Got a nice trout, snook, redfish slam today, so got the camera out. The trout was small but the red and snook were definitely photo-worthy. Too bad I couldn’t have landed these last week during our tournament. I’d surely have won first prize. Oh well – – better late than never.
Me and my yellow W500 – Unfortunately, the fish I had on threw the lures before I could get them aboard.
Ralph came to demo the S4, and he loved it. He caught his personal best in a good trout. Weather was a bit sporty going from perfect calm sunny to wind and dumping rain. A typical spring day here. We had a great time.
In pursuit of trout and kokanee (land locked sockeye salmon) I fish by trolling. Trolling is basically putting your lure out a certain distance behind the boat and at the right depth and then moving at the right speed to maximize the effectiveness of your chosen lure. In my case I use a flaher and then an NTO Scent Spinner. This combination needs to be moved at about 1 -1.5mph. That is a constant speed. So you must paddle to fish. The Wavewalk 700 is uniquely designed for accommodate this. First you could motorize it and then it is easy. But I like things a bit more traditional. So I paddle the entire time I fish. Since I am moving about 1 mile per hour you can pretty much figure out how far I travel by how long I am on the water. In my last trip I launched at about 10:30 and then I finished at about 6pm. So I paddled about 7.5 miles. I stop for the occasional rebaiting or catching a fish but those are fairly short stops.
What makes the W700 well suited for this is the long paddle strokes that are possible vs. the multitude of short strokes in shorter kayaks and the distance the kayak glides with one stroke. It allows you to paddle slowly but go the right speed. This makes long days trolling possible. I have to build myself up but by the end of the fishing season I can go all day long.
If you want to stay traditional but want a kayak you can troll in, the W700 does great! Here are my latest two fishing trips –
Pennsylvania
My Wavewalk 500 was one of the best investments I’ve ever made. I’ve had a lot of fun with it and caught a lot of fish. The most fun is drifting down the Allegheny for small mouth.