Outdoors: Lunar Rover perfect for surf fishing

2022-06-04 02:54:34 By : Ms. Joan Shaw

For a self-professed "aerobic surf fisherman," it was a natural progression. His frenetic approach to fishing the beaches of Northeast Florida became the necessity for his own personal mother of invention.

Noel Kuhn's customized beach fishing cart raises eyebrows and questions as he stalks the beach. Buddies in his surf fishing club - The Florida Surfcasters - have dubbed it the Lunar Rover, for pretty obvious reasons.

The basic surf fishing cart is a tell-tale sign of a serious angler, and Kuhn's habit of fishing both far and hard was the inspiration for his first custom cart four years ago. He says he wore that one out, mainly from the trial and error "messing with the thing." He said it had so many screw holes in it from constant tinkering that the structural integrity was in question.

The new cart was a compilation of all his good ideas, dumb mistakes and blossoming fabrication skills.

For 95 out of 100 surf fishermen, the act is more casual than not. Buy a half-pound of shrimp, take a couple of poles and rod holders to the beach, catch a tan and, if they're biting, maybe a few fish.

Kuhn likes to carry at least six rods and all the accoutrements. He's also not averse to moving miles up and down beaches in search of run-outs, sloughs and the fish they attract. He said that the rover can handle as much as 500 pounds of equipment. It also sports a hitch that he can hook to a beach bicycle for long hauls to productive waters. None of that's possible with a stock cart.

At the core of the redesign are the four wheels, rather than the normal two. This alteration allows the second major difference in Kuhn's cart. It pushes, rather than pulls, through the sand.

The tires themselves are special PVC balloon tires and cost $100 each. They handle from 2 to 4 pounds of air pressure.

"The heavier the load," Kuhn said, "the fatter they get."

His cart travels on sand dunes and beach walk staircases easily. The tires have nylon bearings that need no lubrication and don't rust.

The first major modification of the stock surf cart was to get rid of the single axle and make room to mount the dual ones, which he made from aluminum pipe. The real innovation on the cart is the push handles that Kuhn made from boat railings. This makes it much more maneuverable. His heavier stuff - especially the ice chest - is mounted at the rear of the cart next to the handles. The weight is over the rear wheels, so downward pressure on the handles lifts the front wheels up, allowing the cart to turn easily in deep sand.

The design also makes it easy to pull the cart from the front, in Kuhn's case, with his bike. The four-wheel drive is the core of the cart's friendly physics.

On the working side of the design, there's more. The cart has 10 rod holders that had to be added and relocated to fit around the chubby tires. Kuhn added thin-walled PVC extensions to the stock holders. He said they keep the long surf rods from banging together, dinging the epoxy coating or rattling out guide inserts.

The rover holds a 48-quart ice chest with 20 pounds of ice. Ahead of that is a plastic tub that fits snugly into the frame and carries all the rigs, weights, pliers, shears, cameras, suntan lotion and other tools of the surf fishing trade. In an earlier life it was a part of a file cabinet.

The cart has a 32-inch metal fish-measuring board. Seven custom-made sand spikes ride down one side of the cart.

There are also LED headlights mounted on the front. Kuhn often hits the beach before first light and sometimes stays past dark.

Kuhn figures he's got around $900 wrapped up in the cart - not counting his fabrication and labor.

But it takes him where he needs to go with all the stuff he wants to do.

How do you put a price on that?

If you're interested in doing a little surf fishing, a good start would be the Florida Surfcasters Club. For all kinds of info on fishing the beaches, go to www.surffishingflorida.com.