Here are a few pictures from yesterday. I had not idea it was so nasty on the water till I came in and one of the fellows from the bridge barge said they were concerned about me crossing the intercoastal. All of these fish are considered trash fish since they have little food value. However as sport fish they are just a blast to catch, loads of fun and lots of pulling.
Jeff
Jeff McGovern, reporting from somewhere in NE Florida…:
The catching was steady all morning but it was all jacks and bluefish so my lures took a pounding.
I had one very good spot that normally produces good trout catches get blown out by three dolphins who crashed my party. One pass from those three in close quarters and the fish won’t be around till the next tide change.
Once I got back to the fish camp I was surrounded by happy kayakers with questions about the W500. It’s finally warm and people are getting back on the water.
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.
–Jeff
Here’s a new report from Gary Rankel:
Was out for 7 hrs yesterday in hot weather and sun.
Ran into lots of redfish yesterday, but most were pretty spooky.
I did manage to get this beautiful 10 pounder on top water just as the sun was coming up.”
Also got a few sea trout and jack crevalle.
I just missed my “West Coast Slam” as a nice snook shook my topwater lure while airborne about 20 feet from the W (sorry I couldn’t snap a picture of that).
I also ran into a visitor who was really interested in your new W 500 (I think he thought he had just found the perfect mate). He entertained me for a good 20 minutes, repeatedly coming right to the side and of the W to get a good look.
Range of motion and protection from the fish – Sounds a little weird but the W kayak offers a far better range of motion for anglers and some measure of protection when landing fish.
I’ve noticed this the most dealing with saltwater speedsters in the form of jacks and ladyfish. Both are considered trash fish but only in terms of eating them. For getting into lots of pulling and yanking they are a blast. But when brought boat side for landing they always have far better ideas than the angler. Leaping and jumping at the last moment can easily put one into your lap or worse. Since they also have a face full of hooks the results of this last moment dash for freedom can be a disaster. If you are stuck in that L position you are too low and too limited in movement options to do much about it. These are also fish that will run in any direction and in a boat you can’t turn your body very well chances are you’ll be tangled up in no time.
In the W kayak, because you are upright in the riding position you can turn much more toward the fish and it’s angle of pull. Also when you go to land the fish you are above most of the danger zone and far better protected. After netting a fish you can simply rest the handle across the cockpit rims and hold in in place. You don’t have a net to worry about getting caught up in the rod, a portion of your body, or other gear. Plus if you are dealing with a fish you might want to keep for a great fish meal if it does jump around it’s going to end up at your feet in one of the hulls safe for the table.
Even in the course of battling a fish if all goes according to plan the L position is a lousy one to fish from. Since you can’t rotate well from the waist or really brace for the battle your shoulders and arms take some real punishment. The L position acts to deny using your core muscles to fight the fish. The W offers so many fish fighting advantages but as with many things about the boat they are not truly realized until the angler actually can try it. If there is a problem with that it’s simply that nothing compares to the W. No other boats have the advantages.
Anyway I just wanted to shoot a note along this line. Sometimes you just have to feel sorry for all those other non W kayak fishermen out there.
The Jacksonville Classic kayak fishing tournament is organized by Mike Kogan and the Jacksonville Kayak Fishing Club members. It’s the world’s biggest fishing tournament of its kind. Jeff McGovern is an active club member, and here is his report from the event:
-”The 2009 Jax Kayak Classic was wonderful. The weather was warm and the wind which has been blowing it seems for weeks finally laid down a little. As you know three of us rented the house right on the water at Shady Oyster Fish Camp right near the base of the 206 bridge. Talk about a great location, we were only a few feet from the water. Saturday morning instead of facing loading the W, packing my gear, driving to the coast, unloading and setting up my stuff, it was just a short stroll down the steps and in the water.
The fishing has been picking up lately and we were not disappointed. Everybody caught fish and that’s were the fun is fighting the fish and reeling them in. We did not catch anything that would place but that was OK since the action was great. I managed a number of little jacks that are more than enough fun for anyone even tiny as the one you see in the picture. Other than that I did catch a half dozen black drum which are superb table fare. By the way note how that measuring board can be placed across the rim of the W. Very easy to measure even while on the water, a task in a sit on top that might loose you a fish. In the W the chances are much less.
We only fished till around noon or so and then headed up to Jacksonville for the checking and dinner. Of course the meal was pure southern style BBQ chicken and pulled pork with baked beans and slaw. To wash it down there was a bar selling beer but my favorite is southern style sweet tea. This time around we raised over 40 thousand dollars for the main charity and had 430 registered participants. I’m sure today a number of folks just slept in to recover from the event. It was a great time and from what I saw a typical southern hospitality for all, everyone had a blast.
The W is well suited for inshore kayak fishing tournaments. Gear is close at hand and everything reached easily. This time around I brought three rods. Two were spinning rods, my little Chaos twins, with the Daiwa 1300SS reels I’ve found so reliable over the years. Those two outfits we spooled with 10lb pink Fireline with 15lb fluorocarbon leaders. The third outfit was a new style Emmord Rugged Flex pack rod set up with a Shimano Curado 200B reel spooled with 15lb Big Game High Catch line and a 20lb fluorocarbon leader. The Emmrod was for topwater work at first light the spinning outfits were for the balance of the fishing day. I’m still surprised at how well a rod can be handled from the W. The distance and control is second to no other paddle craft out there. I’ll send over the shots in a few emails. The first one of me and the W is a required shot for each participant. It must show the person, the boat, and the measuring board at the launch site.—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”
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.
