So I was just wondering how you guys usually spot your vehicle... ever ride bikes? always bring 2 cars along? Pay a spotter to move your ride?
I was thinking it would be cool to use a bike or maybe a small moped to spot ourselves... most of the time we only have our 1 car. Some of the landings are far apart though... not sure if it is worth it after a long day on the water...
Spotting? I've never heard that phrase. Over here it's shuttle. I've used all the methods you mention with a heavy dose of hitch hiking thrown in.
A simple 15.00 coastal river shuttle sure (most often) brings a sense of relief knowing I don't have to leave my boat/fishing gear unattended while the shuttle is taking place.
On the Deschutes the 15.00 turns into 50.00 or more. Ouch. I'll stay on the coast.
I always pay for my shuttles, unless I'm floating something close to home then we'll take two cars. Shuttles over here range widely in price mainly determined by trip length. Shuttles on the upper Rogue cost about 25.00 for a 7 to 15 mile float. Middle Rogue shuttles are slightly more, from Hog Creek to Grave creek usually runs 30.00, now this is getting pretty expensive as its only 15 miles too. If you run the Rouge canyon section or Illinois, price is dependent on time of year and which road they can take. If bear camp road is open, its about 100.00. When Bear camp is closed and they have to do the four hour one way around the horn trip, it goes up to about 135-150.00 depending on who you use. Speaking of which, watch who you use to shuttle your car. Most of the smaller companies do not pay work comp on their drivers and consequently if they crash your rig, or god forbid kill someone else, YOU will be held liable for whatever damage they cause.
Jason,
Good one... spotting?? I usually fish by myself and I usually fish 4 to 6 mile sections. I've hitched (not very successully), jogged, biked, and paid to have myself shuttled. My favorite method (mostly because I'm cheap, but also because I've rationalized it's good exercise) is to use my trusty bike. I chain it to a tree at the takeout, drive up to the put-in, put the boat in the river and tie it to a tree, drive my "rig" back down to the take-out, unchain my bike and pedal like crazy back up river where I will either throw my bike in the boat or chain it to a tree and pick it up after the float. (I prefer to handle those logistics before I float so I can focus my simple brain on running the river & catching fish... ). My biggest fear is having someone "borrow" my precious oars and not return them... I keep my fly rods and my fly vest with me as I shuttle (too easy to walk off with...).
I've never had anyone mess with my boat or my things - that I know of & I suppose I'll keep doing it as long as it works....
GH
I've thought about doing this kind of thing too Greg, but man there's just too much stuff in my boat that I can't lock in my boxes or carry with me, and yeah I'm with ya on the oars, there so freakin expensive now that I would die if someone stole them. I don't even like to go into stores with my boat on the trailer without someone watching it for all the same reasons.
Never heard a shuttle called spotting. Didn't quite know what to expect when I opened this thread. And now that we've got the terminology straight, I did see a guy with a mountain bike in the back of his driftboat on the river one time.
Actually a unicycle would fit in the boat much better but I don't have enough balance for one of those things. Too bad those Segway's are so heavy... and expensive - now THAT would be a slick shuttle.
GH
I've pretty much done all of the above. Hitchhiked, biked, had a friend along in a fuel efficient rig, payed someone to shuttle my rig. As for "spotting", never done it. You Michiganders sould start calling it shuttling. Seriously. Now, I've paid for shuttles many, many times. The rates where I fish are typically twenty bucks.
My personal favorite is to make a friend bike. This is especially just after a day of plug-pulling. If I am biking alone, I always bring my most valuable gear with me. I've never had a problem yet. Most fishermen are good sorts who will look after your gear--especially driftboaters as we all face the same shuttle challenge. Leaving things unatttended always makes me nervous though.
As for putting a bikein the boat, I never do it. For one, my anchor system won't allow it and for two bikes have hard sharp edges. You never had a problem with that Greg?
Because I am a natural born argumentative, stubborn mule and a well known open and notorius jerk, I will point out that: A. the Space Shuttle has never been to the moon. The Apollo missions all used rockets ( Greg likely remembers those days); B. Note that "Space" precedes shuttle which indicates a need for a qualifier. I think I'll let the definitions do the talking--
Main Entry: 2shuttle
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): shut·tled; shut·tling \ˈshət-liŋ, ˈshə-təl-iŋ\
Date: 1550
transitive verb
1 : to cause to move or travel back and forth frequently
2 : to transport in, by, or as if by a shuttle or in this case . . .
intransitive verb
1 : to move or travel back and forth frequently
2 : to move by or as if by a shuttle
Main Entry: 2spot
1 : to become stained or discolored in spots
2 : to cause a spot
3 : to act as a spotter; especially : to locate targets
4 : to experience abnormal and sporadic bleeding in small amounts from the uterus
I think I'd rather shuttle than spot! lol. (BTW, Jason since I don't know you and it is is hard to convey tone by computer, I want to say this is meant in good humor . . . as in, no offense intended.)