Bow Fishing and Spear Fishing From a W Kayak
It sounds really exciting – the closest you can get to a hunting experience such as the Inuit must have felt when they hunted animals and birds with their skin-on-frame kayaks. This type of fishing is popular worldwide – not necessarily from kayaks but usually from other small boats that native people have traditionally used in different places.
It also sounds quite simple: You stand or ride in your W Kayak, scout the water, spot a fish, aim and try hitting it with your spear, trident or arrow.
There are however some issues to consider:
First of all, in some places it’s not legal to fish this way.
Second, the water conditions might not be suitable for this type of fishing: Murky water, vegetation and waves can prevent you from seeing anything even if you’re standing and looking down right near your kayak, where visibility is usually better.
Third, spear and arrow wounds are bigger and more serious than injuries caused by fishing hooks, which means that catching a fish this way and releasing it will most likely result in its death, and this defies the purpose of the ‘Catch and Release’ idea.
Fourth, some fish won’t just wait for you to come near them with your kayak, and some are too cautious and won’t get near you when you’re anchored somewhere and waiting for them.
Conclusion? It looks like it’s worth trying…
This is Scott Johnson’s W kayak (MN). Scott hunts from it.
Tags: , bow fishing, kayak fishing, spear fishing