We just got back from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for Jeanne’s family reunion. We brought all of the W kayaks along. Her family and friends had a blast and were impressed with them. It was fun for us sharing are love for the W kayaks with her family.
John
It looked like a Wavewalk kayak party floating down the river.
We had friends join us on an afternoon outing on the Oconomowoc river. The rain held off and the sun even poked thru for a while. It turned out be a great afternoon and evening for paddling. It is always amazing the amount of fish that we float over. They don’t seem to be startled by the W kayaks. Our friends enjoyed their first outing and were amazed how comfortable and stable the Wavewalk kayaks were.
We had a great time.
John and Jeanne
We initially headed up to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to hit a few ATV trails. After inspecting the bearings on my trailer I found that it needed new bearings. I prefer to fish the U. P. in June when the water warms up, but the weather looked decent so we loaded up the W’s and left the ATVs at home.
Friday was too windy and cold to head out on the water. Saturday brought the sun and warmer temps and calm winds, a beautiful spring day. We went to a lake close to are camp called Fish lake. I tried deep water for a couple of hours with no luck,water temps in the mid 50′s. I decided to move into a bay where the water temp reached 60.
Finally some action. Small pike were eager to bite on my floating J-11 Rapala near shore and red fish magic spinners out a way from the shoreline. A few tiny smallmouth were waking up along with the pike in the warmer water. Then finally a nicer fish hit my red fish chartreuse colored spinner bait. A huge smallmouth hit the lure hard. I battled it for a while and then he took his path to freedom around a sunken tree. Once again the big one got away!
Jeff, I am going to order some more redfish magic spinner baits. I guess the trip was “big” on scenery and “small” on fish. But as always it was great to get out on the water with the W’s.
It was Jeanne’s first time in the W500 model and she loved it. She was able to lay down comfortably and soak up some sun while I fished. You can’t do that in just any kayak.
Talk to you soon,
John and Jeanne
John Fabina has already contributed a lot to our website and blog – Pictures, trip reports and kayak reviews, but he’s also stepped into the domain of art: The Art of Fishing Kayak Camouflage.
His work is both original and beautiful, as you can see-
Originally, a yellow W500 fishing kayak, which got transformed into a blue dream camo boat, under John’s magical brush (or airbrush, spray can…-how does he do it?):
Originally, a green W500 fishing kayak turned into a special-ops, or commando style camo boat:
John’s fleet of 4 camo fishing kayaks: The ones on the bottom are W300 (originally yellow and green), and the 2 top ones (tiger pattern and commando style) are W500 fishing kayaks
More than ever, we look forward to John and Jeanne’s new trip reports and pictures -
-”Jeanne and I had a chance to take a trip down a stretch of the Wisconsin river. Fishing was slow but the scenery was beautiful. The weather was perfect and we had a great time with the W kayaks.
The day after we arrived home my new W500 arrived. I sent some pictures from our trip to the river and my new paint scheme for the 500. I figured the tiger scheme will look good if we take it to Africa…
My plan is to use the 300 for streams, rivers, and ponds. I will use the new 500 for larger bodies of water and lake Michigan and be a little more visible.
I hope to test it out soon after I add a few fishing accessories.
John”
Read John Fabina’s first W fishing kayak review
John Fabina’s report from his inspiring kayak fishing trip in Michigan Upper Peninsula:
-”I spent time on two rivers in two days. Fishing started slow the first day but picked up the second day. The W made it possible for me to take a small entrance off the main river and find a beaver lodge. There was a nice deep hole by the lodge. I caught quite a variety in this honey hole. Smallmouth bass, perch, northern pike, and my first walleye landed on the W which was 18″. I lost one the same size the day before alongside the boat, I forgot my landing net. I was also able to sneak up on a deer, and snap a photo. My W truly made this an enjoyable and successful trip.”
John’s camo W300 at rest on the river bank
-”When I returned from my fishing trip Jeanne’s new W300 had arrived. Thanks for the extras. She is very much looking forward to getting on the water.More photos to come of Jeanne’s new W,
John”
Nice perch
John’s ‘built-in’ fish-measuring ruler
Same applied for measuring walleye
Good size smallmouth being welcome on board
John’s integrated water bottle holder (this is not a covert ad!)…
Beaver lodge
Entrance to beaver lodge
Unsuspecting deer photographed by John
John Fabina from Wisconsin sent this great two-day kayak fishing report:
-”I had a chance to slip up to Northern Wisconsin and try river fishing. It was still a little chilly and the fish didn’t seem very aggressive yet. We did manage to catch a few but no trophies.”
“It was a great trip down the remote river. Again the W300 opened up new opportunities. It was the most comfortable four hour float trip I ever took. ”
“It was very easy to get out on the bank of the river, spots that I wouldn’t have had a chance to get out with my old kayak.”
“Spending more time standing and fishing is becoming more second nature for me. The second day was spent on a nearby flowage. Again hours of comfortable fishing thanks to the W300! Can’t wait till my next trip. John F.”
John Fabina from Wisconsin used Krylon Fusion spray paint for this superb camo paint job he did on his new W fishing kayak.
Says John:
-”I didn’t have time to go fishing today because we are going to the ball game tonight to watch the Brewers beat the Cubs. However I did do a little painting, and I like the way it turned out. When I head up north this summer to the rivers and backwaters maybe this will help me sneak up on the big ones. Check out the new color scheme. Talk to you soon, John”
1. Model F6 was discontinued.
Fishing kayaks with more than 4 flush mount rod holders will still be available by special order at $25 for each additional flush mount rod holder.
2. The Camo (camouflage) color was discontinued.
Camo painted W kayaks will be available by special order for an extra payment of $120.
3. Model TRC was discontinued.
Bungees for attaching gear to the top side of the hull tips will no longer be available.
We introduced these changes in order to facilitate ordering. We thought the best way to do it was by eliminating unpopular choices.
This is Jo Mares’ DIY newly camouflaged W fishing kayak.
Jo is a professional boat designer and manufacturer who lives and works in Key West, Florida.
You can read what Jo has to say about his W fishing kayak here: http://www.wavewalk.com/Kayak_Review_01.html
