Craig is a saltwater kayak fly fisherman who’s usually fly fishing standing in his W300 kayak in Cape Cod and Florida. He got that fishing kayak back in 2008, and has contributed a kayak review about it, as well as interesting rigging ideas.
Now he’s come to test the W500, and guess what – he became an instant fan of it.
Craig is getting a yellow W500, and we can hardly wait to see how he’s going to rig it.
The movie shows Craig fly fishing standing in his kayak, paddling standing, and doing a bunch of other things that are amazing and amusing, including entertaining a guest on board, and testing a lawn chair as a seat add-on (just stick the chair in the cockpit…).
BTW, Craig said he prefers the kayak without any added seat, which proves the W saddle is a classic
Most of the kayaks we ship are to customers in the continental US and Canada, naturally, but we do happen to ship to overseas clients, and this is the first review we got from Australia. Since Australians use the metric system, we added the info in US units.
Hi Yoav, it’s all good – I’m enjoying the W500.
I did get out in the surf the weekend before last, and managed a bit of stand-up action in some 1m [3'4"] swell – only fell out once!
I did manage to get out on Saturday morning – the weather was good for autumn [Australia is in the southern hemisphere, so the seasons there are reversed...] – the sea was flat and comfortable! I also used the anchor for the first time and that worked great.
Shaun’s W500 fishing kayak rigged for offshore fishing
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I was happy to get 3 nice calamari squid in a short time. The largest is 35 cm [14"] total mantle length.
I’m still not that game to go too far offshore – about 500m [500 yards] is my limit so far.
Close-up on the 3 calamari squid Shaun caught in his W500 fishing kayak
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This weekend I’ve planned to give it a try in a local river, the Onkaparinga, and maybe flick a few bream lures around.
It can get a bit chilly here in mid winter . The coldest month is July, with a mean 9am temperature of 10.4 Celcius [50F]
The piece of water I was catching dinner from is the Gulf St. Vincent.
If I’m any good, I’ll eventually be able to send you pics of yak-caught King George Whiting, Yellowfin Whiting, leatherjackets, Snook, Garfish, Salmon and Salmon trout, Bream, Tommy Ruff, and (fingers crossed) Snapper -All fantastic sport fish and great on the plate.
This short fishing trip report from lake Michigan was sent by John Fabina, the prolific W kayak angler and camo-design artist from Wisconsin-
Hi Yoav
For the second year now a few of the boys (firemen) from engine 10 and ladder 16 and 17 went out on what Jeff refers to as a “stink boat”. Lake Michigan was good to us today. We each limited out on perch with the biggest one at 15 inches and many over a foot long.
talk to you soon
John
Photo: John is the one with the large hat (second from left). The W on the red cap is not Wavewalk Kayaks’ logo…
When you’re 6’3″ tall and weigh 245 lbs, like Jeff McGovern, you can speak softly (he usually does) and carry a big stick, or a small one – in this case an Emmrod fishing rod.
But you can’t stand up in a fishing kayak unless it’s the real deal, that is a kayak that works in real life, and not just in the mind of some kayak manufacturers, and in their marketing hype…
So Jeff, who likes to feel comfortable anywhere and anytime (he usually does), especially when he’s kayak fishing, uses only a W500 fishing kayak – and he won’t use anything else.
He calls his W kayak “a therapeutic yak”, since last year he had sciatica problems after a long drive from Florida to Chicago and back, and his W kayak helped him relax and stretch.
This photo was shot by Jim Green, Jeff’s son in law, and a promising kayak angler himself.
Just look how Jeff is perfectly relaxed while casting…
Over 18,000 people visited our website wavewalk.com in March, up more than 4,000 from March 2009.
That’s almost 30% more paddlers and anglers, who either visited us for the first time, or came back to learn more about our touring and fishing kayaks, and about what our clients were doing with them – whether it’s kayak fishing, paddling, touring, rigging etc.
So far, the only time when more people had visited our website was in July 2009, but the difference is small, and one is bound to remember that July is the peak of the paddling and fishing season in North America – our main market.
Fun fact: About half of our website’s visitors in March visited one part or another of this blog, which is really nice to know, especially if you’re one of those who contribute to this blog regularly
January and February were also marked by a similar, substantial growth in visits compared to the same period of last year.
Jeff McGovern, and ex-disgruntled Wavewalk Kayaks customer turned big fan, just started his own kayak fishing blog called Jeff’s Tackle Box.
Jeff is undoubtedly one of the most knowledgeable kayak anglers around, and he’s always been willing to share his insight and enthusiasm with other anglers, whether on Jaxkayakfishing – his local kayak fishing club’s online forum, or worldwide – on the Wavewalk Kayaks forum.
During these turbulent economic times, Jeff had to change directions in his career, and from being a high flying executive in a big pest management company, he became a distributor for Emmrod – an innovative fishing rod company that offers a range of rods that are particularly suited for kayak fishing, which is Jeff’s passion.
Jeff usually fishes both saltwater and fresh water in the northeastern part of Florida, but once a year he goes on a fishing trip to Canada to fish with his father and brothers.
Photo: Jeff and Kate demonstrating fishing rods in a fishing tackle store in Jacksonville, Florida
We wish Jeff a big success in his new business, and we hope his new blog will become popular among kayak anglers, as well as other anglers worldwide.
Some anglers refer to themselves as being ‘fisholic’, and that’s basically the same thing, although phrased in different pseudo scientific terms
That new article is amusing, but it’s also serious, since anglers and paddlers who spend too much time in sit-in and SOT kayaks can develop chronic pain, especially in the lower back (yak-back) and eventually be forced to quit kayak fishing and paddling, as many do – and that’s too bad.
Jeff McGovern to conduct kid’s inshore fishing clinic at Genung’s Fish Camp, Crescent Beach, January 23
Palatka, FL 1/4/10—Come spend an exciting, fun day with Jeff McGovern at Genung’s Fish Camp from 9 AM to Noon on January 23, 2010. Learn how to choose lures, bait, line and rigging to catch more fish in fresh and saltwater.
Emmrods will be featured and there will be a drawing for an Emmrod Packer Combo donated by Jeff’s Tackle Box at the end of the program. This free event is open to youth and youth groups of all ages and their parents and chaperones.
Coffee and donuts will be provided.
Registration is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.
Genung’s Fish Camp is located at 291 Cubbedge Road (just below the 206 bridge at US 1), Crescent Beach, FL. For more information or to register, please contact Johnny at (904) 471-4144.
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.
I got out today and thought it would be good to add to the blog. Granted we don’t have the winter weather some folks are getting slammed with but I did brave 52 degree air temps this morning.
Fishing wise the day was awesome, trout after trout, red after red, and of course those darn little blue fish tearing up lures. The trout fell to Mirrodines and DOA shrimp both classic trout lures. I managed 11 of them with all but three in the legal range, a nice bunch of fish. The redfish all hit the same topwater lure a Super Spook Jr in white & chrome with bright red eyes. The blue fish hit anytime a sinking lure got in their way near the surface.
As long as I got it under them the trout could get it. This was typical Florida winter fishing, loads of action so long as you could find the spots holding fish. As it was my final tally was 11 of those trout, 8 redfish, and at least 20 of those crazy little blues. Of course the W500 performed like a champ. By the way when I got back to Genung’s Fish Camp a number of folks were checking out the W. Hopefully some of them will be interested in buying.
