Pier carts-all sizes and all styles

GULF SHORES, ALABAMA- This is my first ever visit to the south during or shortly after a winter in Michigan. I must say, sunny, blue skies and temperatures in the mid 70's might tempt me to return some day.
   Just up the beach from the condo we are renting is a public pier that juts out into the ocean for several hundred yards.
   Today I walked down to investigate and see how the fishing action was going. It cost $2 to walk out on the pier. For $11 you can fish from now until the end of August.
   Besides a lot of anglers either holding or using rod holders to hold at least 9-foot rods were a variety of carts. I call them pier carts because you won't see them on beaches or any other place than piers.
  Because anglers carry so much stuff onto the pier to fish with or make their time out there comfortable, they need a way to transport a variety of rods, tackle, cooler, net and gaff, lunch and snacks and chairs to sit on.
   People used to take the kids wagon for such purposes. Then along came coolers with wheels. Some lashed their equipment to the lid of the cooler and hauled it out.
   Fishermen generally, being handy and willing to make changes or develop their own ideas for such things as rod holders, have a field day with these carts.
   Down here you can buy them starting out for $250. They go up steeply after that depending on size and the attachments you might like to have.
   Now comes those homemade carts. One was made over from a child's Radio wagon, others were built from the ground up to the owners specifications.
   Wheels from shopping carts, bicycle wheels and balloon-type tires for kayak carts have all made their way to a cart.
   It's amazing the number of rod holders some people think they need. Always included is a large cooler and a big net the size to trap Moby Dick in.
   With You Tube and Google so available, these projects should be easily found along with simple plans to build them.
   For the anglers in Michigan, fishing from piers like Lexington or Grand Haven could be much more enjoyable with a pier cart.

Sam Stanczak from Fairhope, AL with his beach cart.