So, you want to have some quality time kayak fishing with your children (or grandchildren)? Well, it better be fun for them, or else they won’t like to go fishing with you again, and they would find all kinds of excuses to stay home and play a video game…
The L kayaking position isn’t that hard on a child’s back as it is on an adult’s back, but children need to move more than us, adults, and being locked in a kayak in that position, whether it’s for paddling or fishing, can get to be frustrating for them. This is why it’s important they have a kayak that offers them a chance to switch between a variety of fishing and paddling positions. Besides, kids love to stand up in boats (don’t we all?…) and both paddling and fishing standing in the W kayak comes naturally to them – Try to stop them from standing up and you’ll find they don’t hear you that well…
This two year old movie shows children paddling their W fishing kayaks on flat water and at the beach – in the surf:
Click to play movie
There are other, safety related considerations to why you may prefer to have children fish from a W fishing kayak rather than from a sit-in or SOT fishing kayak. It has to do with the fact that as a child lands a fish in a sit-in or on top of a SOT kayak, the fish is fighting to get free right in the kid’s lap – hook and all included. This is a situation that’s not always easy for an adult kayak fisherman to deal with, but for a novice kayak angler who happens to be very young it’s both stressful and potentially hazardous.
This is not a problem in the W fishing kayak, where the fish lands at the bottom of one of the kayak’s deep hulls, where it can struggle as much as it wants – until it gets too tired to be a problem for anyone.
With an experianced W kayaker I would imagine a younger child would have a blast being the captain or Dad’s or Grampa’s W. They could stand or sit near the bow, be right in the action, and safe besides. If they wanted to spin around and face the paddler that would work too. When fishing with a youngster the most important thing is to keep it short and simple. After a just minutes fiddling around with a few fish they might well be interested in a ride or exploring trip. My kids are a little too old for fishing with me in the cockpit now. Some of the creeks and waterways here in Florida would be wonderful place take a child in the W. There are so many places to explore.