I haven’t had the fishing gear out in it yet, didn’t want to get side tracked. I quietly paddled up to several spawning carp, would have liked to have my bowfishing equipment with me but I don’t see that working out of a ‘yak!

I’m definitely not ready for standing yet. More practice needed, but yes, I did consider shooting the bow from the W500 would be possible. Would have to sit down if I got connected to a feisty 25 pound carp!!

Pictures will be forthcoming. I took videos with a GoPro camera mounted on my head, and as technically impressive as they are, they are not what I would want to see on your site. If I ever master standing, a GoPro bowfishing video might be in order.

Thanks for the experience, no regrets!

Bruce

I know this attached review is a little late, especially since the W300 is no longer offered, but perhaps excerpts will be useful to you.  A great craft!

W300 Fishing Kayak Review

I have had a W300 since late Fall 2009, and first used it in the Spring and Summer of 2010.  I have been out three times so far this year.  The ice has only been gone for two weeks.

If you run into or hear from Craig Masterman, whom I met while I was starting to use my W300, tell him with experience has come great satisfaction.

Background:

I have owned a canoe since 1986 and used it frequently for fishing ponds, slow rivers and lakes before the kids came along.  It seems I woke up one day and found myself in my early fifties and wishing to return to fishing.  The 80 pound, 18 foot canoe was usually strapped to my son’s car, but was too heavy for me to manage anymore on my own when it was available.  I have had some great time with my son in the canoe, but I wanted more independence.  I decided I needed a smaller craft and took to the internet to find a stable one for fishing.  The Wavewalk website came up in the searches and after reading I decided to purchase the W300.

Handling:

My experience is a casual canoe owner who has been away from the sport for awhile.  My first outing did not go very well, as I also took a passenger along, and neither of us knew what to expect.  I then tried it out in our swimming pool to gain familiarity.  When I could stand and paddle in a clockwise and counterclockwise direction, I was ready.  Each time I went out afterwards, the feeling improved.  I only had the chance to go out about seven times last year, but some were six hour outings.  This year I have been out three times already.

The Wavewalk is a great ride.  It is very maneuverable and just the right craft for the fishing I (try to) do.  I am able to scootch over small beaver dams like Yoav’s video where he goes over a branch.  The Wavewalk is also very easy to get out of, drag and get back into for the bigger beaver dams.  The storage space is fantastic.  I was out in a wind this past weekend that would have been impossible to paddle against in a canoe.  The Wavewalk tracked just perfectly.  I find myself hardly ever making “corrective strokes” like you do in a canoe to stay on course.  If my back gets tired, I just shift positions.  I love standing to see over reeds and to cast.  It is also handy to stand at times to retrieve poorly placed lures.

I can’t help but comment on what others have already mentioned and that is the dry entry and exit from the kayak.  This is one of the big advantages of this kayak.  Yesterday the person removing his Jon boat had to jump into the water with his rubber boots on to get the boat up on shore.  I just paddled up, leaned back and then hopped to dry land in my sneakers after gliding to a stop.  The ease of the exit did not go unnoticed to the fellow wading in 40°F water.

Transporting:

I also was looking on the internet for plans to build a cart.  I bought some 10-inch wheels at Harbor Freight Tools (on sale) and built the one in the picture from scrap 2×6 and 2×4.  There is a 5/8inch dowel as an axle, threaded through two eye-hooks.  The wheels are spaced from the eye-hooks by 1-inch long copper pipe that slipped over the dowel.  After drilling a hole I slipped lynch pin on the end to keep the wheel on (done at each end).  It used to have a kick stand on it but after forgetting it was behind the car after loading the W300 (see picture of how it fits into a Toyota Matrix), I bumped it.  This cart is too heavy and the wooden dowel is sagging this year (but it works great).  I’m going to use Donavan Campbell’s idea, and change it around next time I visit a hardware store.  This will allow me to strap it on for pond jumping and tough beaver dam portages.

I have also used the Malone Inflatable Roof Rack with the W300.  This allows me to use whatever vehicle is left at the house when I want to go out.  Just be careful to keep a clean cloth to wipe the roof down before you put the inflatable tubes on, otherwise the roof will be scratched.

Rigging:

I wish I had listened to Yoav (and use the Wavewalk for a bit before modifying it), but I bought two Attwood flush mounts and put the bases in during the Winter before using the kayak.  I had only used clamp on rod holders on my canoe before.  The bases were placed too close to the opening such that with an actual rod in the rod holders, I don’t get full range of motion.  Not to worry, since there are ¾ inch slots on the saddle, I cut a piece of ¾ board and can clamp my canoe rod holders on a board wedged in a slot (see photo by pond).  I see Yoav now offers clamp on rod holders that will clamp to the kayak directly, but I had scrap wood and the canoe rod holders already.  I also found out there are rod holder extenders I can get allowing full range of the Attwood holders I have now.  Also I can buy side mounts and put those on a board like I have now for my canoe rod holders.

I use a section of pipe insulation over the front part of gunnel.  This is where I stick active lures and rest the paddle.  After visiting the Wavewalk website this year, I placed the floatation module noodles underneath the saddle.  I hit one with the weedwacker last Summer and roughed it up.  This position will protect them from me this Summer.  Other than a small anchor, dry bag and one inch foam kneeler (from a garden kit) that is my rigging.

Future rigging will include a paddle holder for the side and a more permanent foam mount on the front.  I will see whether I want to add an anchor trolley, but stepping on the rope does fine right now.

The Wavewalk allows me to fish with the independence I was looking for.  It is a great kayak that I will enjoy for years to come.

Thanks for a great kayak!

Chris



Arij van der Kooij is a well known name among paddlers in Holland, and one of the country’s expert canoeists. Arij is the founder of the large company named Outdoor Valley (formerly Tiekano) in Bergschenhoek, which imported to Holland some of the best known canoe brands. After selling his company, he is now busy with his canoeing school named Herbie Bird, and his website solokano.nl

When he first saw the Wavewalk W500, Arij liked its unique canoe catamaran form, although the W500 isn’t  long (3.45 m) and struck Arij as very narrow (72 cm).

After taking the W kayak for a test run, Arij had a number of things to say about it:

- The Wavewalk is a great tracker, and yet very agile

- The Wavewalk is very stable, and you can safely stand upright in it and paddle

- The Wavewalk offers a lot of storage space.

- You can paddle the Wavewalk both as a kayak and as a canoe, by using different paddles, respectively

- You feel very comfortable in the Wavewalk. It is actually a canoe and not a kayak, because you paddle it sitting on an elevated saddle, and not sitting low like you do in a kayak

.

The boundaries between canoe and kayak are not absolute:
Some Whitewater canoeists modify kayaks’ cockpits, and use the modified kayaks for canoeing, while narrow canoes can be paddled with a long, dual blade paddle.
Hybrid kayaks are essentially canoes denied of most of the freeboard that canoes typically feature, and paddled as wide SOT kayaks, in the L position, which is an inconvenient setup. Since hybrid kayaks offer little freeboard, and feature no scupper holes, even mild chops makes them fill with water, and that makes them suitable only for paddling and fishing in small ponds, or on calm lakes and rivers.

The real deal is the new type of watercraft called W kayak for marketing reasons, but it is neither a kayak nor a canoe, and not even a hybrid: It’s more than the sum of the above, and offers more to both to kayakers and canoeists in most applications.
Since the advantages of the W kayak over conventional kayaks are discussed and demonstrated all over this website, we’ll just point that the W makes a great canoe as well, in the sense that -

1. it tracks better than traditional canoes do, and therefore it’s easier to paddle
2. it offers a more comfortable range of sitting and riding positions, as well as kneeling
3. it is narrower than most canoes are (28.5″), which makes it easier for the paddler to move the paddle along the side of the boat
4. it offers the paddler to move fore and aft along the saddle, thus providing highly effective means for easy tracking under strong wind (tracking in wind being a typical canoe problem)
5. it offers both better initial and secondary stability, compared to canoes, and can be easily paddled in the standing position
6. it’s great for both solo and tandem paddling

This pictures shows the paddler comfortably riding the 14″ tall saddle going along the cockpit’s center line, with a leg in each of the twin hulls:

The W500 works as a perfect canoe as well, both solo and tandem. You can paddle it canoe-style, using single blade (canoe) paddles.