Kayak Fishing and Paddling - The New Standard in Fishing Kayaks. Fishing Kayak Reviews, and Kayak Fishing Trip Reports, Movies, Pictures and Articles By and For Kayak Anglers.
Donavan Campbell is a stream kayak angler from North Carolina, who got his W300 in the summer of last year. He took his time to write a review, and it was worth waiting for…:
I wanted to share my review of the W300 with you…
-”Look at the teeth on that Muskie!”
I use the W300 on the New River in the NC mountains (Sparta, Jefferson) for smallmouth bass fishing.
I was very impressed with the stability of the W300 for river fishing and it’s tracking.
Water depths range from 10′ to 6″ on the New River and the W can handle either along with occasional sharp rocks.
I keep the rigging light for easy maneuverability out of the water and plan to add an additional rod holder and the “wheels” I see from other owners. I fish with other standard kayaks and am glad I purchased the W, I strongly recommend the W to everyone that asks, thanks.
Donavan Campbell
Statesville, NC
Added some fish pictures, first calendared fishing trip for 2010 is March 26th & 27th!
PS- If anyone in western NC wants to check out a wavewalk I would be happy to help them…
The first unofficial Wavewalk group fishing outing in Florida was held December 14, 2009 at Crystal River, Florida. Gary Rankel, Ed Wheeler and I participated, fishing out of the new 2009 W500 fishing kayaks. Ed and I were in our bright yellow boats and Gary was in his green “Packer Yaker” (the name of which I understood only after asking him about it–seems he is a life long Green Bay Packer fan with as much passion for the team as he has for fishing.)
We started the day at our usual breakfast place right on highway 19 in Crystal River the day with a hearty meal for the task ahead. We hit the road in heavy fog, heading over to the Ozello area for launch from the parking area of a local seafood restaurant. They have a great kayak and canoe launch directly off the lot and, as long as you park well away from the patron spaces, you are fine. Besides, nothing beats a fried grouper sandwich at the end of a day of fishing and, since you are already there, why not partake?
We launched into water that was as smooth as a sheet of glass in the fog. It was wonderful. The temperature was ideal and only a few of the flying teeth (sand gnats) were bothering us. We headed out on a falling tide using a large culvert to take us through to the other side of the bridge. That saved us at least a mile of extra paddling while heading to Gary’s favorite fishing spots that he was anxious to share. Our trip out was aided by the tidal flow, so each stroke was easy and effortless.
We began casting as soon as Gary indicated we had reached his spots. I started right off with a small sea trout and soon after, Gary landed a really nice one. I also managed to land a number of lizard fish on my lures. These fish are not considered a game fish and serve only to keep the fish I really wanted from getting to my baits.
Our rigging was standard inshore Florida style. We used both bait casting and spinning gear. Ed and Gary used superlines, while I relied on mono for my bait casters and reserved the superline for my spinning tackle. We used both fluorocarbon and mono leaders as the presentations dictated. For lures, top waters are always a good choice in the Crystal river area. Gary preferred the IMA Skimmer, a very thin pencil style top water from the Japanese bass fishing market, while Ed and I stayed with our proven Spook Jr’s and Mirrolures. The baits all managed to produce hits, but the actual hookup percentage was low that day. That’s why we call it fishing and not catching.
The entire day was memorable– both for the company and the adventure. We saw lots of new water in a different way and enjoyed the antics of both birds and dolphins. At one point, while we relaxed wading near a small island, two dolphins decided to share our fishing spot. They were in a deeper cut a few feet from us, just ripping into schools of mullet. Times like this show who the really talented anglers are– the ones that swim with the fish, to be exact. Sure they ran off our quarry, but watching them is always fun. Besides, who knows, maybe we can pick up a thing or two from the real experts in these waters?
We ended our day around 2PM and headed in back through the same culvert we used first thing in the morning. With a slightly stronger incoming tide, that short ride was fun with the W500 shooting right through the center, using the paddle only to keep from hitting the sides. A really remarkable thing that struck me about this whole day was the comfort we had fishing from these boats. None of us are young men –I am the youngest at 55, both Ed and Gary are the 70 year old range. Between us there have been back issues ranging from simple sciatic problems to major surgeries. To a man, the W500 is a boat we could use easily and comfortable. In any other fishing kayaks, our range would not have been as great and there would have been many more stops to get out for unkinking. This trip was only the start. There will be many more to come, fishing the waters off Florida’s west coast in the world’s most comfortable and fishable paddle craft.
Here is a video clip of me motoring up the Farmington River from the Rainbow Reservoir launch on September 15 2009.
It would take me 2 1/2 hours to paddle this far, and I would be exhausted, paddling against the current.
But with the W300 and my hands free steering 30 lbs thrust minn kota trolling motor, it took me a little over 20 minutes to make the trip, that meant more time to fish!
Tight lines
Rox
Tim Kerr, a W kayak paddler from Buffalo, New York, contributed this movie that shows him practicing deep water reentry with his W500, on the Niagara River, in upstate New York.
Tim is a member of the local kayaking club, and he knows that when it comes to paddling, it’s important to practice everything that’s related to capsize, recovery, reentry and safety in general.
Note how easy and smooth Tim’s getting back in the kayak is: Once he reaches the middle of the cockpit, his legs simply fall into the hulls, on both sides of the saddle, and Tim finds himself ‘back on the saddle’, literally - confidently riding his W500 kayak.
Right after Tim got his W500 kayak he contributed this kayak review ==>
Lots of big redfish in the Crystal River area this month doing their annual thing, most are beyond the reach of us yakers, but I was lucky to get a couple of stragglers.
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
Here’s an update on my latest trip in my W500:
Hot humid (92 degrees) with slight winds.
I went to Rainbow Reservoir, it’s a dammed area of the Farmington river in Ct.
I headed down to some submerged trees in 26 Feet of water, pulled out the drop shot and started working it through the center of the tree, letting it drop fast to the bottom, and a little shake, pause, then I reeled up a few cranks, pause, shake.
As I moved the bait closer to the surface, I mean inches from the surface, the drop shot got slammed!!
A Tail walking Smallie, came up did 2 flips, but was put quickly in the net.
As I moved to the outside edge of the tree I dropped it down to 26′, paused, gave a little shake, wait, reel again 3 more cranks, pause, shake………………..BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy Cheese on Rice, one quick push with my paddle, and a well timed gust of wind, all my rod tip is doing is pumping down towards the water, my reels drag tighted as much as I dare, and they it all STOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR can’t reel, snagged or wrapped up on something, dropped my tip, pushed back with my paddle one handed, let the line slack just a little, then I felt movement………………………………free…………………up she comes with a Big Friggin Splash, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz my drag is screaming!!
Up again and does a flop on her side……………….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…., holding my rod tip high, finally gaining ground I get her near the surface then she digs in, straight for the Bottom, I just hold on, bow my rod into the water, and start reeling her in again, she is tired.
I get her close, scoup that net and She’s Mine!! YeeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
20 1/2″ Long!!!!! 4.15 on my scale. Man if this fish was fat, she would have tipped 5lbs easy.
She was pretty beat up, not sure why, I quickly shot a couple of pictures, and held her lip to revive her, a quick flip and of
her tail, a splash right in my face, she swam away strong.
Wiping my face with a towel, and a big shiteating grin, I didn’t care if I caught another fish after that.
My hands were shaking so bad, I just had to stop and sit, and Smile!
Caught too many bass to count, hit the water at 11:00am and was off at 6:30pm.
No Back pain or Leg pain, 7 1/2 hours of pure fishing and paddling Heaven in my W500.
Well here is an update with me launching and standing and paddling. I did this for a fellow in Georgia, on another site, he is very interested in the W300 and W500.
The Traffic noise was at its peek today, sorry its hard to hear me, well maybe not.
You’ll see in the video just how smooth it paddles while I’m standing.
And when I land, I just paddle full steam ahead, and shift my weight to the rear as I hit the shore line where I launched, and remember, it was steep. But the landing is not on the Video, I ran out of room!
The hulls just glide up the bank, I move forward, stand up, and walk out. Again, never getting my feet wet.
-”Took the W500 out on the Farmington River in Connecticut today, and hit some flooded back waters.
Waters are very high and fast with all this rain, so my target was to get into some back waters that were not easy to get to when water levels are low.”
-”I had to cross some pretty fast water to get to the opening of a cove, W500 tracked great, and paddling cross the current was a breeze.”
-”As I got to the back of the small cove, I could see where I needed to enter.
Paddling under trees, and over some logs, then over a fallen tree to get into and out of this hidden gem.
I had the whole place to myself, and landed a few nice fish, nothing to really brag about, just new water exploring at it’s best.”
-”I was in water less then 6″ at times, paddling through with no problems at all.
The W500 handled like a champ, I included a video of me leaving the back water cove and going over the logs and tree to head back to my launch point.”
-”Thanks again for this wonderful fishing machine,
John Fabina’s report from his inspiring kayak fishing trip in Michigan Upper Peninsula:
-”I spent time on two rivers in two days. Fishing started slow the first day but picked up the second day. The W made it possible for me to take a small entrance off the main river and find a beaver lodge. There was a nice deep hole by the lodge. I caught quite a variety in this honey hole. Smallmouth bass, perch, northern pike, and my first walleye landed on the W which was 18″. I lost one the same size the day before alongside the boat, I forgot my landing net. I was also able to sneak up on a deer, and snap a photo. My W truly made this an enjoyable and successful trip.”
John’s camo W300 at rest on the river bank
-”When I returned from my fishing trip Jeanne’s new W300 had arrived. Thanks for the extras. She is very much looking forward to getting on the water.More photos to come of Jeanne’s new W,
John”
Nice perch
John’s ‘built-in’ fish-measuring ruler
Same applied for measuring walleye
Good size smallmouth being welcome on board
John’s integrated water bottle holder (this is not a covert ad!)…
John Fabina from Wisconsin sent this great two-day kayak fishing report:
-”I had a chance to slip up to Northern Wisconsin and try river fishing. It was still a little chilly and the fish didn’t seem very aggressive yet. We did manage to catch a few but no trophies.”
“It was a great trip down the remote river. Again the W300 opened up new opportunities. It was the most comfortable four hour float trip I ever took. ”
“It was very easy to get out on the bank of the river, spots that I wouldn’t have had a chance to get out with my old kayak.”
“Spending more time standing and fishing is becoming more second nature for me. The second day was spent on a nearby flowage. Again hours of comfortable fishing thanks to the W300! Can’t wait till my next trip. John F.”
Those of you who are familiar with this blog already know Jeff McGovern is an expert kayak fisherman from Northeastern Florida, and a Wavewalk Kayak fan who has contributed great kayak fishing articles and reviews, as well as pictures and movies to our website.
When Jeff told me he was coming to Boston on a business trip it was clear we had to meet and go paddling together, rain or shine. Well, it so happened that it rained abundantly thanks to ‘hurricane’ Kyle, but that didn’t deter us, and we grabbed a couple of W kayaks and headed to my favorite spot - the Charles River Reservation.
Well, I won’t tell you any fish tales, and this alligator we’ve encountered on the bank is not a real one. It’s an amazingly realistic sculpture that a local resident put there for everyone to enjoy:
We got to Treehouse Island and landed, and discovered the place was undergoing some renovation, and was a bit of a mess. The third floor of the tree house had collapsed, and its second floor was pretty much gone too, so we couldn’t climb up and watch the Charles River scenery, unfortunately.
While we were there the rainstorm had gradually weakened, and we continued our paddling trip in clement weather…
Jeff getting ready to launch
After the trip Jeff told everyone that he had so much fun just paddling the W kayak although it had been the first time in his life to be in a boat without taking with him any fishing gear…
This is a new demo video showing what ’super stability’ means. We show the footage in X4 slow motion so that the viewer can better appreciate what’s going on:
The movie was shot on the Charles River in Waltham, Massachusetts, by no other than Jeff McGovern, from Florida, who was on a business trip here and came to visit us.
Thanks Jeff!
By the way, I’m the one demonstrating the Wavewalk kayak - I’m 6 ft tall, and I weigh 195 lbs.
The W kayak can carry two adult passengers onboard, providing none of them is very big.
In these pictures the guy is 6 ft 200 lbs, and the girl is 5′5″ and weighs 135 lb. That’s about the maximum passenger load this boat would take and still perform reasonably well.
To begin with, it’s important to stress the fact that tandem is an ‘advanced’ application, which means both paddlers are required to be experienced in solo W kayaking before they go paddling it in tandem.
The secret to successful tandem paddling is having each paddler perform his / her role: The front paddler should paddle as regularly as possible (e.g. left-right), and the back paddler, who’s in fact the ’skipper’ should follow the movement of the front paddle with his own paddle while trying to keep the paddles parallel to each other in order to prevent them from colliding.
The paddler in the back is also the one who’s more responsible for tracking and steering, and should try to do it without losing power and momentum, that is while applying different strokes of varying power. Sharp turns should be done together.
Paddling and just drifting down a river standing in your W is a new and exhilarating way to travel and fish.
The river and scenery are experienced differently than when you’re sitting or riding in your kayak, and fishing is altogether different. First of all, you can see more of what’s around you, whether it’s the water or the banks that you’re interested in. Wildlife and vegetation are more visible, and fish can often be perceived in the water when they wouldn’t be from a lower position.
Paddling down river is always easier than up river, and when you paddle standing you can paddle and steer at the same time by applying canoe-style J strokes on one side of your W kayak. If the stream is fast enough to carry you at a good speed you can just stand and occasionally dip your paddle to correct your course.
You can also paddle fast - both on one and two sides of your W kayak. Even speed is sensed differently when you paddle standing - Imagine going down a snowy mountain slope sitting on a sled and then standing on skis… The difference is comparable, although going on snow is faster in both cases.
John’s camo W300 at rest on the river bank
First of all, you can see more of what’s around you, whether it’s the water or the banks that you’re interested in. Wildlife and vegetation are more visible, and fish can often be perceived in the water when they wouldn’t be from a lower position.
