WAVEWALK KAYAKS

I finally took my new W500 to test up in the Michigan’s upper peninsula. Perfect weather awaited me as temps hit mid seventies and sunshine abounded for the three day trip. I logged plenty of fishing and paddling hours on the W500. I thought my original W300 was comfortable and stable, but for a guy my size the W500 is the perfect fit.

As always no yak-back was noticed. Tracking was great and paddling seemed even easier then the W300.
With the longer length it took a little more effort to turn in the river current but was well worth it do to the large amount of space to stretch out in and the added storage. I have not had the W500 out in rough water yet but if it handles similar to the 300 it should do great.
I am convinced that this is another winner. Great job Wavewalk, you have done it again.
I would suggest the W500 for anyone who is larger framed than the average.
The trip was great, however the rock bass moved in to the areas where I was catching walleye in June. I was never able to locate the walleye, however the small bass provided entertainment.

Friday I took a trip to a local lake. I decided to go through a channel that connects two lakes. I have been down the channel before with a regular boat but it would have been difficult to fish with the type of craft I was in. However I did see plenty of fish and I took notes of where the fish were holding in case I ever returned.
The W500 allowed me to sneak up and anchor just upstream from my first target with out being noticed. The first target was a boat dock on a bend in the channel which had a five to seven foot deep hole under it.
I started by fan casting one of my favorite lures a floating minnow. Three fan casts produced nothing. Then I decided to drift a leech into the hole. Bam, a nice largemouth broke the water and put up a tremendous fight in the current. Two more casts, two more fish. I got complacent, after all how many fish could this little hole hold?. My bad, I cast my forth cast and turned to adjust my anchor when a huge bucket mouth jumped and shed my hook into the air. I know what your thinking, yea the biggest fish of the day always gets away! Well it did.

One hour later and over twenty fish later I realized what a honey hole I had discovered, and thanks to the W500 I was able to stay stealthy and present the bait precisely where it had to go. It was obvious that these fish haven’t had a lot of pressure on them, they had no hook marks on their lips.

I proceeded down the channel which only averaged a foot deep, but I anchored before every bend and had success all day. I ran out of my three dozen leeches and called it a day after three exciting hours.
Who would of thought this little channel could hold all those fish and even some quality fish.
Light gear and current made the action fun. These are fish I would have not been able to catch with out the W500. Large mouth, small mouth bass, and pike were all caught and released. I want to be able to repeat this day again next year.

One photo shows some add-ons. Drink holder, rod holder, and paddle holder to hold net in front and easy to grab, this seemed to work out really well.
Thanks again for a great boat,
John


Read previous blog posts by John Fabina:

John’s Tiger-Camo W500

John’s review of his W300 fishing kayak

Here is Jeff’s latest fishing report from Florida, in case you’re interested to know what the fishing conditions are down in the sunshine state:

“I spent the morning and early afternoon paddling around in the W and fishing. No big fish to speak of but loads of little bluefish the largest just over 12 inches. At times they foamed the water chasing minnows and would just slam my lure the moment it hit the water. Loads of fun and it would have been one of those times kids would have had a ball because the action was nonstop. I looked around for larger fish but none were to be found in the area I was at today.
The day started with me wearing a fleece top, long sleeve t-shirt, fishing shirt, and a rain parka. By mid morning it had warmed enough I was down to just the T-shirt. The water was very clear which may be why the large game fish were not in the area. Oddly enough I saw very few kayakers until about 2PM when I headed home. I guess most people were just waiting for it to warm up a bit.

Jeff”