Ted is a fly fisherman who practices sight fishing: He paddles his kayak standing, and scouts for big fish (e.g. redfish, tarpon). He wants to stand as high as possible, since this extends his range of vision. Once Ted spots a fish, he instantly casts a fly at it.
Many fly kayak anglers and reel anglers sight fish while standing comfortably in their W kayaks. However, Ted wants to stand higher, so he can look further.
Unlike Kevin, who fly fishes the flats standing on top of his W kayak saddle without using outriggers, Ted added both a pair of outriggers and a frame to his W500. This setup puts him about 15″ higher than he would have been if he stood on the bottom of his W kayak hulls, and he’s perfectly stable.
The drawback of paddling from such a high level is that you lose some leverage on the paddle, so you can’t go very fast. However, if the water is shallow enough, you can push pole, like Kevin does.

Safety:

Standing as high on top of such a small vessel as a kayak means that sooner or later, the fly fisherman is going to lose their footing, or lose balance, or both – It’s a statistical fact, and every experienced angler knows that “Stuff Happens” is the rule out there, on the water.
So the real question is not “What if” but “What happens when” (-get the subtle difference?…) -
When you stand up on top of a conventional fishing kayak (SOT, sit-in, or ‘hybrid’), you need to somehow manage to fall on your knees, or on your butt, and regain your balance instantly. Good luck with that! Although it never hurts to try, you’re more likely to find yourself in the water.
But things are different when you’re standing high on top of a W fishing kayak, as Ted does: He can drop on his kayak’s saddle, with a leg in each hull, and stabilize himself while he’s in the Riding posture, which is similar to riding a jet-ski, a snowmobile, an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) – or a pony. In other words, it’s the most stable, and most powerful position you can hope to be in when you’re trying to regain balance and control in your kayak. When Ted wants to switch from standing to sitting, it’s just a matter of hopping down -

Kevin's Stand Up Poling Fly Fishing Kayak In The Tidal Flooded Grass

I was fortunate to get out a few days this week to take advantage of the flood tides, and poled the W through the grass in search of feeding Redfish. My efforts were rewarded with a couple of nice fish. It’s getting harder to get them as the season progresses. They don’t do a lot of tailing now and you must spot them moving through the grass and try to get the fly ahead of them so you can give it a twitch as they pass by. When they are tailing earlier in the season I will usually get out of the kayak and sneak as close as I dare, and get a few shots at each fish. Now I find that I have to stay in the kayak and make my casts quickly, because they are most often moving. So, the game is a little faster paced and stealthy now vs earlier in the season.

Redfish caught on a fly in stand up poling kayak, in the tide flood grass

Once again it’s great to pole the Wavewalk kayak around the shallow water while standing high on that platform. It’s a unique experience pushing your way through miles of areas that I usually have no access to other than during flood tides. Catching the fish is a bonus.

Kevin

Kevin showing a redfish he caught while poling his kayak in the tide flood grass

Kevin showing a redfish he caught while poling his kayak in the tide flood grass

Kevin showing a redfish he caught while poling his kayak in the tide flood grass

This was also an opportunity to show the 9ft long, extra rigid and durable W paddle used for push poling in very shallow water.

I bought a Wavewalk kayak  in anticipation of using it for fishing the flooded grass because of the ease of standing in it and also because my lower back had been bothering me after long trips in my [15 ft long SOT fishing kayak]. Since then I’ve actually herniated a lumbar disk and was out of commission for 6 weeks, but although I’m functional now using the [15 ft long SOT fishing kayak] is out of the question in the near future.

I finally got to try out the W for what I bought it for.  We had flood tides over the weekend and I was anxious to pole the boat around the flooded spartina grass in search of tailing red fish.
I was not disappointed, it performed flawlessly.

It poles very easily in the grass, the view is great standing, and there is nearly no balancing effort for standing in it. I actually put a board across the top of the seat and poled standing on top of that. The view there is about 12″ above the water and the perspective that gives you hunting for tails is incredible.
I’ve also used the boat for some short trips fishing, and find that it’s a great little boat to fish out of because it allows you to be in so many positions while fishing and you never feel the need to get out and stretch or get the numbness out of your butt.

Standing is a great advantage since you have a much better vantage point to look for fish. I’ve always stood in my SOT kayak for this type of fishing but had to pay quite a bit of attention to balance while doing so.  With this boat, I can concentrate more on looking for fish rather than balance.

I pole the boat around using a long aluminum pool pole with a small paddle attached that I made  from a 2X4.  The handle on the end works very well since a lot of pressure must be applied at times to get through heavy grass, while also having a paddle function for the deeper creeks you cross. I store it under the seat suspended by bungees. I did most of the standing from the seat level by placing a board across the seat to give a larger more stable platform than the seat.  This proved to be much more stable than balancing on the seat alone, but does add to the skill level a bit.    The extra height provides a great distance to look for fish.  I was rewarded with sighting a number of reds and did manage to trick one with a fly.  The others seemed more interested in fiddler crabs and clams than my fly but provided a lot of excitement casting to them.

The Wavewalk is a keeper in my kayak herd now and for the near future will probably be the only boat I’ll be able to go out in. It’s nice and compact, stores a lot of stuff easily and keeps it dry, plus allows those of us with non cooperating bodies to fish more comfortably.

I’m also looking forward to staying nice and dry and warm fishing out of it this winter. This is a great boat to own even if my back wasn’t part of the reason I bought it.

Kevin

Since then he’s rigged it to perfection:
-”It’s a great boat, and I love it. I got what I call the wavewalk-tan on my knees from paddling it so often… I do a lot of stand up paddling and poling. It works for me.” Says John.

Front view of John’s fully rigged W300 fishing kayak.
-”I just purchased a Hummingbird fish finder, but haven’t put it on yet.”

John paddling his kayak standing – scouting for fish.

John’s variation on the front storage solution.
The tube rod holders are RAM-301 (top) and RAM-119 (bottom) .

John’s anchor trolley system – a useful device for certain types of shallow water kayak fishing.

Close up on John’s W300 cockpit. Note the anchor attached to the anchor trolley, and how well the space is organized.

John’s version of paddle holders made from foam noodles. It’s as silent as it gets.

The classic milk crate used for attaching extra rod holders, and for more storage.