Kayak Fishing and Paddling - The New Standard in Fishing Kayaks. Fishing Kayak Reviews, and Kayak Fishing Trip Reports, Movies, Pictures and Articles By and For Kayak Anglers.
Gary got a second W500 GF2 fishing kayak, and sold his old W300 to a friend.
He writes:
-”As per attached, the two 500’s fit nicely in my pickup, still leaving room in the top W500 for paddles, rods, etc. - should work out great when I’m taking a friend out.
We’re finally getting some decent weather. Headed out yesterday. Five hrs without one hit - first time that has happened. The cold water has really done a number on the fish - saw a few big snook belly up on the bottom, and F&G has just canceled the snook season for the year. Hope the redfish and trout didn’t get hit too bad.”
The first unofficial Wavewalk group fishing outing in Florida was held December 14, 2009 at Crystal River, Florida. Gary Rankel, Ed Wheeler and I participated, fishing out of the new 2009 W500 fishing kayaks. Ed and I were in our bright yellow boats and Gary was in his green “Packer Yaker” (the name of which I understood only after asking him about it–seems he is a life long Green Bay Packer fan with as much passion for the team as he has for fishing.)
We started the day at our usual breakfast place right on highway 19 in Crystal River the day with a hearty meal for the task ahead. We hit the road in heavy fog, heading over to the Ozello area for launch from the parking area of a local seafood restaurant. They have a great kayak and canoe launch directly off the lot and, as long as you park well away from the patron spaces, you are fine. Besides, nothing beats a fried grouper sandwich at the end of a day of fishing and, since you are already there, why not partake?
We launched into water that was as smooth as a sheet of glass in the fog. It was wonderful. The temperature was ideal and only a few of the flying teeth (sand gnats) were bothering us. We headed out on a falling tide using a large culvert to take us through to the other side of the bridge. That saved us at least a mile of extra paddling while heading to Gary’s favorite fishing spots that he was anxious to share. Our trip out was aided by the tidal flow, so each stroke was easy and effortless.
We began casting as soon as Gary indicated we had reached his spots. I started right off with a small sea trout and soon after, Gary landed a really nice one. I also managed to land a number of lizard fish on my lures. These fish are not considered a game fish and serve only to keep the fish I really wanted from getting to my baits.
Our rigging was standard inshore Florida style. We used both bait casting and spinning gear. Ed and Gary used superlines, while I relied on mono for my bait casters and reserved the superline for my spinning tackle. We used both fluorocarbon and mono leaders as the presentations dictated. For lures, top waters are always a good choice in the Crystal river area. Gary preferred the IMA Skimmer, a very thin pencil style top water from the Japanese bass fishing market, while Ed and I stayed with our proven Spook Jr’s and Mirrolures. The baits all managed to produce hits, but the actual hookup percentage was low that day. That’s why we call it fishing and not catching.
The entire day was memorable– both for the company and the adventure. We saw lots of new water in a different way and enjoyed the antics of both birds and dolphins. At one point, while we relaxed wading near a small island, two dolphins decided to share our fishing spot. They were in a deeper cut a few feet from us, just ripping into schools of mullet. Times like this show who the really talented anglers are– the ones that swim with the fish, to be exact. Sure they ran off our quarry, but watching them is always fun. Besides, who knows, maybe we can pick up a thing or two from the real experts in these waters?
We ended our day around 2PM and headed in back through the same culvert we used first thing in the morning. With a slightly stronger incoming tide, that short ride was fun with the W500 shooting right through the center, using the paddle only to keep from hitting the sides. A really remarkable thing that struck me about this whole day was the comfort we had fishing from these boats. None of us are young men –I am the youngest at 55, both Ed and Gary are the 70 year old range. Between us there have been back issues ranging from simple sciatic problems to major surgeries. To a man, the W500 is a boat we could use easily and comfortable. In any other fishing kayaks, our range would not have been as great and there would have been many more stops to get out for unkinking. This trip was only the start. There will be many more to come, fishing the waters off Florida’s west coast in the world’s most comfortable and fishable paddle craft.
December 2nd Season ending trip for Rainbow Reservoir.
Well the ice has come to Ct, and I am very sad.
Dec 2nd was my last trip, I was hoping to get out one more time, but I’ve been busy, and when I got to my Favorite Smallie waters, they were iced over with 1 1/2″ of ice on Monday December 9th, Tuesday was no better.
Time to switch gears, get ready for ice fishing, and chase some trout on the upper Farmington river, which never freezes here in Ct.
All Smallmouths caught on a 1/8oz jig, rigged with a 2″ paddle tail white, with a red dot added to the belly with a red magic marker. (I always carry red and black markers)
I cast out to where the waters run to and around an old dam, letting it drop to the bottom and popping it with long pauses, and waited for that little tic, and only lifting my rod tip to set the hook, if you set it to hard, it resulted in missed fish.
Water temps were 42 degrees, slight winds at 8mph, Air temps were 40 degrees. Current was moving pretty good, they had the lower dam open for the upcoming rains.
Lots of big redfish in the Crystal River area this month doing their annual thing, most are beyond the reach of us yakers, but I was lucky to get a couple of stragglers.
Sept 8th Rainbow Res.
Hit the bow at 12pm, off at 5:30pm.
Water levels are up, temps were 70 to 74.3 degrees.
Cranks, chatter, ball jig, dingers-
Cranks got nothing, chatter baits zip, dingers, of course, put the Bass in the boat.
Fishing the flats produced a 3#er and a 2 1/2#er.
Caught on the dinger fished like a jerk bait.
Then while fishing an over hanging tree in 10′ of water with the ball jig and That Bait Pickle, on 8lb test on my custom smallie rod from RayZ!!!
Pitched it up and under the tree and started reeling it in slowly, when all of a sudden, it all comes to a stop……..dang I snagged a
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Holy Cheese On Rice, BIG FISH!!!!!!!!! I can’t turn the fish!!
Drag set as tight as I dare, back down past me she flies!!
I turn her and up she comes besides the yak……………………. It’s a Huge PIKE!!!! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Off she goes again, I’m stuck between two trees, and shes dragging
my yak towards one of them, I yell to James, in his boat anchored
down below me for a Big Net, it has to be at least 38″ long and thicker then my arm, he’s watching me now, I turn her again, and
shes towing my yak, turned me back towards the opposite tree.
Then Up She Comes for a Complete somersault, I watch as she wraps herself up in the line, and snap she was gone.
Lord have mercy, 5 minutes of pure heaven and 5 minutes of pure hell,
all mixed into the same pot!
I knew there where Pike in here, now I have proof, and a witness.
Spent the next few minutes clamming myself, hands shaking some bad,
I couldn’t retie a new ball jig on.
Sept 10th Weathersfield Cove, Weathersfield CT:
Hit the Cove today, got there at 12:30 PM.
WINDY WINDY WINDY, white caps sometimes, and did I tell you,
it was WINDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Water temps were 69+degrees, sunny, partly cloudy.
Fish came to hand in 1′ to 14′ of water.
Bad news, I broke my first rod of the season, my Med Heavy Premier St Croix rod!!!!!!!!!!!! I was drifting and was blown into a tree
that I had just pulled a bass out of, didn’t see it till it was to late.
Had a Huge blow up and was cut off by Mr Pike over by the Police dock.
Best part of the day was near the end of my trip.
I was getting plenty of smaller bass, perch, and a few crappie.
But had no real solid bass in the yak yet.
Till I found the magic tree.
Well got the first one out of the way this morning. Headed on over to what is now Genung’s Fish Camp and put in right around sun up. I had the hope the first fish would be some dramatic catch of a trophy sized game fish but alas it was a jack.
Followed by a dozen more through the course of the morning. Lately the area seem to be a stalking ground for schools of these little devils. They fight very hard and pull like tractors, far out of proportion to their size. All of them were caught on topwater plugs either the Chug Bug or a Super Spook.
The W500 is wonderful fishing in the grass nothing else can move through it so easily and then allow the angler to stand quickly. Stability even while using bait caster was superb and fishing those jacks standing was simple with no feeling of tipping or losing ones balance. I fished just over four straight hours before getting out to cool off wading a little bit. The boat tracks very well and handles the wakes from the ocean going yachts without any issues. Over all comfort was great and the feeling of being able to fully relax is really something.
I’ll add a foam headrest at the rear of the cowling. That’s for nap time and resting after a big catch.
The new paddle clips are removable and the same type as was on the other W kayak. This time I added a poly tubing bumper under the door hook surface so it snaps in place but can be removed easily. This is because with the others strap tied in I was snapping them off when I had to drag the boat through brush to reach the water. The hooks never broke but the ties did.
All in all now being back in a W is such a relief. Everything is easier and in fact safer than the sit insides or the sit on tops in the fleet. Next week we may have shot at a tarpon or two down in Crystal River. Wow, come to think of it the trip will have two W500’s fishing together.
Here’s an update on my latest trip in my W500:
Hot humid (92 degrees) with slight winds.
I went to Rainbow Reservoir, it’s a dammed area of the Farmington river in Ct.
I headed down to some submerged trees in 26 Feet of water, pulled out the drop shot and started working it through the center of the tree, letting it drop fast to the bottom, and a little shake, pause, then I reeled up a few cranks, pause, shake.
As I moved the bait closer to the surface, I mean inches from the surface, the drop shot got slammed!!
A Tail walking Smallie, came up did 2 flips, but was put quickly in the net.
As I moved to the outside edge of the tree I dropped it down to 26′, paused, gave a little shake, wait, reel again 3 more cranks, pause, shake………………..BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy Cheese on Rice, one quick push with my paddle, and a well timed gust of wind, all my rod tip is doing is pumping down towards the water, my reels drag tighted as much as I dare, and they it all STOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR can’t reel, snagged or wrapped up on something, dropped my tip, pushed back with my paddle one handed, let the line slack just a little, then I felt movement………………………………free…………………up she comes with a Big Friggin Splash, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz my drag is screaming!!
Up again and does a flop on her side……………….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…., holding my rod tip high, finally gaining ground I get her near the surface then she digs in, straight for the Bottom, I just hold on, bow my rod into the water, and start reeling her in again, she is tired.
I get her close, scoup that net and She’s Mine!! YeeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
20 1/2″ Long!!!!! 4.15 on my scale. Man if this fish was fat, she would have tipped 5lbs easy.
She was pretty beat up, not sure why, I quickly shot a couple of pictures, and held her lip to revive her, a quick flip and of
her tail, a splash right in my face, she swam away strong.
Wiping my face with a towel, and a big shiteating grin, I didn’t care if I caught another fish after that.
My hands were shaking so bad, I just had to stop and sit, and Smile!
Caught too many bass to count, hit the water at 11:00am and was off at 6:30pm.
No Back pain or Leg pain, 7 1/2 hours of pure fishing and paddling Heaven in my W500.
-”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”
-”I had few great days of fishing in between storms, here in Connecticut.
1:30pm I started my trip on the Farmington River coves in Simsbury.
Water levels are way up, I only had to walk down half of the path to the water, launched the W500 right on the hill, just slid down in and off I went.
I started off with a small white chuckit frog, landed 3 bass right off the bat.”
“Headed down towards the Main arm of the Farmington River, stopped at some trees, picked off a couple more with the small chuckit frog.”
“Then I heard an osprey, and it sounded like it was fighting, I look up, and out of the trees comes a Bald Eagle attacking the Osprey.”
“This Eagle meant business, and was looking to kill this Osprey.
I got a video of it:”
-”I figured after watching this, I didn’t care if another bass came to hand, but the bite turned on.
I started pitching into the holes in the weeds, yum dinger t-rigged weightless, letting my bait sink and shaking it, while waiting for that tap.
I pulled 3 Bass up and out this way, nice chunky bass.”
-”While paddling I came upon some Monster Grass carp.
Here is a video of the encounter:”
-”I had to leave for an appointment, so I was off the water at 5pm.
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!)…
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.”
Here’s a funny movie that Jeff sent us from Florida:
And this is a great view of a Florida sunrise caught by Jeff’s camera:
“Yesterday was the classic fishing day. The sunrise, as you saw from the picture was simply beautiful. Air temps started out with t-shirt conmfort at around 70 degrees and warmed into a humidity free low 80s by noon. They was just enough of a light breeze to ripple the water just a tiny bit but not so much as to hamper casting in any direction you pleased. I figured with the upcoming Jax Kayak Classic it would be a good day to experiment.
I was very surprised by the lure that out caught everything else by a huge margin today. Most of the newer baits we are seeing in stores have some type of wiggle, sound, or eratic action built into them. That is the current fad and of course every lure firm has examples in their lineup of baits. While I was prepareing my tackle Friday night I cam across three little lures long discontinued by by L&S Bait Company under their Mirrolure brand here in Florida. These folks are known for their tough durable saltwater hard baits and I do have a number of them in my tackle stash. What I came upon were three little Mirrolure 3M3 ultralight topwater plugs. The first one I picked up had rusted hook tips so I dug through my hook supply looking for replacements. I found two that would work. One a standard #6 treble and the other a dressed #6 treble. I swithced them out and tied the lure to my old Ugly Stick pack rod with one of my Daiwa 1300SS reels. The line was 8lb test mono with a 15lb Flurocarbon leader. This little lure has no rattles no particular wiggle or wild action. It just glides along and does pretty much nothing looking to all the world like a tiny glass minnow just moving near the surface.
Sometimes that lack of obvious action is what the fish want. I would toss it out and not all that far since it’s very light at 1/8oz and has the aerodinamic flight of a potato chip. Once it hit the water I would just reel it in ever so slowly. There were times yesterday it was a fish on each cast and the type varied.
I caugfht redfish on it, blue fish, sea trout, and ladyfish they all seemed to key in on the almost total lack of action. My fear was on such light tackle I would loose the fish since the bait is so tiny. But those nasty sharp little hooks held on and the fish came to net or hand. I guess the moral here is just beacuse the lure is old fashioned and out of date don’t think the fish will ignore it. At this point it might become my secret weapon.
I guess your website is even seen by seakayakers. I was fishing next to a small island when a group of 10 sea kayakers went through bird watching. As they glided past me I could hear the comments. Words like “hey there is that boat I told you about”,” that is so cool”, and “I’ll bet it’s easier to get around than these things”. I just waved and wished them well.– Jeff”
-”Today was an excellent day to be kayak fishing, especially from the W. I started with a topwater plug called a Super Spook Jr it caught a number of bluefish before being ripped off the line when it was swarmed by a two or three of them at once. The topwater action was fantastic with hits on every cast. It was so good I stayed staked out in one spot for nearly four hours catching and releasing ladyfish, bluefish, and jacks.
Even managed three undersized flounder. I’m sure if I had been in any kayak but a W that long in the boat in one place would have been nearly impossible. All of the topwater fish were caught using my little Rugged Flex Emmrod equipped with a Curado 200B casting reel spooled with 16 mono line. I did add a short 20lb fluorocarbon leader since all of this action was with very fast toothy fish. Once that Super Spook met it’s fate and was bitten off I tied on a Chug Bug and continued catching fish on the top.
Once the topwater water bite cooled off I changed over to another of my vintage outfits. The rod was a first generation Ugly Stick four piece fly/spin pack rod. I had it changed over to a spinning rod years ago and rewrapped with SIC guides. Combined with one of my Daiwa 1300SS reels spooled with 8lb mono it’s just plain fun to fish with. I used a short fluorocarbon leader just like the other outfit and for a lure used a small Cotee jig head and a 2 inch Gulp shrimp. Once again fish after fish fell to that combination.
The day was an absolute blast. The kind of day I wish I had someone along who had really never caught to many fish since today they would have had a ball. You can never predict having days like this only keep fishing and hope they will happen. I did not get any so called game fish, many would call today’s catches trash fish. As far as I’m concerned the day could not have been much better. It was loaded with action and by the time I headed in just after 2PM my arms hurt from all the fish fighting. –Jeff”
John Fabina recently got his new W fishing kayak, and this is his first report from a fishing expedition, with the kayak rigged for fishing:
-”I ventured out today to try to find crappies or blue gills. I tried two lakes, water temps were in the low 40’s. I found fish but I couldn’t coax them to bite. It may be a little early yet. More importantly it was my first time out on the W with fishing gear. Out for six hours on two lakes and no back fatigue!
My fish finder mount is a portable unit that came with a plastic base and battery holder. It also came with a nylon soft case which I removed and will use for ice fishing.
Sometimes the best set up is the easiest. I simply used the W’s bungee to secure plastic base and added a safety cable. It is very secure. I mounted the transducer sideways on the bracket and attached it with the suction cup on the side of the W. It worked great. Now we just need the water to warm up.
-”Definite change to springtime water temps here. As I launched the W at Shady Oyster yesterday morning the water was much warmer than it has been for months. That normally means a change is due in the types of fish that will be hitting the lure. Sure enough I caught a load of ladyfish which are always on the prowl as the water gets warmer and a few bluefish that are around when it’s cold.
No food fish however since as soon as the lure hit the water it was grabbed by one of the two fish already mentioned. Darn, I was really in hopes of adding to the flounder already in the freezer. It was a fun day and as always when catching ladyfish I went through at least four changes of leader on one outfit and a couple on it’s twin.
So far as gear, spinning tackle with 10lb Fireline leadered with 15 or 20lb FC and a baitcaster with 16lb mono and no leader. Lure wise it was 1/4oz jig heads with Gulp shrimp, a topwater plug (Super Spook Jr.) and a suspending plug (MirroMinnow) When I got back both the the W and my fishing pants were covered with fish blood and slime. That’s how you can tell it was a really good day of catching. –Jeff”
-”Today was windy, very windy. in fact the hum of the wind through the racked rods got too loud after an hour or so. Paddling the W in the wind is much easier than any kayak I’ve tried. No it’s not fast since none of them are, but the effort feels far less.
I had no problem going into the wind to get across the intercoastal and staking out on the other side was quite simple. Pointing the boat with my back to the wind gave me casting distance that had to be seen to be believed. That is along with the fact the W power cast is already really far.
Funny there were no other yakers out at all today. One fellow stopped by while I was getting the W prepared to go out. He made the comment about how he now believed what folks said about me going out under less than ideal conditions. I mentioned that the W made it much less of an issue.
Slow day for fishing only three small reds, none of which would have made a legal meal. But as always another adventure trip in the W, those are always worth it.
-”About that big red. The lure I used was a Gulp 3 inch shrimp on a 1/8oz jig head. The line was 10lb Fireline and had an 18 inch leader of 15lb fluorocarbon tied into it. The rod was one of my little custom sticks made by Chaos Rods in South Florida. That company makes a series of kids rods I find very handy in tight places. I had two with my yesterday I refer to them as the “twins”, two little 5′ spinning rods built on what the makers call NBU or “no break um” blanks. Very tough and in this case very pretty with gold and pink hand wrapped thread. The reel was a Daiwa 1300SS Tournament, my all time favorite light spinning reel. So far as working the lure I tossed it out and let it sit on the bottom for maybe five minute before moving it.At the first twitch it got clobbered very hard.
That fish ran me around an entire section of grass bed and then right through it. It took about 8 minutes or so of getting yanked around before net and fish met up.
Having the W’s narrow beam and vertical sides helped since I was able to get right above it and net it before it took off on another romp through the grass. Of course after landing it I just dropped it and the net into the hull and got the rod out of the way. Here is a place sometimes in a sit on top you might lose a rod or at least dunk it.
Having a fish in your lap is no where near as good as being able to drop it into a hull space. In this case I just put net and all down there until I got reorganized. “
Earlier this year, Craig Masterman, a W kayak saltwater fly fisherman from Massachusetts contributed some innovative rigging ideas in hisfishing kayak review. Craig recently emailed me the following report from Cape Cod:
-”The fishing has been only fair along much of Cape Cod this season. That seems to be the consensus of many anglers I have talked to. There are fish around, but you have to work hard for them. I have taken the W out in Pleasant Bay twice and on the Brewster flats in Cape Cod bay once, and I caught fish on each outing with the fly rod. The rigging for the rod and paddle worked out really well. I did add a small cleat on one end of the boat right over the W logo to tie off the anchor line as I had planned. The first trip on Pleasant Bay found me paddling up onto a beautiful white sand shallow flat next to a deeper trough of water on a falling tide. I was able to stand and slowly pole/paddle along the edge and sight cast to visible stripers edging onto the flat to feed. I hooked a 26 inch fat fish on the third cast! Just perfect! …I love the boat and will keep you updated as I tweek the rigging over time. Craig”
Thanks Craig, we look forward to more reports, rigging ideas and pictures!
John’s camo W300 at rest on the river bank
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