Basically, it details how sit-in and SOT kayak seats don’t offer lumbar support but rather inflict lumbar abuse on kayak paddlers and kayak fishermen alike.

Personally, the more I think of it the I’m outraged by what’s going on in the kayak market, and professionally, I’m dumbfounded by the fact that you hardly hear anybody talking about these big and painful issues that affect so many people.

It may be a ‘dirty little secret’ for those kayak professionals who are aware of it, but it’s a major problem for all those regular people who don’t.

Yoav




-”Yesterday got me to thinking again about just how good the casting position is from a W kayak.  In the riding position the power that can be put into a cast is nothing short of incredible. Gear balance is important but with the W kayak it is possible I believe to impart more power to a cast than from virtually any other water craft.  This includes standing on the deck or a bass or flats boat.  The W is the base of the a launcher in the form of a human body. The other thing is under windy conditions the angle of the cast from a W kayak with the increased power allows better distance if you must cast into the wind.  This whole thing is a subject for much more study.

–Jeff”

This is about a maneuver that Jeff McGovern and myself developed while brainstorming together. It’s called the ‘Combat Position’, and it’s possible to execute only when you’re fishing from a W-kayak. It goes like this: As soon as you realize that you’ve hooked a big fish you need to swiftly reposition yourself along the saddle as forward in the cockpit as possible and most importantly -in the riding position (’Mounted’), with your knees tucked into the front-hull tip openings, as you can see in ‘1′ in this illustration. As a result of your forward move your W kayak’s bow will dip in the water (see ‘2′) while the stern will come out of the water (see ‘3′). In this position your W kayak will be ‘planted’ in the water, and offer maximal resistance to unwanted change that big fish may generate, whether such change is tilting sideways or going forward. In this position you won’t have to worry about balancing your W fishing kayak, and you’ll be able to focus on your fish while its own capacity to outmaneuver or destabilize you is reduced to nearly zero. All that fish could do now is swim forward or sideways, and since your W kayak will generate a lot of drag in this position the fish will get tired much sooner, and become less of a problem for you when it comes to reeling or pulling it in.

Photo of Brandon Cutter with a striper he caught off Cape Cod, MA

-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.

It’s basically a static position, for fishing, resting, chatting, shooting pictures, cooling your feet in the water etc.

You can paddle while you ride over your W kayak, but you won’t go very fast…

Photography: Jim Green