Tag Archive: big fish

Many anglers prize big fish and make special efforts to catch such fish

Trolling for Barracuda in the S4

fish 08/01/2017 3 Comments

By Captain Larry Jarboe

One of my least favorite fishing techniques is trolling.

Putting a rod and reel in a rod holder and waiting for what seems like hours for a bite can be borderline boring. Then, dragging a fish against the movement of a slow moving boat as we do fishing for stripers or bluefish in the Chesapeake Bay diminishes the tug and pull of the fish. Imagine cranking in a 5 gallon bucket of water. Welcome to the successful outcome of a trolling expedition.

However, trolling from a Wavewalk S4 is a completely different experience. After good success with my kayak spinning rigs trolling custom fabricated lures in mangrove creeks and channels, I set off to find the perfect rig for trolling in the clear inshore waters of South Florida.

I finally settled on a Shimano TR200-G graphite reel loaded with 20 lb. test mono line on a 4′ kayak Ricky Rod made in Miami.

With this rig in hand and the outboard tiller in the other, a kayak trolling fisherman (or woman) can smoothly ease out line and control the action of the lure or rigged bait while steering the S4. Unlike leaving the rig in the holder, with the rod in hand, bites are easily felt and the hook set. Now, we are fishing and catching and really enjoying the battle.

In less than an hour, I caught 4 barracuda no more than a 1/2 mile from my house using this technique. All were released. But, I had to gently tow the last one back to the dock to safely release from the dive platform of my big boat. It was just too big and toothy to bring aboard.

My next project is to build a long distance de-hooker.

Larry offers guided fishing and diving trips in the Key Largo and the areas that surround it »

More fishing adventures with Capn’ Larry »

fishing, fishing kayaks, kayak outfitting, Motorized kayaks

barracuda, big fish, bluefish, cuda, fish, fishing rod, Great Barracuda, outboard motor, S4, striped bass, striper, trolling, Wavewalk S4

Three Wavewalk S4, six divers, paddlers and anglers, and plenty of fish!

fish 07/26/2017 3 Comments

By Captain Larry Jarboe

Florida Fishing Kayaks

Three Wavewalk S4 attached together to form a super stable drive & dive platform, and each paddled separately by three tandem crews of mangrove anglers.

Larry offers guided fishing and diving trips in the Key Largo and the areas that surround it »

More fishing adventures with Capn’ Larry »

fishing, fishing kayaks, kayak design, kayak outfitting, kayak paddling, Motorized kayaks

big fish, canoe, canoeing, diving, fish, fishing, florida, guide, kayak paddling, Key Largo, mangrove, mangrove snapper, motor boat, motorized fishing kayak, motorized kayak, reef, S4, Snapper, snorkeling, tandem, tandem fishing kayak, tandem paddling, Wavewalk S4

Family Fishing Day

fish 06/13/2017 3 Comments

By Chris Henderson

Fishing Kayaks of Gig Harbor

We had a beautiful day for our annual Family Fishing Day!
Every year the State of Washington does a Fish Washington Free day to promote and encourage fishing in our state. Our church (Wellspring Fellowship) also wants to encourage great families and family time, and there are few activities better than going fishing!
So we gather up the Wavewalks and anything else that floats and take folks fishing!
We had two W700s and a W500 taking out kids and adults to catch fish. Some were catching their first fish ever. There is nothing quite so satisfying as watching kids catch fish. At first they are scared to touch them but it doesn’t take long and they want to hold them. I spent 12 hours on the water and lost track of the number of trout that I helped kids and adults catch.
What a great day!

More kayak rigging, fishing and bow duck hunting with Chris »

fishing, fishing kayaks, kayak paddling

big fish, children, family, first fish, fish, fishing, kids, stable fishing kayak, tandem, tandem fishing kayak, tandem kayaking, tandem paddling, trout, Washington, Wavewalk 500, Wavewalk 700

Pictures of my electric Wavewalk 500 fishing kayak

fish 05/14/2017 4 Comments

By Pyt Rotary

Ontario, Canada

While I’m waiting for the S4 that I ordered…

This is Canada. It’s cold!

I’ll have more room for the kids in my S4

Wavewalk 500 with electric motor at 24V with Digital Maximizer

More fishing and kayak rigging with Pyt »

fishing, fishing kayaks, kayak outfitting, Motorized kayaks

big fish, canada, electric kayak, electric trolling motor, fishing, fishing kayak, kayak outfitting, Lake Ontario, ontario, trout, Wavewalk 500

A snook almost too big for my measuring board – 1st place in the tournament

fish 04/23/2017 8 Comments

By Gary Rankel

Nature Coast Kayak Fishers

I just happened to catch my biggest snook in 12 years, this 35 incher that was almost too big for my measuring board. To top it off, I got her during our annual catch-photo-release kayak fishing tournament, leading to a first place finish for biggest fish, a nice trophy, a new fishing rod, and a $200 check.

Life is good.

BTW, another little known benefit of the Wavewalk, is its cockpit design which better supports a measuring board while photographing fish prior to release. This task really requires 3 hands, and is much more difficult to accomplish in mono-hull yaks where it’s harder to stand up or, otherwise, get farther away from the fish with a camera to capture it entirely on the board, while keeping it from jumping off, so judges can verify its length.

Maybe it will be possible to have a measuring device inscribed or attached to the platform of your new S-4 vessel, making it even easier to get this job done.