that we can talk for an hour in each direction about what we still don’t know about this sport, but that we are both excited about the day’s fishing like we are going for the first time, even though we both just went fishing the day before. What other activity can you do that after 20 years or more and it still grabs you like that? So I say fishing is way more than half the fun.

A little bit more about the bike for any of those interested. My previous 2-wheeled transport was a much larger and heavier BMW R1150GS. It was great for longer overnight camping trips. But for the short, local hops it was just a bit much and tough to park on any kind of soft ground. Like the kind you find along any trout stream. This electric motorcycle has put the fun back in riding. No maintenance to speak of and much lighter and freaky fast. With the setup I have I can fit waders and boots along with my sling bag and hat in the side cases. My flyrod has a semi-permanent place on the bike next to one of the hard cases. I easily go fishing every day for a week between charges. Less hassle, more fun.