It took about 5 minutes of getting used to the balance of sitting up so high on the center saddle, but after getting used to it, I was fine! I weigh 265, now I can start working out a bit again, paddling.
It was a May Grey day and windy as heck, but I went all over the lagoon anyway. No problem at all except my large profile acts like a sail going straight into the wind, so I leaned forward and that helped a lot!

I couldn’t stand up in the w kayak in the rough windy center of the lake, but when I got in the calmer waters near shore, I could! The fact is, I just don’t have that good of “sea legs!” I even had trouble standing on the back deck a big fishing boat in Alaska last year when the water got rough.

I took most of these pics myself so angles are weird, especially standing shots as I could only shoot straight down, but right at the end of the day, I talked a guy on shore into taking a few pics of me doing a short spin out in the water. It had brightened and got calmer by then too!

I’m NOT a guy that likes to just paddle around for fun. Now that I know how easy this thing is to use, I’m going fishing from now on! The guys in the float tubes just drag 4 to 6-inch plastic worms while kicking along (I saw about 5 fish caught), one about three lbs.
I have the two built-in rod holders in my W kayak, but their angle seems better for holding spare rods then for trolling, so I’m going to try the clamp-on holders. I’m going to paddle around slowly dragging a worm myself, and fish!

The bass are way bigger in this little lower lake lagoon than in the upper lake they said.

I’m back IN THE GAME NOW. That lower lake lagoon was off limits to me with my big bass boat. No power boats allowed except small boats powered by electric. It’s only 30 minutes away…so with launching, it’s only about 45 minutes to world class bass fishing. I’m taking advantage.

Next time I’m going to fish!

Mike Hancock
South California Fishing Kayaks, Simi Valley

We started selling W fishing kayaks in Australia about two years ago, factory direct. This meant that until now, our Australian clients had to import their W kayak individually, all by themselves, which isn’t easy for someone living on the other side of the globe.
For this reason, we were slow to introduce the only fishing kayak worthy of this name in Australia, which is the world’s second biggest market for fishing kayaks, after the United States.
But this unfortunate situation has changed now that Steve Phillis founded a new business named Aussie Kayaks, which is the distributor of Wavewalk fishing kayaks in Australia.
What drove Steve to order a W kayak for himself in the first place was his lower back problem, which prevented him from paddling old-style sit-in and sit-on-top kayaks. -”No back pain since I got my W kayak!” says Steve.

Steve and his partner Dave, together with Steve’s wife Melissa and Dave’s wife Heather, form the Aussie Kayaks company. Together, they will spearhead the next phase of the evolution of kayak fishing in Australia.

Aussie Kayaks is located in Bendigo, north of Melbourne, in Victoria, a state in the southeastern tip of the Australian continent, and facing the island of Tasmania. In the north, Victoria is bordering New South Wales, Australia’s most populated state, and in the west, it borders another state named South Australia.

Steve and his team would be happy to assist Aussie anglers in rigging their W kayaks for fishing, as well as motorize them.

Steve happens to love sailing too, and he already contributed a review of the W kayak under sail.

We decided to race back to the dock on our way in. I took the lead but eventually looked up to see Dad passing me up. He had the long W paddle with him which allows you to stand up while paddling the W kayak. I couldn’t believe he won! Of course, I had to take my kayak back out for a second just to see what an advantage paddling while standing up would give a person.

The Wavewalk kayaks are very easy to load/unload, and maneuver in the water.
I was very comfortable while fishing, and I loved the fact I could stand up if I needed to.
I can’t wait for some more adventures…

Jeremy

Tennessee Fishing Kayaks

Due to back problems, conventional kayaks and canoes have become unusable for Russell, so he ordered a W500 for himself to paddle solo and in tandem with his wife Wendy:

It got a first run up the Canning River. Wendy & I got in straight up and pushed off – I must say it very stable and everything I expected it to be.
Paddling double up required some focus, as I am used to a Canadian Canoe which is what we used in Zimbabwe.
As a fishing and bird watching platform the W500 is certainly is a great unit. The bird watching from the kayak has been great.

Most of my focus has been directed towards sorting out a pulley harness to store the kayak in our garage roof and make it easy to load when we go out.
Also thinking about installing a forward mount electric trolling motor that’s foot controlled and leaves your hands free for other things – used to be great for bass fishing in Zimbabwe.

Everything is fine – have not used the kayak as much as I would have liked.
I am still taking things very slowly still.
Wendy and I have had 2 great trips on the sea out to Penguin Island and Seal Island just south of Rockingham which we loved. On the last trip I had a session standing and paddling on my own which certainly highlighted why I went for the W500, plus how much less drag there is opposed to carrying 2 up.
On Saturday I took a friend up the Canning which he loved.
Plans in April / May to go up to Denmark, 450kms south of Perth to test it on the inlets there & hopefully will get some photos for you.
The only photos I have taken to date are of mostly of birds and some of the seals and for that the W500 has proved to be wonderful – it gets you right into the zone. Within a year or 2 we should also get back up to the Ningaloo reef off Exmouth again which is what I really wanted the Kayak for – To get us out to the whales just on the edge of the reef and the fishing.
I have made up a roof extension frame to help load up the W500 onto our Grand Vitara roof – thanks to the good advice from your site and current project is to make some trolley wheels so I can manage on my own.
At least the w500 gets me into spots that are good for the soul.

Russell Dodd

We’ve decided to publish this partial account from Steve mainly as reminder that ‘stuff happens’ is the rule out there, when you’re on the water, especially if you’re practicing ‘advanced’ applications such as sailing:

I.    -”Received kayak and very impressed. I have also purchased Jim’s sail kit, and I love it also. Works well with wavewalk. I will be taking a friend out tomorrow…”

II.    -”People are curious of my new boat. Hit some high winds today sailing (beginner) and the kayak performed beautifully…”

And a couple days later:
III. -”Today a friend of mine tipped the kayak while sailing. It was difficult to right with mast, stabilizers etc… Will need to talk with Jim. I am aware sailing is not the normal… I purchased the whole kit with outriggers etc. Might have been more the operator since I had no issues. I was surprised that it could tip. Glad I know this now than when I’m sailing by myself. Cheers
Steve Phillis”

Later, Steve added:
-”Kayaking from a traditional kayak caused me considerable pain, and at the end of
last year I was out of action for 2 months and spent a lot of money on extensive physiotherapy and even had to take time off from work, not to mention that I could not sit in a car or seat for more than 10 minutes without considerable pain. . Determined to find an alternative, I came across wavewalk and purchased one. Guess what? No back pain. I am wrapped and I have taken up learning to sail using it.
Steve Phillis”

The reader would benefit from watching this demo video of the sailing kit Steve mentions – The sail it features is big and powerful, and it drives the kayak at high speed.  The outriggers that come with it are relatively small, and this fact demands both better sailing skills and extra cautiousness than one might expect at first sight.
Other sailing fans who sail their W kayaks outfit it with bigger outriggers, such as seen in these reviews of Rafael Franck’s sailing W kayak from Florida, and Brian Vickery’s motor sailing kayak with folding outriggers from California.