Bevans is a kayak fisherman and paddler from Texas who contributed this new, exciting W fishing kayak review to our website.
In his review he tells about his first experience with his 2008 W fishing kayak, paddling standing up, and stand up kayak fishing adventures.
Bevans’ W fishing kayak is rigged simply and efficiently.
-Thanks Bevans!
Brandon Cutter and friends, from Cape Cod, Massachusetts play with Brandon’s 2008 W fishing kayak in the surf in Nantucket. They paddle in parallel to the beach - hopping on breaking waves. They launch, surf and beach. (1 minute)
One of them easily recovers his overturned boat, and then keeps paddling.
Jeff did it again: Here is his new W kayak fishing action video for all to enjoy (2.55 min):
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And here the movie we’ve all been waiting for: Dan Carroll in his maiden voyage in his motorized, electric W fishing kayak:
Read more about this electric trolling motor project
When you’re fishing from a W kayak there’s an instant way to know how long a caught fish is:
You place it on the saddle top (a.k.a. mini-deck), and count the lines -
Each rectangle is 6″, so this flounder that stretches over three of them would measure just a little above 18″.
Obviously, this method is not recognized by any fishing tournament, but it’s good to know - in case you forgot your ruler.
Photo courtesy of Jeff McGovern, Florida.
Thrust is a unit of measurement that manufacturers of electric trolling motors for fishing kayaks and other boats use to describe propulsion capability. Thrust is measured in units of weight. In the USA it’s usually pounds (lb.).
This can be confusing, since we often tend to think of propulsion in motion terms, or in horsepower (HP).
Before going further, we’d better clarify what weight and thrust have in common:
This (rather crude) illustration shows a small boat on the water. The boat is equipped with an electric trolling motor and propeller unit whose measurable output is 36 lb. The boat is attached by a line to a 36 lb weight that’s pulling it backward. Since the motor unit can provide 36 lb of thrust it will keep the boat in place: It would be strong enough to counterweight the 36 lb weight, but not strong enough to get the boat to move forward.
Once the battery gets weaker and/or the propeller entangled in seaweed the thrust achieved will diminish and the 36 lb weight will drag the boat backwards.
Similarly, if we lifted the propeller out the water it would still thrust the boat forward, but much less so, since it would be pushing against air that’s hundreds of times less dense than the water this propeller was designed to work in… In this case the 36 lb weight would easily win this tug of war.
Note that this simple model describes thrust without using speed terms.
There is no simple formula that can help you convert thrust to horsepower or vice versa, although the terms are closely related to each other when motorized boats are concerned.
In our case Thrust is the directional force resulting from the rotation of a propeller at a certain speed. Different propellers rotating at the same speed will generate different thrust. The same propeller will usually generate more thrust at a higher rotation speed (RPM).
Horsepower is a unit of measurement for power (it’s quite obvious isn’t it?…), which is the ability to do work. Power is described by weight lifted over a distance during a certain time.
1 HP is equal to the power needed to lift the weight of 550 lb over a vertical distance of 1 ft - in 1 second.
Just by looking at these numbers we can sense that not every human is capable of producing 1 HP - not even for a short period of time. Most of us can produce much less than 1 HP over long periods of time, such as when paddling, biking etc. Estimates vary from 0.2 to 0.4 HP, but that doesn’t mean much for us as individuals.
So, going back to our illustration, if we had a 1 HP gas engine on top of the dam, and that engine was attached with a pulley to the line holding the 36 lb weight, we would be able to lift that weight up at a staggering speed of over 15 ft per second (550:36 = 15….).
Apples to apples: How can we compare the 1 HP gas engine to our 36 lb electric trolling motor?
We need comparable, that is mutually convertible units of measurement. In this case it’s HP and Watt. To convert Watts (W) to a horsepower rating (HP) simply multiply the Watts by 0.00134
In other words, a 750 W electric motor (1:00134 = 746…) produces the equivalent of 1 HP.
In boating terms, Thrust would be the result of applying this power to move a boat through the water by connecting the engine to a suitable propeller and letting it move water… In order for such a comparison to make some practical sense we need to assume certain things about RPM, type and condition of propeller, boat size, boat speed etc… It’s really not that easy.
More specifically, when it comes to electric motors for kayaks you shouldn’t be tempted to get a strong motor that would consume your battery power too fast. If such a thing happens you’ll have to paddle your kayak back with a heavy battery and motor onboard…
Here is Jeff McGovern’s latest contribution to the art and science of W kayak fishing -
A two minute, online guided tour of his rigged, 2008 W fishing kayak (video plus audio).
It’s a gem:
We’re getting reports about people sailing, rowing, surfing, paddling and driving their W kayaks… -When we get enough pictures we publish a ’story’ page. The latest story is from Vermont. It’s about Dan Carroll’s electric trolling motor system project for his 2007 W fishing kayak, a.k.a “The Mean Green Machine”. We call it a ’system’ because it includes not only the motor but a clever, user friendly steering device as well.
Dan cruising in his electric W fishing kayak
And here’s the first fish Dan caught in his motorized W fishing kayak
Last year Scott Johnson from Minnesota bought a 2007 W fishing kayak that he’s used for photography and bow hunting (See full story).
This year Scott got himself a 2008 model. With two W kayaks Scott can enjoy W kayak trips in the company of guests, and this time it was his nephew Justin, who’s also an avid hunter and fisherman.
Here is Scott’s report from their first W kayak trip this year: -”The rivers are finally coming down to a safe level but they are very stirred up and muddy. My nephew Justin and I went for our first paddle together yesterday. More major erosion has widened out the river even further. When we started out we were on a 45 degree muddy incline - I positioned my 2008 Wavewalk kayak square to the water and said “This is how you get started” - a little thrust and I was on my way. I hit the water and bounced the front end a little but easily maintained my balance. Justin was grinning, he also managed the water slide entry with no problem. Going with the current is lots of fun but no work… We saw an eagle on a sandbar eating a fish, it took off and when we checked out the carp he was still flipping around. We had our fish poles but the river was so muddy it seemed pointless.
Justin paddling Scott’s 2007 W Fishing kayak
The important thing is we had a great time just cruising down the river. We are both impressed with the Wavewalk kayaks, they are very versatile. Temps were around 90 so a couple hours was enough. The next outing will be an all day, fishing, shore lunch on a nicer cleaner river. I found a manmade lake about 20 miles frome here. I geuss it has a sand bottom and is nice and clear. It has crappies and sunnies in it, maybe some good fishing will materialize soon! -Scott”
Sometimes we tend to forget that kayak fishermen are people with additional interests in life besides fishing… Some have families, and they like to share their experience and even their boat with family members and friends.
Such is Dan, from Vermont (see Dan’s W Fishing Kayak Review).
Dan invited his daughter Emily and her friend Tunie to try his 2007 W fishing kayak, and like him they had no problem paddling standing:
Boaters are always ready to help one another. Usually it’s motorized boaters who assist paddlers, but yesterday, while paddling our W kayaks on the Charles river in Waltham, we had an opportunity to help Anthony and Kelley, whose boat’s outboard motor had stalled.
We attached the back of my W kayak with a rope through its carry handles to the front of the motorboat.
From their motorboat, Anthony used my 9 ft long paddle, and Kelley paddled using a canoe paddle they had onboard. I paddled using an 8ft long paddle that belongs to my 9 year old son Yanay who had been onboard my W kayak and moved to the motorboat before we began the operation.
Yadin, my 12 year old son stayed in his own W kayak, and took pictures using a camera he borrowed from Anthony and Kelley.
It was a long and slow process, although the distance we had to paddle wasn’t long. After about 15 minutes we heard thunder and it started raining.
The Charles was already swollen from a previous thunderstorm, but since this part of it flows slowly the fact we had to paddle upstream didn’t seem to change much. The rain grew stronger, and after some 20 minutes more of paddling we made it to this dock in Waltham, where our cars were parked.
John Putnam is a kayak fisherman from eastern Massachusetts who likes to fish the beaches and small lakes in the southeastern part of the state, where few other fishermen venture. The access to those places is sometimes very difficult, and therefore requires an all-terrain solution for portaging.
A kayak or canoe trolley would be expensive and bulky to carry onboard, and might not be up to the task in particularly hard to access spots.
John’s DIY solution is simply brilliant: Use the W kayak as a wheelbarrow, with a wide wheel attached in the space below the hull tips. The wheel is mounted on a lightweight, plastic tube frame, which itself can be attached to the boat with just one strap going between the hulls.
John’s ‘all terrain’ 2007 W Fishing Kayak:
Tom and Jenny Buddington, from Florida, are continuing their exploration of their 2008 W Kayak’s performance envelope:
Today Jenny invented a new kayak surfing style that she called “W Kayak Tail Surfing” (temporary name, probably). To us it looks like surf dancing -Isn’t it super cool?
Photography: Tyler Buddington
Tom and Jenny on another day - enjoying surf paddling.
Tom Buddington recently wrote us from Florida:
-”Just thought I’d post a follow-up review after having several more experiences with this truly unique boat. Recently my daughter and I were caught out in what I estimate were 25 knot winds (higher gusts I would bet for certain) and the river became dark and menacing (Gosh it was so calm and peaceful moments before!). The waves were like a white water washing machine. It just happens with those out of nowhere summer storms; I try to be careful, especially with my daughter with me, but you might not ever go out if you worried about the possibility of a storm that wasn’t even predicted. THAT’s the moment of truth. 30 minutes of dark weather paddling at first into and against 20-25 knot winds and 2-3 foot storm slop and then having it on your tail (which is worse in my opinion). We just strapped on our PFD’s NICE and TIGHT and worked it with the Wyak. And she kept us out of the water and got us home. I was impressed the whole time with the stability of the W kayak in serious conditions. We used her best attributes (those twin hulls) and the geography of the Indian River Lagoon and ducked into a safe little cove and waited for things to get calm (we were in the middle and had a long way to go to get to that cove mind you). I can’t stress enough that the ability to alternate between significantly different positions (i.e., standing to riding and a few others) in the W kayak and use different muscles made this one a story with a happy ending. Would have been wiped-out exhausted in any other boat that day.
I speak from the perspective of a guy who loves the water and lives on the water and has been a waterman for, oh, say 30 years. I have 7 other boats of differing designs, 2 of which I have committed to sell to make way for my next Wyak . The W is an incredible craft and I like it.”
And here’s another picture of Tom and Jenny surf paddling at the beach:
This is a picture sent by Fred, from North Carolina.
It was shot by a group of soldiers on a big fishing boat while they were on a vacation fishing trip organized by M.A.D.
Fred is currently experiencing with W kayak sailing… and we hope to get more pictures from him.
Thanks Fred!
Craig is a fly fisherman from central Massachusetts who rigged his new 2008 W Fishing Kayak in an innovative yet simple and elegant way.
You can read about Craig and his fly fishing W kayak in this new review.
View of Craig’s 2008 W fly fishing kayak - Note the innovative fly rod holder.
Dan C, a Vermont resident, always wanted to fish standing up in a kayak. He tried all kinds of kayak designs that promised ’stand up kayak fishing’, just to find he couldn’t really stand in them and fish in full confidence - and not even at a reasonable level of comfort.
Earlier this year Dan bought himself a 2007 W fishing kayak, and this time he got exactly what he expected: He can stand up and fish comfortably and confidently even when some wind is blowing, and in the presence of eddies, and he can easily paddle standing.
Read Dan’s W Fishing Kayak Review. It shows some cool things that Dan did with his kayak in terms of rigging it for fishing.
These are pictures Dan sent from his latest fishing trip in Lake Champlain, Vermont.
Ben is a W Kayak fly fisherman from Pennsylvania who has a personal blog.
He recently added to his blog this report on his kayak fishing trip drifting and paddling down Nesahminy creek .
Highly recommended reading!
Ben’s W Kayak - Neshaminy creek
Jeff’ McGovern’s new kayak fishing article is called ‘Good As Live Bait?’. It’s a review of the Fishbites and Gulp lure brands.
Jeff writes: -”The brands I’ve been using are “Fishbites” (Carr Specialty Baits, St Augustine, Florida) and the more widely distributed “Gulp” (Berkley). 
They are very different in composition, but achieve the same purpose for me: live bait results without the hassle of storing or keeping bait alive in my W. Whenever I’m fishing saltwater flats, both products are onboard and ready to catch fish.”
It’s always fun to watch kids paddling a W kayak, regardless of their age and where they paddle it.
The sense of confidence they get from the boat sooner or later translates into visible progress, tricks and stunts.
In this case this nine year old boy had to break his own record in jumping in the kayak. We have reasons to believe he may have been hoping to capsize the boat…
He kept jumping and managed to produce a lot of spray - relatively to his weight. Then he gave a pretty impressive performance of standup paddling, which is not surprising since kids seem to find position more ‘natural’ than paddling in the lower positions.
Eventually that kid and his 12 year old brother kept fooling with their boat in new and creative ways, and ended the session by declaring -”This is fun!”