Fishing Truck

When I got home from a successful fishing adventure this morning, I decided that I still had enough energy left to wash and wax my 10-year-old Ford Ranger. The Ranger is my most recent fishing (and hunting) truck; and during the 10 years I have used it, it has performed well. My mechanic tells me it should keep going for a while longer.

As I washed and waxed the dark blue truck, I noticed that it does sport a few bumps and bruises that I have inflicted on it over the years. My local body-repair expert has had to pop out a few dents that the truck has gotten from my backing into a tree and a fence post, and from having a big buck run into me on the third month I owned it. He has kept the truck in such good shape that recently the mother of a young sportsman who is getting to the point that he is going to need an outdoors truck told me that her son wouldn't mind having my truck if I wanted to get rid of it. As nicely as I could, I replied, "I think I'm going to keep for a while. Since it's 10 years old, I can take it places that I'd be reluctant to drive a newer truck."

I also knew of Rangers older than mine in town that are serving their owners well.

The Ranger is an extended-cab truck. When I bought it, I wanted an extended cab because of the amount of "valuable equipment" that can be stashed behind the seats. I had discovered that you can fill the bed of a pick-up truck with the material behind the seats of an extended cab when, years ago, I followed my dad to a service station where he was having some work done. He didn't want to leave his equipment in the truck while it was there. We emptied the extended cab of his truck. The stuff we removed from it covered the bed of the little pick-up I owned at the time. After that, I knew my next mid-size pick-up was going to have an extended cab.

I keep an assortment of equipment behind the seats, and I still have room to throw some fishing gear behind the seats whenever I need to.

The Ranger has been a reliable vehicle. Even so, it is not at the top of my list of favorite fishing vehicles. I once owned a 1974 Scout; I did things with it I should never have even tried.