WAVEWALK KAYAKS

-”Today was windy, very windy. in fact the hum of the wind through the racked rods got too loud after an hour or so.  Paddling the W in the wind is much easier than any kayak I’ve tried. No it’s not fast since none of them are, but the effort feels far less.

I had no problem going into the wind to get across the intercoastal and staking out on the other side was quite simple.  Pointing the boat with my back to the wind gave me casting distance that had to be seen to be believed.  That is along with the fact the W power cast is already really far.
Funny there were no other yakers out at all today.  One fellow stopped by while I was getting the W prepared to go out.  He made the comment about how he now believed what folks said about me going out under less than ideal conditions.  I mentioned that the W made it much less of an issue.

Slow day for fishing only three small reds, none of which would have made a legal meal.  But as always another adventure trip in the W, those are always worth it.

–Jeff”

Rudders are almost a necessity in modern SOT and sit-in fishing kayaks, simply because most of these kayaks have become so wide that they lost the ability to track, which is essential for any water craft.

The increase in width is the kayak manufacturers’ response the the demand for more stability, and it comes at a price of lesser speed and poor control, I.E. lack of tracking capability that’s often coupled with lackluster performance when it comes to maneuverability.

Interestingly, no W-kayak paddler or fisherman has ever felt the need for a rudder. This fact is amazing, considering the W-kayak is shorter than most kayaks out there, and considering the fact that people are using it for multitude of applications in a wide range of aquatic environments, including long trips in the ocean, big lakes and wide rivers, where good tracking capabilities are an absolute necessity.

So what’s the problem with rudders?

First of all, they cost extra money, and good rudders cost a lot.

Second, and more importantly, they slow down your kayak, and are often cumbersome and difficult to handle. After all, there are other things you’d like to do when you’re in your kayak, such as paddling or fishing, rather than steering with a rudder.

Third, and that’s really too bad for paddlers and fishermen who go in shallow water – Rudders have a nasty tendency to get stuck in the bottom, or bump into rocks or branches down there, or get entangled in sea weed, so they limit your range of paddling and fishing.

And fourth, like any mechanical device, rudder systems can break, and their cables can get torn. This problem can turn out to be anywhere between unpleasant and dangerous, especially if you’re far from shore and the weather is getting nasty, the wind is picking up, it’s getting dark, the tide is getting strong etc.

In sum, rudders seem to be yet another necessary evil that’s imposed on the sit-in and SOT kayak fisherman, and W-kayakers and kayak fishermen should be thankful they don’t need to purchase and use such devices.

Google offers an online, free service that shows trends in searches for key words.

For example, this is the link for a report on searches for the key phrase fishing kayak:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=fishing+kayak&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

Interestingly, this report shows that Jacksonville, Florida is the world capital of kayak fishing:

The report also shows that the number of Google searches for this phrase is seasonal, and has remained steady since 2005:

However, when it comes to states, Hawaii leads, and Florida comes second:

-”I was out yesterday much closer to home over at Pellicer.  I was by myself and had quite bit of time to reflect on the W kayak and just how well it does work for fishing.
It was raining yesterday and of course you have to be able to keep some items dry.  Having those 2 Rubbermaid trash cans one on each side in front of me is ideal.  They slide very easily out of the way and in fact deep enough in you can still tuck up into the bow with your knees in the hulls to fight larger fish.

Between the two cans I have all the tackle I need plus drinks, snacks, and assorted tools.

When I transport the boat I put both cans into one hull still out of the rain by the way.  The other hull gets the paddle, stakeout pole, net, etc.

I’ll have to do another short video of moving those cans around.  I think the only place I really moved one was in that rigging one months back.
Dragging the W kayak is so much easier than any other paddle craft.  Yesterday I had lots of dragging over sand bars to get where I wanted.  Most kayaks or canoes are horrible to drag.  Way too much hull contact and then they tip around throwing your gear all over.  Also retry into deeper sections is easy.  Just hop in at the edge and tip you way into the water then off you go.  Kind of like the ice paddling movie.

–Jeff”

And since this blog is about fun, here’s the movie that Jeff mentioned:

More from Jeff McGovern:

-”If I could only match up beautiful days with fabulous fishing success that would be wonderful. As it was we fished the new area blind having no idea how or where to begin in such a large body of water.  But in checking with some of the guides we met on the ramp even they had a tough day which of course happens sometimes. My friend Jeff is a fairly new to kayak fishing having spent years fishing from powered boats.  He is learning fast, handles his kayak very well and is getting in shape for longer paddling sessions each times we head out. Funny how all that paddling can keep you in shape.”

-”The area we fished yesterday was out of River Breeze Park in Volusia county Florida. The park itself is a popular launching spot for many of the local guides who regularly fish with clients in the north section of Mosquito Lagoon. There are modern shower and restrooms right near the ramp. That’s real nice for a day where you might have been pushing through mud for hours at a time to reach prime fishing spots. Fishing in this area is accomplished via sight fishing where you can actually see the fish to cast it. This might be an individual but most of the time you are casting to huge schools of redfish sometimes numbering in the hundreds. That is why guides use flats boats with a poling tower to allow them to see long distances. They will then pole the boat into position for a proper cast, this type of approach is much more silent than a trolling motor and not as likely to spook the school.”

-”In the kayak world the stand-up capability of the W shines here since compared to any other kayak you can see better simply by getting up. For years canoes were the silent boat of choice here for anglers wanting the best possible silent approach. That segment is now being taken over by fishing rigged kayaks.
We did see fish but they were not interested in our offerings. Toward the end of the day we had figured out a pattern for trout but had to leave after only a couple of fish. But that is information for the next time and gives us a positive place to begin. I did get a chance to get out three of my older three piece saltwater pack rods for a workout. They have been stored away in some cases for almost five years. It was good to get them out again and find yet another set of rods perfect for use in the W. Those old rods really respond well to the cannon style launch you can get casting from a W saddle.”

Fred Jelinek, a North Carolina kayak fishermen contributed this new fishing kayak review.

Fred designed and built a simple and effective set of carry wheels, or trolley, for his Wavewalk kayak.

As you can see, this concept is easy to build, lightweight, and easy to attach to the kayak:

And this is how Fred attaches his DIY trolley to his Wavewalk fishing kayak:

Nevada, that’s right.

Harry Smallwood from Nevada took his new W kayak on a long RV trip down to Baja, and back.

He sent us pictures, and a concise review of his new W kayak.

Thanks Harry!

And here is the next segment of Jeff McGovern’s video report from the kayak fishing trip he made together with his fellow kayak fisherman Jeff Moran in Mosquito Lagoon, Florida:

PS–
60-70 lb of kayak fishing gear on board Jeff’s kayak, plus Jeff is a big guy who weighs 245 lbs, that’s a total payload of about 300 lbs, which explains to draft issue in 6″ shallow water.

If you’re planning to be kayak fishing in 2050 you should be prepared to go after different fish species, or head further North if you want to keep catching your favorite fish of today.

A new study found that global warming may affect the distribution of fish populations worldwide, with fish from warmer waters spreading to today’s cooler regions that are getting warmer.

According to this model, this could be true both for ocean kayak fishing and inland kayak fishing.

Read more about it in this CNN article.

And here is a second movie from the kayak fishing trip that Jeff McGovern and Jeff Moran did to Mosquito Lagoon, Florida:

BTW, last time I saw the Charles River here in Massachusetts it was frozen all over…