Bevans is a kayak fisherman and paddler from Texas who contributed this new, exciting W fishing kayak review to our website.
In his review he tells about his first experience with his 2008 W fishing kayak, paddling standing up, and stand up kayak fishing adventures.
Bevans’ W fishing kayak is rigged simply and efficiently.
-Thanks Bevans!
As promised, Wavewalk is now offering new stand up paddles.
Our stand up paddle line includes single blade and double blade paddles.
SUP 7 and SUP 6.1 single blade stand up paddles
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.
This video has been embedded in other kayak fishing blogs, so I thought it would be appropriate to have it in Wavewalk Kayaks’ blog as well.
It’s eclectic and fun to watch:
Today I watched a video showing a young, athletic looking, rather short guy demonstrating fly-fishing standing in a wide, canoe-style kayak.
Although the water was perfectly still he performed casting and other fishing maneuvers while standing rather awkwardly: His feet were too far apart to offer an optimal basis, and his movements seemed too slow, not energetic and not at all spontaneous. The way he paddled was awkward too - he looked as if he was making an effort to keep his balance and repeatedly about to lose it.
He was obviously not feeling fully confident fishing standing in that boat, and I kept thinking that he had to be extra careful because had he lost his balance he would have had to swim, and possibly even deal with an overturned boat and some fishing tackle lost.
There was no way for him to land back in his seat in case something happened that would make him lose his balance. The seat was too low and the boat too unstable to offer a solution to any “What If” scenario, and everybody knows (or should know) that stuff happens when you’re out there fishing, and you should be prepared to deal with the unexpected or else risk some unpleasant consequences.
In this sense the kayak featuring on that video was less stable, less comfortable and less safe than a wide fishing canoe that offers a higher seat as something to fall back on, literally.
However, this lackluster demo movie shows that stand up kayak fishing is no longer viewed as impossibility or as an unnecessary requirement, but it’s becoming a problem that kayak fishermen expect manufacturers to solve, which is good news for Wavewalk since we already solved it completely: