Riding over is yet another position enabled by the new 2008 kayak design.
It’s basically a static position, for fishing, resting, chatting, shooting pictures, cooling your feet in the water etc.
You can paddle while you ride over your W kayak, but you won’t go very fast…
Photography: Jim Green
Brandon from Cape Cod made this ingenious instant release anchor system for his W kayak.
He writes:
-”Here are some pics of an anchor system that worked really well for me last season. The key is to be able to release the Wavewalk kayak from the anchor line in an instant to chase and fight a big fish.
The Genius Carabiner opens at an angle so only one hand is needed. The float allows the angler to find the anchor system after the fight and start fishing again from that productive spot.
Commercial fisherman use a similar (yet much beefier) system to hook, fight and land giant bluefin tuna here on Cape Cod.”
Read more about Brandon’s Fishing Kayak
‘Plastic’ kayaks is a term that refers in most cases to rotationally molded Polyethylene kayaks.
Polyethylene (HDPE, MDPE, LDPE and various commercial names) is by far the preferred resin in the kayak industry because of its superior performance when it comes to shock resistance, durability and overall reliability, but it is known to be quasi impossible to bond. This is because Polyethylene’s surface tension is low, which doesn’t allow for significant chemical reactions to occur, including bonding. The upside of this feature is that Polyethylene has superior resistance to strong solvents, acids, radiation etc., and indeed it is used for making fuel tanks and containers for active chemicals.
When an adhesive’s label says it bonds plastics it normally doesn’t mean Polyethylene.
3M is offering a an adhesive called 3M Scotch-Grip TM 4693 H Plastic Adhesive, and the company states it works for various plastic materials, Polyethylene included.
We tested this product and found that indeed it bonds with Polyethylene, and apparently better than other adhesives we know.
However, in our opinion the bonding is not sufficiently strong to allow use in structural repairs or for attaching accessories to a Polyethylene kayak, except maybe a fish finder, a decal etc., which are not required to support weight or resist even weak pulling forces at any time.
This adhesive could be used to seal rivet and bolt holes above waterline (E.G. with carry handles, rod holders, eyelets etc.). We would not recommend using it for sealing holes below waterline because we’re against drilling holes in kayak hulls below waterline in any case…
We would not recommend to use it for fixing cracks anywhere in the hull, and as far as filling gashes (such as those created by oysters) we don’t see the benefit of it, and we don’t see how the adhesive would stay in its place if it had to resist abrasive forces.
In sum, this adhesive cannot replace ‘hard’ methods such welding, riveting and bolting, but it can be useful in other ways.
Jeff’s experimentation with his new 2008 W fishing kayak led to the discovery that he can sit side-saddle in it, as this picture shows. Jeff is a big guy and his feet are resting on the bottom of this shallow lagoon, but it’s also possible to sit this way without getting support from the bottom.
Photo: Jim Green
Until now only some kayak fishermen have been able to sit this way in their wide SOT fishing kayaks, and the previous W kayaks featured a spray deflector that was a bit too high to allow this trick.
Now, the 2008 W kayak model has a lower spray deflector that puts the W in par with those wide SOT fishing kayaks.
Why is this important for W kayak fishermen?
First of all, having yet another position to be in is always important, especially when you’re practicing a static sport such as kayak fishing and your body gets tired from being continuously in one position.
Second, when you’re fishing the flats on a hot summer day it can be nice to cool down your feet in the water…
Third, it shows how simple and easy it is to get in and out of the W kayak in shallow water.
Here is what Ben C. a W kayak fly fisherman from Pennsylvania emailed us:
“Hi all,
Second time out in my new Wavewalk kayak tonight- caught my first ever Mirror carp (large scales)! And my back still feels good! Carp pulled me around the pine run reservoir for 15 minutes - caught on wooly bugget- 6/7 wt fly rod, 2 lb tippet.
Blast”
Congratulations Ben, this is a beautiful, mighty fish.
We look forward to more pictures,
Yoav
Tagging the W as a canoe would be as technically correct as labeling it a kayak or a catamaran… It’s all of these and it’s neither, or shall we say that it’s basically a new watercraft with some canoe, kayak, and catamaran ‘genes’…
I’ve already written posts about canoing the W, and here are some new pictures:
The canoe paddle made from half a 9′ Mohawk double blade paddle outfitted with a T grip accessory is longer than most canoe paddles are, but it’s still a bit short for paddling standing in full comfort - if you’re tallish. We hope to be able to offer an extension for it soon.
And this is how you make a sharp turn - leftward in this case:
Leaning into the turn:
The left hull carries most of the W canoeist’s weight, and therefore it sinks deeper than the right hull, which carries little weight.
Being more submerged the left hull generates more drag than the right one, and thus it acts both as a rudder and a ‘pivot’ enabling sharp turns - that is relatively to this boat, which as a catamaran is a natural tracker. -The paddler paddles on the right side.
Sometime it’s nice to go paddling with passengers on board your W Kayak. It can be fun to combine such an excursion with fishing, camping or bird watching.
Storage space is not a problem since the W kayak’s hull tips offer ample storage space, and you can attach additional gear on top of its hulls, but in case you need to take two passengers with you in the cockpit you’d better plan ahead. In such case canoing style paddling presents certain advantages over kayaking style paddling since the shorter, single blade paddles are less prone to hit each other.
Roles should be well defined and understood, in order to facilitate tracking.
The paddler at the stern should be the one responsible for the entire crew, since he/she can see the two others and can apply long J strokes that would help steering and tracking.
The paddler in the front can switch sides more easily than the two others - in case an additional blade is needed in the water on the other side of the kayak.
In case you use kayak (I.E. double blade) paddles, it’s important that the front paddler set the pace and the other two follow his/her paddle in parallel, otherwise the paddles will hit each other.
Like most things related to paddling - practice makes perfect.
This is a picture of Jeff’s new 2008 F2 Model W Fishing Kayak, fully rigged for fishing:
The rigging includes an the anchor trolley on the side, a milk crate with a battery of three rod holders, and Jeff’s new DIY paddle holders. Note one of the two flush mount rod holders that holds the fishing net’s handle.
You may be asking yourself “What about a fish finder?” Well, Jeff is the kind of kayak fisherman who prefers to use his knowledge and instincts rather than electronics. -”I don’t use electronics too much because the depth can be checked with my paddle. In some cases I actually see the fish before they see me. Kayak fishing like it was years back in my canoe allows me to slip into the areas the fish are holding without alerting them to any danger. So long as you keep as silent as you can and watch your shadow on the water fish will keep tight to the area they are feeding in.” he explains.
And by the way, as a dedicated sportsman that he is, Jeff practices ‘catch and release’ unless he has instructions to bring a particular type of fish back home for dinner…
Jeff drags his W fishing kayak on sand, pebbles, gravel, dirt and grass with all the gear still in place, and since the W Fishing Kayak is a true ‘Toss’n Go’ boat, Jeff simply hauls it onto his pickup’s truck bed, attaches it, and drives away.
It saves him a lot of time and work…
Being a kayak fisherman or a regular paddler you may be interested in improving your stand up paddling skills and technique. This is a short movie that shows how paddling standing in the W kayak is done on flat water:
The video also shows some ‘warming up’ exercise: Jumping up and down in the cockpit.
This image taken from the video clearly shows the W wave created by the W Kayak bow:
When it comes to pushing the boundaries we’re always trying to come up with something new, even if it doesn’t always makes sense for daily paddling or fishing.
Our latest experiment is paddling standing in tandem, and by ‘tandem’ we mean two adults - In this case it’s a 6′, 200 lbs guy with a 5′ 6″ , 130 lbs gal.
It certainly required keeping cool, considering the water temperature was below 40 F… -A good exercise in team spirit building.
We’ll keep experimenting as both weather and water get warmer.
As always, Jeff’s kayak fisherman’s mind keeps finding improvements and new ways to rig his W kayak.
Here is Jeff’s latest:
-”I was cleaning up my office this morning and came across this simple plastic TV tray. Hmmm I wondered and headed out back to the W. Not bad this might be something. Without the tall tackle pack in it the thing actually locks in place nicely under the rim providing a broader flat work surface, not to mention handy side pockets.”
As simple and elegant as ever…
Before…
After…
BTW, that kayak is Jeff’s 2008 model.
And in the same spirit, it’s fun to remember a somehow similar idea conceived a couple of years ago by John Earle, a photographer who worked on the cover of the inaugural issue of the MIT Sloan Magazine:
Jeff McGovern did it again: This time he found what seems to be a perfect DIY solution for flat water, ‘drop-in’ paddle holders. It’s so simple and elegant - just a pair of bathroom door clothes hooks attached to the cockpit rim with plastic straps, using the factory-made holes that are already there…
The hole came with the boat, and it’s there exactly for this purpose: Enable the kayak fisherman to easily attach his tackle and gear to the kayak.
We’ve just published a new story about Jane, a kayaker from San Diego, California, who’s just become a W kayaker. Jane took her new 2008 W kayak paddling for the first time in Mission Bay, in the company of her daughter, her two grandchildren, and their friend.
Looks like had a lot of fun…
Jane is also a seasoned Jet-ski and motorcycle rider, but that’s another story…
Jeff McGovern’s new fishing tackle review is about the Emmrod fishing rods.
Jeff explains what their advantages are, and how they fit certain kayak fishing needs.
While these rods are good with any fishing kayak, Jeff recommends to use them in combination with the W fishing kayak because the Riding position it offers enables achieving optimal results.
