I'm Evidently The Weird Dude On The Bike With The Fishing Rods...

This post is brought to you by the Specialized Crossroads Sport.

Literally.

I've noticed in Florida that there is a lot of water (ponds) near my house, but not a lot of it has areas to park a vehicle near.  Hence, probably more important than getting a new rod, reel, (or kayak), I thought it would be a good idea, and plenty practical, to invest in a new bike.  I convinced myself of this after reading this article.  Plus my 12 year old mountain bike just wasn't getting it done anymore when it came to family rides around the neighborhood.

So I visited Open Road Bicycles on Saturday morning and got hooked up with the aforementioned Crossroads Sport by the friendly staff there.  So Sunday morning (and hopefully many days to come), I could go fishing in places like this...

...and catch fish like this...

Actually, that was the nicest fish of the day (which if you're my friend or follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, etc..., you've already seen, sorry...) but I caught a ton more.

First, I scouted the perimeter of the pond with my Tenkara USA Ito (tenkara lives in Northeast Florida!) and brought quite a few bluegills and small bass to hand (Kiwi's beadhead Royal Sakasa Kebari was extremely effective)...

...then would switch over to my Mangrove stick and throw Clouser minnows out a little further out for somewhat larger bass, sort of like the one in the first picture.

I kind of enjoyed the cross-training on the fishing technique front...both without reel, then with reel.  Kind of the best of both worlds.  Bo knows fishing?  Beats me, but it's sure fun trying...