We started selling W fishing kayaks in Australia about two years ago, factory direct. This meant that until now, our Australian clients had to import their W kayak individually, all by themselves, which isn’t easy for someone living on the other side of the globe.
For this reason, we were slow to introduce the only fishing kayak worthy of this name in Australia, which is the world’s second biggest market for fishing kayaks, after the United States.
But this unfortunate situation has changed now that Steve Phillis founded a new business named Aussie Kayaks, which is the distributor of Wavewalk fishing kayaks in Australia.
What drove Steve to order a W kayak for himself in the first place was his lower back problem, which prevented him from paddling old-style sit-in and sit-on-top kayaks. -”No back pain since I got my W kayak!” says Steve.

Steve and his partner Dave, together with Steve’s wife Melissa and Dave’s wife Heather, form the Aussie Kayaks company. Together, they will spearhead the next phase of the evolution of kayak fishing in Australia.

Aussie Kayaks is located in Bendigo, north of Melbourne, in Victoria, a state in the southeastern tip of the Australian continent, and facing the island of Tasmania. In the north, Victoria is bordering New South Wales, Australia’s most populated state, and in the west, it borders another state named South Australia.

Steve and his team would be happy to assist Aussie anglers in rigging their W kayaks for fishing, as well as motorize them.

Steve happens to love sailing too, and he already contributed a review of the W kayak under sail.

Glynn Gantenbein
Texas Fishing Kayaks

What Do The Numbers Tell Us?

How Big Is Fishing In The USA?

It’s big, very big. Here’s a quote from a comprehensive report on fishing participation published by Take Me Fishing (TM) -

Recreational fishing is a quintessential American outdoor experience and the most popular nature-based activity among adults and children alike — attracting more than 48 million participants and including over one billion outings in 2008. Equally impressive, fishing is one of the most influential of all outdoor sports, recognized as the top “gateway” activity…

These impressive figures coincide with figures published by other organizations, such as the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), putting the number of American participating in fishing between 40 and 60 million, against a backdrop of some 17 million boats registered in the US, most of which are motorized and used for fishing, among other activities.

This is to say that since most boats are more expensive to purchase and maintain than kayaks are, it would be safe to assume that the reason why only such a small and slowly growing number of anglers use kayaks for fishing is not an economic one, but has to do with kayak fishing itself: What is feels like, and what real, non-hyped advantages it offers over fishing from shore, and from other watercraft.

In Comparison, How Big Is Kayak Fishing In The USA?

Strangely, no one ever published a similar study on kayak fishing, although kayak fishing magazines and blogs often tell their readers that the sport is a fast growing one, or at least they used to make such claims until some years ago. But any way you look at it, US participation in kayak fishing is measured in the tens of thousands, and judging by the number of participants in the best known kayak fishing events in recent years, it is no longer growing rapidly: The biggest and best known kayak fishing tournaments are the Jacksonville Classic, in Florida, and the Jamaica Bay Kayak Fishing tournament in New York, and neither has seen any substantial growth in recent years, although sponsorships and prizes appear to have increased. Interestingly, the only store in the world that specialized in fishing kayaks and kayak fishing gear closed several years ago, and although thousands of stores in this country offer a mix of both kayaks and small fishing boats such as canoes and dinghies, there isn’t a single store that sells only fishing kayaks and gear that typically goes with them.

Kayak Fishing Is An Unpopular Sport, But Why?

So, the base rate of US kayak anglers vs. the general population of US participants in fishing is about 1:1,000… No one can contest the fact that one to a thousand is a minuscule proportion, and arguably a negligible one.
Most people already know what kayak fishing is, and they won’t even consider fishing out of a kayak, because they see the SOT, sit-in and hybrid fishing kayak as what they really are: extremely uncomfortable, wet, and ridiculously unstable watercraft, offering sub par fishability when compared to other fishing boats.
Some people still get lured by words, images and sometimes even videos promising fun, stability, comfort and results in terms of catching fish, but the overwhelming majority of anglers who face the possibility of switching to a kayak just shrug, because they think that all types of kayaks out there are simply inadequate for fishing, at least if you consider fishing to be a leisure activity, and not an extreme sport, in the sense that practicing it is extremely unpleasant, and not sufficiently safe.
The above unflattering description of kayak fishing is not applicable to fishing out of W kayaks, obviously, but this is another subject that will be discussed in the next paragraphs.

Is Kayak Fishing ‘Irreversible’?

Is kayak fishing such an advantageous and otherwise rewarding activity that once you start practicing it you get hooked for life?
This is an important as well as interesting question, because if kayak fishing had many new participants and just a few dropouts, we could assume that it would keep growing at a healthy rate. But in reality, many people who try fishing from a kayak, and even those who purchase a top of the line SOT, sit-in or hybrid kayak and spend considerable time and resources rigging it, don’t necessarily stick with the sport for long, and they either go back to fishing from a motorboat, or upgrade to a W fishing kayak.
Simply, the hype generated by fishing kayak manufacturers, vendors and their affiliates may suffice to raise the interest of many anglers in these products, but once people are exposed to the rather unpleasant reality of the sport, many get disenchanted, and quit – “You can’t fool all the people all the time…”

Is Your Regular Kayak A Serious Fishing Platform?

How Does It Feel?

Anyone observing a person seated in a traditional SOT, sit-in or hybrid kayak cannot help wondering what it feels like… A brief observation would immediately reveal the discomfort imposed by the L posture, the leg numbness and back pain, as well as the wet butt and excessive wetness in general. Furthermore, if the observed angler happens to be activating a pedal drive, the discomfort and senselessness of their situation becomes even more apparent, and the observer can’t help wondering why would anyone want to suffer that much. Surely, there are better means to catch fish.

How Well Does A Fishing Kayak Perform – The Fishability Test

Not that well, actually -

Mobility and Propulsion – Unsolved Issues

Kayaks propelled by means of a pedal drive are rather useless in shallow water and wherever seaweed is to be found, and they require their users to operate a rudder system in addition to activating the pedals, while trying to compensate for the stability lost by not using a paddle. Rudders are hated by practically any paddler or angler, and they are seen as a necessary evil because without them most kayaks would track far too poorly, and be even harder to drive to their destination, especially under wind. Interestingly, fishing kayaks featuring pedal drives are offered at premium prices, and hyped as being most functional…
Most kayaks designed for fishing are slow and hard to paddle by the nature of their design, which means they offer a restricted range of travel, both in terms of mileage and in terms of the limited weather and water conditions in which these watercraft are safe to operate, such as strong wind, cold, fast currents, and so on.
Years ago, kayak manufacturers and vendors realized the above mentioned problems are crucial for fishing. Those who happen to be in the electric motor business launched a massive marketing campaign, touting the advantages of motorized kayaks, and by motorized they meant kayaks outfitted with small, electric ‘trolling’ motors. Needless to say that such motors must be small and weak, otherwise they’d drain the battery too fast. Following that marketing initiative, many kayak anglers have tried using electric propulsion systems, which are quiet and easy to operate, but heavy, and not particularly reliable. In real world terms, these electric propulsion systems do not extend the kayak’s range of travel by as much as most anglers really want. In sum, electric trolling motors fell short of solving the propulsion and travel range problems with fishing kayaks.

The Stability Of Fishing Kayaks, Or Lack Thereof

If you believed what most kayak manufacturers claim, you’d think that fishing kayaks are dock stable, and offer you to stand up in full confidence, and both paddle and fish in this posture. Very few people believe it, because it obviously isn’t true, and sooner or later people exert good judgement based on common sense, especially when their own safety and well being are concerned. Those who put the stability of such fishing kayaks to the real world test, find sooner or later that hype and reality don’t coincide in this case. You can’t take a mono hull kayak, or small canoe (a.k.a. ‘hybrid kayak’) and have a regular Joe stand in it in full confidence. Period. Anyone attempting to stand and fish in a mono hull watercraft that small is bound to spend both their energy and attention to constant ‘micro adjustments’ of their balance, and as soon as something distracts them, or destabilizes them, they take a swim, along with their tackle and gear.
This is true even if you outfit this kayak with small outriggers attached to its rear end, or integrated in it. Carving tunnels in the bottom of the hulls doesn’t help much either, and if the reader is interested in learning more about these technical issues, they should read this article about kayak stability >>

Fishing Kayak Ergonomics: How Much Are You Willing To Suffer?

Very few (1:1,000…) anglers are willing to suffer being locked in the L sitting posture, and having their own legs act as powerful pistons that constantly compress their lumber spine against a backrest. Kayak manufacturers have never admitted the fact that sitting in the L posture is extremely uncomfortable (painful, actually) and unacceptable for any period of time that even the shortest fishing trip takes. Without conceding that foam and gel stuffed in the seat’s backrest can’t solve the problem, these manufacturers began offering fishing kayaks featuring canvas seats that are slightly higher than the traditional foam seats… The thought behind this new approach must have been that sitting a couple of inches higher may somehow alleviate the pressure on the user’s lower back. But it didn’t happen, because mono hull fishing kayaks are not stable enough, and therefore, a passenger sitting higher in such a kayak inevitably becomes less stable, and feels less stable too, and therefore must push harder on the footrests in order to apply more pressure on the backrest – in an effort to better balance the craft, and regain control over it. This design proved to be yet another fiasco, as have all the pseudo ergonomic designs that offered more foam or more get stuffed in the backrest.
It’s one thing to be a young, fit, lightweight and of small stature as the native Inuit kayak hunters used to be, and a totally different thing to be a middle aged, non-athletic, heavier and bigger person, like the majority of people who fish out out boats are in America. Almost everyone gets it, except some fishing kayak manufacturers, vendors, and people who seem to believe in miracles…

Storage Space – A Bleak Situation

Mono hull fishing kayaks simply don’t have storage space in a sense that a normal angler is used to think about. Hatches are too small, can’t be easily reached, and they’re often leaking. Crates do not present a serious solution to the storage needs that anglers have.

So What’s The Future Of Kayak Fishing?

Does kayak fishing have a long term future?
We think it does, but only as a sensible sport and outdoor activity that would attract many more anglers, and not as the kind of unrewarding experience it currently is, which repels new participants while expelling existing ones.
The only venue is through an increase in use of W fishing kayaks rather than SOT, sit-in and hybrid kayaks. This is because W kayaks offer the solutions to all the problems discussed in this article, and some others, and these are the problems that make kayak fishing that marginal activity it has been so far in the much broader world of fishing.
Simply, as soon as realize that they can fish out of a watercraft that’s as small, nimble and lightweight as a regular kayak (not even a huge ‘barge’ fishing kayak..), and yet is as stable, dry and comfortable as a regular motorboat, and even has a similar travel range as a motorboat – they would adopt kayak fishing in growing numbers, and stick with the sport. The watercraft that combines the advantages of kayaks and motorboats, while offering better mobility than both, is the W kayak.

We’ve decided to publish this partial account from Steve mainly as reminder that ‘stuff happens’ is the rule out there, when you’re on the water, especially if you’re practicing ‘advanced’ applications such as sailing:

I.    -”Received kayak and very impressed. I have also purchased Jim’s sail kit, and I love it also. Works well with wavewalk. I will be taking a friend out tomorrow…”

II.    -”People are curious of my new boat. Hit some high winds today sailing (beginner) and the kayak performed beautifully…”

And a couple days later:
III. -”Today a friend of mine tipped the kayak while sailing. It was difficult to right with mast, stabilizers etc… Will need to talk with Jim. I am aware sailing is not the normal… I purchased the whole kit with outriggers etc. Might have been more the operator since I had no issues. I was surprised that it could tip. Glad I know this now than when I’m sailing by myself. Cheers
Steve Phillis”

Later, Steve added:
-”Kayaking from a traditional kayak caused me considerable pain, and at the end of
last year I was out of action for 2 months and spent a lot of money on extensive physiotherapy and even had to take time off from work, not to mention that I could not sit in a car or seat for more than 10 minutes without considerable pain. . Determined to find an alternative, I came across wavewalk and purchased one. Guess what? No back pain. I am wrapped and I have taken up learning to sail using it.
Steve Phillis”

The reader would benefit from watching this demo video of the sailing kit Steve mentions – The sail it features is big and powerful, and it drives the kayak at high speed.  The outriggers that come with it are relatively small, and this fact demands both better sailing skills and extra cautiousness than one might expect at first sight.
Other sailing fans who sail their W kayaks outfit it with bigger outriggers, such as seen in these reviews of Rafael Franck’s sailing W kayak from Florida, and Brian Vickery’s motor sailing kayak with folding outriggers from California.

The 500 is great. It only took a minimum amount of time of actual paddling to get used to the kayak.
The weather is still bad but I am planning to get out next week and see if I can catch a fish.
My daughter Lisa and I have spent many hours fishing out of the kayaks on the weekends but I have not slimed the 500 yet. Today we had to quit because our hands got so cold.
The 500 is very stable and easy to control. The stability is very important as I had a major surgery on my back last year and somehow it messed up my balance.
You have designed a great craft. Thanks to you I can enjoy fishing again.

Tony

Tony hand crafted his own paddle