WAVEWALK KAYAKS

Sometimes we need to congratulate and even salute W kayak anglers for special achievements, even if those are the result of fishing trips where no kayaks were used…
This is the case with Ben Ciliberto’s amazing catch:

“Had the pleasure of spending two hot days on the Susquehanna river near Wiiliamsport PA with Mike O’Brien chasing carp with a fly rod. July 15th was an amazing , resulting in a lot of action and two beautiful carp– 16 and 18 lbs — taken and released on an O’Brien crayfish pattern.

The difficulty finding a feeding carp, presenting the fly, hooking and playing the strongest of fresh water fish, makes it that much more rewarding — thanks Mike for a most memorable outing!

Ben”

I Met up with My Fishing Buddy, Daddy Pickle to fish some new waters on Friday June 4th.

We headed out to Quaddick Reservoir in Thompson Ct. 1.5 hour drive from home, but well worth the trip.

Got to the waters edge at 10am, sunny/cloudy skies, The gin stained colored water was 80 to 85 degrees….air was HOT!!!!

Throwing top water, jigs, spinners, cranks…………the kitchen sink!

Within 15 minutes, I was dunking my hat in the water to help cool me off.
Got a small largemouth bass right off the bat and kicked the skunk out of the boat.
Pickle had a huge hit, but no hookup.
We were working a rock pile, but that one hit was it.

We make a move to another spot, a get back to it.
Pickles retying and I’m working the bottom with a jig, and I get Slammed!!
Up she comes and its a good bass, Pickle reaches for the net, but its all tangled, so I swing the Bass up, and it hits the hand rail,
out pops the hook and she’s gone…………………
……………….What was I thinking…………….
Pickle says, “that’s okay Rox, it’s not a money fish”  It didn’t make me feel any better…………..

As we a going along, and I’m still crabbing about the lost Bass, I cast my lure up under the trees, and Bam…………..missed…S-o-B!.
I cast back in and BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Fish on ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ she’s headed for the lillie,
up she comes…… Its A Big BASS.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ now I turn her, and she heads right under the boat.
Pickles ready with the net, but she don’t want to come out, she does a couple of circles under us, and I finally get her to come out, and Pickle scoops her up in the net.
And she filled that net!!!!

5lbs 10 oz, 21 3/4″ long. That made up for that lost one!

All in all we had a great day on a New lake, we covered 327 acres in 8 hours.
14 Large Mouth Bass, 3 Pike, a bunch of Crappies, and 4 Pickerels.

Can’t wait to go Back, I’ll be bringing My W500 fishing kayak in here as soon as I can.

Tight Lines and Paddle Safe All.
Rox

-”Here you go, a true inshore saltwater trophy 36 inches, 37 with a pinched tail, weight at 17 to 18lbs.

This redfish was caught on a topwater plug (Chug Bug) in about 2 feet of water as it cruised the edge of a mangrove island.
The rod of course an Emmrod which I suggested they call a “Topwater Special”. This was the first fish on this new model.

Later this week I’ll be trying the feat again only in the W kayak instead of on board a flats skiff.  -Jeff”

Went to Rainbow Reservoir in Windsor Connecticut, to fish with a friend on his boat.
Mike (known as Daddy Pickle) wanted some small mouth Bass.

I figured I cast a few from shore while waiting.
I must have cast 20 times, and on the last cast with the lure just rising out of the water by shore, a Huge Pike rushed and slashed at the dinger.
I almost $#!^ my pants, totally caught me off guard. With this approaching storm, my hopes weren’t too high.
We had slight winds to friggin pain in the >@$& winds, cloudy, water temps were a steady 50.5 degrees
everywhere.

Today, the back of the boat was a good place to be.

Pickle did start us off with the first smallie, but he said it wasn’t picture worthy, I think that smallies buddies heard him, so they wouldn’t play nice with him after that.

My arm and Hands are Killing Me!!
I couldn’t even tell you how many cast Pickle and I made today.
But if the bait wasn’t moving, you weren’t getting Nothing!

Cranking was the key, no pauses, most fish came out of 14′ to 30′,
deep down bumping bottom FUN!
I haven’t used crank baits in a long time, but Pickle has helped
rekindle my first Love…………….Cranking.
He may be sorry he did!

Another thing, when the winds did pick up, the bite stopped,
then when there was a lull in the winds, one of us would hook up!

LIFE IS GOOD!!!!

Rox

Hi,
Here’s a trip I did on Oct 19th fishing from Shore at Rainbow Reservoir, in Windsor Ct.
As you know they drained this place to repair the Dam, and since Oct 5th, it’s been refilling.

Walked down to one of my favorite fall spots, can’t wait to get my W500 back in here.
Armed with a hair jig with a small craw attached on my 6’6″ Custom St Croix smallie ultra lite rod with 8lb test vanish. And my 6’6″ St Croix rigged with 10# fireline with 10# vanish leader with a c-rigged worm.

What a beautiful day it turned into.
I got to the waters edge at 10:30am left at 3pm.
Windy, sunny no idea what the water temps were.

Fished deep water to shore, as far as my little arms could cast out to.
As I was crawling the hair/craw jig along the bottom, I got a solid Thump, set the hook, and the battle was on.
Pulling drag at will, the beast headed out to deeper water, got her turned and battle her back to me.
She came up to show me her big old head, and in that moment I was wondering, how the heck I would land her, 8#test and a bunch of rocks, so I figured I was gonna get wet.
This is one big Bass, get her closer to shore, then in an instant, she’s gone. She straightened the Hook!!!! Holy S#*****+!! Guess I should have fought her a little longer. :banghead:

Landed a good 2# smallie bumping bottom with a new hair jig and craw, she gave me a good strong fight, then another as the rig hit the water. And the very next cast…….Bam another smallie. :cha:
Then nothing, must have been a school moving around.

Moved down the bank some more and Grabbed the c-rigged worm and started working it from deep water to shore.
Slowly dragging it, and making long pauses, I worked down the shore line about a football fields length.
I would cast and work it back to me, take 10 sets from the spot I was started, repeating it over and over, then BAM, Big Fish, shaking her head Like crazy, 20′ from shore, Up she Comes with a Big Somersault and dives, My Drag is screaming, gain some ground and Off she ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ again, I get her turned and I all STOPS????????????????? Shes snagged on a stump or something, with my line taught, I can feel her shaking her head!!!!!!!!
I start running to the right with my rod tip Held High, hoping to free the Beast, she still on I feel her pulling then Bink!!! Off she comes on what ever she was hung up on, Lord Have mercy, I got to land her PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now the battle is won, she’s tired, I’m reeling her in with no fight left. Get my thumb in her mouth and She’s Mine!!! :cha: Frigging fish will be the death of me yet, my heart is pounding, my hands are shaking, snap a couple of pictures, get her back in the water holding her tail, I don’t care that I’m wet, I’m making sure she swims away strong, she feels like shes ready, I release her tail, she rolls slightly looking at me with the Big old Bug eye then in an instant she was gone. Caught a bunch more, all put up great fights, digging down deep. Man I love fall Fishing!!!
LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!

Rox

Here’s a short fishing report from John, a W kayak fisherman from Wisconsin, who just finished a great camo paint job on his W300 kayak (see previous post)-

-”Some of my co-workers made me go out on a bigger boat today. We headed down to Waukegan Illinois on lake Michigan. We were after big perch. We caught close to seventy fish. The catch included some nice sized fish including some 14 inchers. We hope to have a fish fry tomorrow night at the firehouse. I hope to get out early next week in the W kayak. — John”

If you’re planning to be kayak fishing in 2050 you should be prepared to go after different fish species, or head further North if you want to keep catching your favorite fish of today.

A new study found that global warming may affect the distribution of fish populations worldwide, with fish from warmer waters spreading to today’s cooler regions that are getting warmer.

According to this model, this could be true both for ocean kayak fishing and inland kayak fishing.

Read more about it in this CNN article.

Wavewalk now offers a new stake-out pole system for fishing kayaks:

Material: Anodized aluminum.

Dimensions: 60″ long, 3/4″ diameter.

Features:

1. Sealed, pointed end.
2. Comfortable, large size, Y-shaped handle.
3. Sliding aluminum collar with fixed stop, line clip and foam float (bright orange).
4. 8′ long, 1/4″ thick, braided, buoyant polypropylene line (yellow).

Price: $65.

Anyway on to the largest fish today. I had gotten out to cool off with a little wading when the big jack hit a minnow style plug. It was like trying to hold back a train. That fish hit with a quick flash and peeled off line against the drag. Thank heavens I was using a stiff bait cast rig with 16lb line. I was barely able to keep the fish from running right around the oyster beds.

Size wise it pulled lots harder than it looked but it’s still a nice sized jack for the inshore waters. The last shot is how a strong fish can actually bend a very strong saltwater treble hook almost open. A few more minutes on the line and this fish would have straighted the hooks and pulled loose.

Wayne T’s W fishing kayak is an interesting project from a number of aspects:

He first outfitted it with a pair of large size outriggers because he wanted to enjoy more stability at his advanced age (68). When Wayne is in his boat the outriggers barely touch the water and generate just little extra drag.

Wayne also outfitted his kayak with a pair or oars, with the oarlocks attached directly to the cockpit rim. He explains that the reason he did it is because it gives him better control over the boat than a paddle does.

“This is the best one man fishing boat I’ve ever used and I have tried them all…” He says, and judging by his catch he has evidence to back his words:

When he paddles it he uses a canoe paddle made from his Mohawk paddling kit.

It looks like Wayne used a pair of oars and oarlocks he took from a small dinghy, and all he had to do was to reinforce the kayak’s cockpit rim before attaching them to his boat.

Wayne also chose the simple and easy way to build his outriggers, and you can read more about what he did in this boat review.

Altogether, Wayne’s boat shows that with some planning and no big effort, kayak fishermen can literally transform their W fishing kayaks into a very different type of boat while preserving most of the advantages the original design offers.