Sometimes it makes more sense to pole your fishing kayak rather than to paddle it. This can be a necessity when you’re paddling and fishing in shallow water, especially in the presence of weeds, reeds, tree roots, underwater rocks and etc., and when launching or beaching in shallow, sandy or muddy beaches.
You’ll find that poling your W fishing Kayak is easy, but you’d obviously need a longer paddle for that, and preferably one that’s sturdy enough, such as the Wavewalk PSP, which stands for paddling standing and poling.
You can also use the 9′ Mohawk paddle for poling, but you need to bear in mind that while the Wavewalk PSP has a strong, wide-diameter, pultruded (pull-extruded) fiberglass shaft, and composite Nylon-fiberglass blades, the Mohawk paddle features a smaller diameter, two-piece, aluminum shaft that can support less abuse.
Therefore we recommend to pole more gently when using the Mohawk, and preferably not use it for poling.
If the bottom is composed of deep and sticky mud your poling paddle might get stuck in the mud while you lose grip unintentionally and let your fishing kayak keep going forward… Having your paddle stay behind you may sound like a rather silly accident, but stuff happens, especially to those who have a tendency for daydreaming, or get easily distracted. So, you may want to leash your paddle, or at least stay focused on your poling while you’re at it.
Wow Yoav you must be a mind reader. Just today I was poling my way around Pellicer Flats. As you mentioned the only paddle you might want to play that game with is the exclusive PSP that you have available. Mine has been used kind of like the tough engine on a 4 wheel drive. It’s been beaten and abused but has yet to break down or have a problem. Like I’ve always said if you have to face a gator down with a paddle be sure it’s a Wavewalk paddle.
Jeff,
The Wavewalk PSP is a tough one indeed, but I’ll have to be prudent about that gator face-to-face thing, and state that “to the best of our knowledge it hasn’t been tested in real combat”…
Please don’t try any of this next time you see a gator, but maybe a combination of the PSP in one hand and the new aluminum stake-out pole in the other would be more effective?
Well, just an idea – and probably not one of my best
Yoav