Wavewalk Kayaks

Here’s a link to a new, funny blog post about Compulsive Kayak Fishing Disorder (CKFD).

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.

Enjoy the read, so you may enjoy the ride!

Since this question is an important one, I’ve decided to post this kayak fishing and paddling safety article on our main blog.

Thousands of kayak anglers are risking paddling and fishing accidents because of their kayaks’ poor ergonomics. The hazards are many and diverse:
First, there’s the danger of being unable to paddle back to shore, as a result of fatigue, and even exhaustion.
Strong wind and tidal current are external forces that could be hazardous to a tired kayak angler, especially if elderly or inexperienced. If your kayak makes you prematurely tired, you need to consider switching to something more comfortable that tracks and paddles better, namely a Wavewalk kayak.

Additionally, overheating in summer, and hypothermia in winter should not be underestimated, since they reduce your ability to paddle effectively and get back to your launching spot, and could even prevent you from getting back to shore.
If your kayak exposes you to cold wind and water, you should avoid paddling it under such circumstances, unless you’re willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a dry suit. Remember: wearing waders and boots while operating small boats is very dangerous, since such heavy clothing might prevent you from swimming, and from getting back into your boat, or kayak.

Furthermore, there’s the hazard of cramps, leg numbness and being practically paralyzed by pain in your back, or in your butt.

Cramps in your legs can be very painful, and last a long time if you can’t stand up safely and relax. Sit-in and SOT kayaks offer only one position, which is sitting in an L shape, with your legs pointing forward and being restricted by footrests. Paddling or fishing in this position for a long time is s recipe for cramps, and for leg numbness, which is not as dramatic, but still most unpleasant, and undesirable as far as paddling is concerned.
Both leg pain and leg numbness are also dangerous because they prevent you from balancing and maneuvering your kayak efficiently.

Pain in your back or butt is dangerous, since it can literally cripple you, and compromise your paddling efforts. Moreover, you might find yourself close to shore and still unable to beach your kayak, or get out of it, as Don, this California kayak angler describes in his kayak review:

-”I fished for 8 years in an [Brand, Model]. The “L” sitting position and it’s effect on my back is what finished standard kayaking for me… One day I beached the bow of that 16 footer and was still about 10-12 feet out in the water where I was sitting. I discovered I couldn’t move my legs. Getting out of that thing without causing all kinds of laughter from spectators was one of my greatest physical accomplishments.
I was sure I’d avoid those scenarios with the”W”, and I could hardly wait to find out all the wonderful differences.”

Read Don’s entire fishing kayak review >>

This is not a rare example, and in fact many people report experiencing similar things with their sit-in and SOT kayaks.
Actually, most kayakers and kayak anglers have grown used to frequently stopping their paddling and fishing, just to go on shore an ‘unkink’. This ‘unkinking’ basically means stretching, and allowing some rest for the sore back and aching legs. Stretching your legs and back improves circulation, and relaxes muscles and tendons.
Some kayak fishermen in warm regions just stand in the water, if it’s shallow enough. If such frequent ergonomic stops are impossible, the only solution anglers face is to cut short their fishing trip, and paddle back to their launching spot.

The combination of back pain or leg pain and cold is dangerous because the cold further contracts your muscles, and thus increases the pain, and therefor makes it harder for you to paddle.
Paddling in intense heat, especially if you’ve suffered from a sun stroke or dehydration is dangerous if you have pains, because such combination can increase the danger of premature fatigue and exhaustion.

Safety and ergonomics are closely linked in many products we use, including kayaks.

Here’s a new article discussing the issue of kayak fishing safety from a comfort perspective, that is comfort being a factor in your paddling and fishing safety:

Is An Uncomfortable Kayak Safe For Paddling And Fishing?

Needless to say that what is true for kayak fishing is true for kayak touring as well.

What is Fishability?

Dictionaries define fishable as an adjective meaning ‘that may be fished in’. By extension, the noun fishability can be used to describe the usefulness of a fishing craft for catching fish, from the angler’s well being and performance standpoints.

Basically, you can catch fish just sitting on a log in the middle of a pond, or a river - so being able to cast a line and catch fish from some floating object doesn’t automatically mean it scores high in fishability. Similarly, the fact you’re catching fish from your kayak, and you know other anglers who fish from kayaks, doesn’t imply your kayak or similar ones score high in fishability. In fact, they might score very low.

How to Measure Fishability?

Different anglers require different things from a fishing boat, and value different things when they rank the qualities of a fishing kayak. Such attributes and priorities can be subjective, but it’s possible to use them as well as professional design standards to create a universal fishability score system.

The Fishability Score System

Since fishability is a multidimensional notion, a fishability score should refer to the different factors that contribute to the kayak’s fishability according to their relative importance.

However, since little data are available about anglers’ exact preferences, such score system should not be portrayed as scientifically accurate, and therefore should not use numbers or other standard grading method.

Fishability Factors

Stability

Fishing kayaks are wider than average kayaks are - anyone can see that. The reason for is that being wider makes sit-in and sot kayaks more stable, and stability is a basic, very important attribute that any fishing kayak should offer. The problem is that being wide doesn’t necessarily make a sit-in or SOT fishing kayak stable enough. In other words, those fishing kayaks’ fishability is diminished by the fact they are not stable enough for most anglers to feel fully confident while fishing from them. This is why you’ll see an increasing number of sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks outfitted with outriggers, and other sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks who are excessively wide - to a point where paddling them becomes too difficult, even with a rudder.

When stability is concerned, W fishing kayaks score much higher in fishability than any other fishing kayak does, whether sit-in or SOT. It’s possible to say that W kayaks are the only kayaks that are stable enough for fishing.

Comfort

Comfort in the ergonomic sense is by far the most important attribute a fishing kayak has to offer, and the main factor which determines its fishability. This is because kayak fishing is practiced as a sport, and a leisure activity, that is for fun. As such, it is required to enable a pleasant, relaxed and non-painful fishing experience to the user, and that’s where sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks fail completely. The reason for this failure is that all sit-in and SOT kayaks feature the same sitting arrangement comprising a seat and footrests, that lock their users in a single, uncomfortable, non-ergonomic posture called the L-Position, without offering them a chance to get some relief by switching to other positions. This leads to a range of undesirable physical sensations ranging from fatigue and discomfort to leg numbness, leg pain, butt pain, and back pain (yak-back). In some cases the impact can be back injuries.

Another discomfort factor is the wet ride: Being forced to paddle and fish while getting continuously splashed and sprayed isn’t acceptable for many anglers, who won’t fish from sit-in and SOT kayaks for this reason.

These ergonomic problems are obvious, and most people perceive them as a turnoff albeit the efforts of kayak manufacturers and vendors to play them down and dismiss them. As a result of these problems, not too many anglers are drawn to kayak fishing, and out of those who start practicing this sport many end up quitting - sooner or later.

In other words, sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks’ fishability score is very low, if only for these reasons. In contrast, W fishing kayaks feature a comfortable saddle offering multiple, interchangeable positions, including standing and full stretching. This is why W kayaks are the only ergonomic fishing kayaks, and therefore the only truly fishable kayaks in the long run.

Deck and Cockpit Functionality

Sit-in kayaks have tiny, restrictive, and therefore less than adequate cockpits, and SOT kayaks feature no cockpit at all, since in essence they are just paddle boards outfitted with backrests and footrests. This greatly reduces these kayaks’ fishability, since it makes it hard for anglers to fish out of them comfortably when handling gear, tackle and fish are concerned.

Remember: In order to score high in fishability, a boat or kayak should feel great to fish from, and ‘possible to fish from’‘ simply isn’t enough.  The only fishing kayaks that feature a real, full size cockpit and deck are W kayaks, and this is why they are truly fishable.

Storage

Fishing requires gear and tackle, as well as space for storing fish. Sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks feature hatches, which are too small, not absolutely watertight, and hardly accessible to the angler once he or she is seated in the kayak.

This is clearly unacceptable in fishability terms, and the golden standard is set by W fishing kayaks that offer plenty of internal, dry, and always accessible storage space.

Mobility

Mobility is about being able to start a fishing trip anywhere, go wherever you feel like, and beach whenever and wherever you want.

When compared to most bigger boats, fishing kayaks offer advantages in accessing certain spots, mainly in shallow water, and obviously in no-motor zones.  Still, sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks don’t offer the same degree of mobility that W fishing kayaks offer, because W kayaks enable launching and beaching in places where launching and beaching other kayaks is too hard. In addition, while going over obstacles present an absolute barrier to other kayaks, W kayaks offer ways to overcome such restrictions in mobility.

It terms of fishability, W kayaks score considerably higher than sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks.

As for pedal-driven fishing kayaks, those score even lower than regular, paddle activated sit-in and SOT kayaks.

Stand Up Fishing and Paddling

Being able to fish while standing up is an important aspect in evaluating a boat’s fishability, simply because standing up is natural, and especially desirable if you have you spend long hours fishing seated.

While certain kayak manufacturers claim some of the sit-in and SOT kayaks models they offer are suitable for stand up kayak fishing, nothing could be further from the truth: Some small stature, athletic people may be able to stand on one of those kayaks, and even cast lines, but this is far from being enough to have any of those kayaks qualify for stand up kayak fishing, because of serious safety issues:

When you stand in or on a small boat you will inevitably lose balance - sooner or later, and there are many things that can cause you to lose balance, including a moment of inattention, and catching a fish… So this is not a matter of if, but rather of when. And when anglers attempting to fish standing in a sit-in kayak or on a SOT kayak lose their balance, they fall overboard, and can lose some of their fishing gear and tackle. The result of such probable accident can vary from ‘unpleasant experience’ to drowning.

Fishing standing from a sit-in or SOT kayak is hazardous, and so is paddling standing in them, and therefore these boats score zero in stand-up fishing and paddling.

In contrast, W fishing kayaks are not only much stabler than sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks, but they also feature a 14 inch high saddle. This means that a paddler or angler standing in a W kayak and loses balance is likely to fall down on the saddle, in the most stable riding position, and avoid an accident in most cases, as well as losing fishing gear.

Tracking

Tracking is a factor that’s not related directly to fishing, as it can be measured only when the angler is paddling. However, we think it should be included in the fishability score system since it is a critical factor in paddling, and by that also affects both the kayak’s range of operation as well as it safety: A kayak that tracks poorly might become too hard to paddle in strong wind, and get out of control as the paddler suffers from exhaustion.

Sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks track very poorly, to a point where most of them require their owners to outfit them with rudder systems. Such systems are by no means ideal solutions, as they demand constant attention, and impede the kayak. A rudders might become altogether unusable in shallow water, and leave anglers struggling to control their kayaks in strong wind without any assistance. that is to say that sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks are prone to windage problems, and score very low in this fishability factor.

In comparison, W kayaks track exceptionally well, both in calm weather as in strong wind, regardless of the direction from which the wind is blowing. W kayaks require no rudder at all, since anglers who paddle them dispose of a range of effective means to control their directional stability (I.E. tracking) through changing location along the saddle, and by leaning into the wind.

This ability makes W fishing kayaks score high in the Tracking factor on the fishability score system.

By Jeff McGovern

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.




This is a new blog called Painless Kayak Fishing.

It offers articles, testimonials and links to kayak fishing back pain related information.

This is an article about the kayak L position

Ben Ciliberto, a kayak carp fisherman from Pennsylvania, rigged his 3 W300 kayaks especially for stand up carp fishing. This is a picture of two of them:

Ben writes:

“Back’s improving albeit slowly.

The two kayaks, sided by side in the garage have gotten many comments and inquiries, but unfortunately not much use! The new one has still not touched water (but is rigged),– I have had mine out twice so far—high water, work, vacations have really crimped my schedule! I’m ready to roll when time permits!

Sure has been great that even with a ruptured L4 disc, and bulging L3—I can paddle and use the W without pain or aggravation!!

Ben”

Read more about Ben’s fly fishing kayaks

It’s very easy to attach a regular kayak seat, or canoe seat, or stadium seat to the W kayak saddle: You can create attachment points by drilling holes in the cockpit rim and top side of the saddle.
Some people have done it, as one can see in on website’s kayak reviews section.

Having said that, most W kayak owners don’t use a seat or a back rest, and even those who’ve added one to their W kayak end up not using it most of the time, because you basically don’t need a back rest in this kayak. This is due to the fact that in the preferred paddling and fishing position (Riding) your own legs support you.
This is true for standing too, of course.

Norm Craig, a from Rhode Island, had serious back surgery only months ago, and realized he couldn’t go fishing in a canoe or a regular kayak. He became the first fisherman to use our new W500 for kayak fishing. He wrote this fishing kayak ‘mini review’ immediately after taking it on water for the first time, and today he sent us his second impression:

-”Beautiful morning with the big W:

Don Rainey is a seasoned kayak fisherman who decided to switch from traditional fishing kayaks to the Wavewalk kayak because his back and legs wouldn’t let him go on…

Don tells in his fishing kayak review that it took him some time to master his new W kayak, and he found out that not only was his back and legs feeling good, for a change (which he had expected), but he could in fact fish under conditions that would have previously forced him to stay home, including strong winds and chop:

“All fish were caught in extremely windy conditions with a good bit of a swell going on. I probably wouldn’t have ventured out in those conditions with my old kayak.”

The ‘Yak Back’ is a popular name given to a condition caused by paddling traditional sit-in and SOT kayaks, and fishing from them.

The ‘Yak Back’ symptoms include leg numbness and cramps, discomfort in the hips and buttocks, pressure and pain in the lower back (lumbar) area, and premature fatigue.

Paddlers and fishermen suffering from Yak back feel a strong urge to change positions, stand up, walk, and stretch.  Early Yak Back symptoms can appear as early as half an hour from launching, and they tend to aggravate as the hours go by.

It is not uncommon that people who paddle sit-in and SOT kayaks and fish from them develop a chronic Yak Back condition, manifested mainly as an acute sensitivity to pressure on their lower back, and sometimes even chronic lower back pain that forces many of them to abandon kayak paddling and kayak fishing.

The Yak Back is the result of being seated in an unnatural position often called the ‘L position’, in which your own legs push your lower back against your kayak seat’s backrest. The pressure applied is constant, and generated by the most powerful set of muscles in your body, which is why cushioning the seat’s backrest is quite useless.

Traditional sit-in and SOT kayaks offer too little stability to begin with, which is why as a paddler or fisherman who uses them, you’re required to keep your center of gravity (CG) as low as possible by sitting as low as possible and throwing your legs forward. As you do that, your legs change roles from naturally supporting your upper body to actively pressuring it in your spine’s lower part, which is a vulnerable place.

Native people of the Arctic who invented kayaks never used backrests, because they were used to sitting this way, so they didn’t need lumbar support. However, this is not an option for you because without a backrest you’re likely to find it impossible to keep your body in the L position for more than a few minutes.

The W kayak is the only kayak that offers your legs their natural role in supporting your upper body in your balancing, control, paddling and fishing efforts. Since your legs support your upper body you don’t need a backrest to support your back, and therefore there is nothing that can cause you discomfort, fatigue or pain.

The W kayak also offers you the possibility to switch between a variety of different paddling and fishing positions, including standing, which helps you stay fresh and comfy, and avoid Yak Back symptoms.

For these reasons the W got its nickname ‘Back Saver’.

Read more about ergonomics in kayak design.

The bottom line is that there’s no such thing as a short kayak fishing trip:

Unlike recreational paddlers who don’t fish, kayak fishermen don’t just hop into their kayaks and go fishing for half an hour. Kayak fishing trips are in most cases much longer, and although no one seems to have accurate statistics, it seems like the average kayak fishing trip is longer than two hours.

Why does it matter?

Our website features this article about long kayak fishing trips , which explains how important it is to have an appropriate kayak for them, that is a kayak that won’t get you tired prematurely, and won’t make your legs numb and your back ache, and thus ruin your trip.

It also talks about storing your gear and tackle in your kayak, and other issues that matter in long fishing trips.

But coming to think of it, since nearly all your fishing trips are likely to be long ones (say longer than one hour), it means there’s basically no reason for you to compromise and get one of those hyped, run-of-the-mill SOT or sit-in fishing kayaks that offer you neither adequate comfort nor enough dry and accessible storage space.

UK researchers recently published an article about the beneficial effect of good posture in the British Medical Journal . According to this work, about half the UK population suffers from back pain from time to time, with up to 15% having chronic problems. They found that back pain is the second biggest cause of sick leave.
These British researchers found that long-term back pain can be relieved through encouraging sufferers to adopt good posture through the Alexander technique, which teaches patients how to sit, stand and walk in a way that relieves pain by focusing on their coordination and posture.

-Why are these findings important to kayak fishermen?
Because it’s likely to assume that most people who suffer from back pain are adults, and the older one gets the more likely he/she are to suffer from back pain. This means that if children and young people can afford to overlook bad posture when paddling kayaks and fishing from them, most adults can’t ignore them, and they should give these issues some serious consideration.
The time you spend paddling and fishing is when your back should get a relief from stress induced by bad sitting postures during long hours at the office or in your car. This time should be used for relaxation and easing your back problem rather than aggravating it.
The traditional L kayaking position is worst for your back than just sitting in the office or in car, which is why most people who fish from kayaks feel uneasiness and often even pain just from staying in this position. Kayak fishermen often experience a strong urge to switch positions, stand up, stretch their legs and ease the pressure in their lower back and the fatigue in the upper back, neck and shoulders. However, regular SIK and SOT kayaks don’t offer any relief for this problem.
This can help us understand why some W kayak fishermen have called their W kayaks ‘back saver’ and ‘back therapy’ - By this they mean that a good posture and the ability to switch between positions makes them feel good, and this is really important for them.

The 2008 W Kayak offers two new positions: Side-Saddle, and the Riding-Over.

The side-saddle position is a stable and comfortable but static position for fishing or resting while your feet are cooling in the water.

It’s possible to paddle in this position, although not in fast moving water or for long distances. You can paddle on both sides of the boat: The one you’re facing and the one behind you. It’s not particularly difficult, and takes little time to learn. Paddling in this position can be useful when you’re fishing and you need to reposition the boat.

The new side-saddle position adds another option to choose from when you feel like changing positions and relieve your fatigue, and it’s fun!

Ben is a fly fisherman from Pennsylvania who opted for the W kayak.

In a new review he tells about the things he’s doing with his new 2008 W kayak, and about the way he rigged it to be a perfect fly fishing boat.

Among a lot of interesting things Ben has to say about his W kayak fly fishing experience, this is what struck me the most -“I’m loving the W– after 12 hours in it in a short period my back still feels good, although I suffer from chronic back issues. After 8 hours Friday I knew when to quit, when it started getting tired.”

Anyone who’s suffered from chronic back pain could appreciate this.



A couple of days ago I visited the website of a rather known figure in the world of kayak fishing. The man who resides in Florida published a book on kayak fishing and produced instructional kayak fishing videos as well.

This is what he wrote on his website:

“No matter who you are — or what physical condition you are in—-eventually, if you sit in your kayak long enough— you will eventually begin to experience back pain. It will creep up on you at first, but eventually, it will be noticeable enough to erode your enjoyment of the outing even if you are catching fish.”

Why was I surprised to read such an honest statement from a kayak fishing professional? Because kayak fishing pros are in many cases so passionate about this sport and are so keen to promote it that they tend to close an eye to the difficulties that most kayak fishermen face in practicing it.

In many cases kayak fishing pros would brush aside issues such as back pains, leg pain, leg numbness, wetness and other symptoms of discomfort resulting from poor ergonomic design because let’s face it: their livelihood depends on kayak fishing, and telling the full and sometime not so pleasant truth about this sport would be against their interest - whether they sell kayaks, rent them or offer outfitting, instruction or guide services.

In some cases kayak fishing pros would advise you to cushion your seat with some foam or other soft material such as a gel bag, or add foam under your knees - as if such means could provide more than a temporary and partial relief. Some of them are unaware of the real causes for kayaking and kayak fishing back pain, but it seems others simply chose to ignore these issues.

And why do we keep talking about the ergonomics of kayak fishing, back pain and other such painful issues? Simply because we think they are real and widespread problems, and kayak fishermen deserve to hear the whole truth about them, and we also happen to offer a better solution.