Dick Sherman and I encountered some brisk winds and choppy water yesterday, but our W kayak kept us high and dry. Another slow day, but still no oil in sight.
Gary
Rod Ratzlaff, a Colorado kayaker and eclectic outdoorsman, got his W500 earlier this year, and we already published his ‘first impression’ kayak review on this blog.
Since then, Rod wrote a full featured article about his W500 kayak, and kindly contributed a copy to our website.
Rod’s article has insightful observations and reflections, great pictures, and interesting links, including to his own website that’s definitely worth visiting.
Rod and his wife Toni worked together on some unique modifications and outfitting projects, including a sophisticated rudder system – Rod needs it when he sails his W500 with an umbrella! (you must see that!), a truly amazing spray deck (fairing) and an equally amazing cockpit cover, a great looking seat pad, a portable electric motor, and other smart and artistic items…
My favorite work of art is the W logo sewn on the spray deck 
Yoav
Dictionaries define fishable as an adjective meaning ‘that may be fished in’. By extension, the noun fishability can be used to describe the usefulness of a fishing craft for catching fish, from the angler’s well being and performance standpoints.
Basically, you can catch fish just sitting on a log in the middle of a pond, or a river – so being able to cast a line and catch fish from some floating object doesn’t automatically mean it scores high in fishability. Similarly, the fact you’re catching fish from your kayak, and you know other anglers who fish from kayaks, doesn’t imply your kayak or similar ones score high in fishability. In fact, they might score very low.
Different anglers require different things from a fishing boat, and value different things when they rank the qualities of a fishing kayak. Such attributes and priorities can be subjective, but it’s possible to use them as well as professional design standards to create a universal fishability score system.
Since fishability is a multidimensional notion, a fishability score should refer to the different factors that contribute to the kayak’s fishability according to their relative importance.
However, since little data are available about anglers’ exact preferences, such score system should not be portrayed as scientifically accurate, and therefore should not use numbers or other standard grading method.
Fishing kayaks are wider than average kayaks are – anyone can see that. The reason for is that being wider makes sit-in and sot kayaks more stable, and stability is a basic, very important attribute that any fishing kayak should offer. The problem is that being wide doesn’t necessarily make a sit-in or SOT fishing kayak stable enough. In other words, those fishing kayaks’ fishability is diminished by the fact they are not stable enough for most anglers to feel fully confident while fishing from them. This is why you’ll see an increasing number of sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks outfitted with outriggers, and other sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks who are excessively wide – to a point where paddling them becomes too difficult, even with a rudder.
When stability is concerned, W fishing kayaks score much higher in fishability than any other fishing kayak does, whether sit-in or SOT. It’s possible to say that W kayaks are the only kayaks that are stable enough for fishing.
Comfort in the ergonomic sense is by far the most important attribute a fishing kayak has to offer, and the main factor which determines its fishability. This is because kayak fishing is practiced as a sport, and a leisure activity, that is for fun. As such, it is required to enable a pleasant, relaxed and non-painful fishing experience to the user, and that’s where sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks fail completely. The reason for this failure is that all sit-in and SOT kayaks feature the same sitting arrangement comprising a seat and footrests, that lock their users in a single, uncomfortable, non-ergonomic posture called the L-Position, without offering them a chance to get some relief by switching to other positions. This leads to a range of undesirable physical sensations ranging from fatigue and discomfort to leg numbness, leg pain, butt pain, and back pain (yak-back). In some cases the impact can be back injuries.
Another discomfort factor is the wet ride: Being forced to paddle and fish while getting continuously splashed and sprayed isn’t acceptable for many anglers, who won’t fish from sit-in and SOT kayaks for this reason.
These ergonomic problems are obvious, and most people perceive them as a turnoff albeit the efforts of kayak manufacturers and vendors to play them down and dismiss them. As a result of these problems, not too many anglers are drawn to kayak fishing, and out of those who start practicing this sport many end up quitting – sooner or later.
In other words, sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks’ fishability score is very low, if only for these reasons. In contrast, W fishing kayaks feature a comfortable saddle offering multiple, interchangeable positions, including standing and full stretching. This is why W kayaks are the only ergonomic fishing kayaks, and therefore the only truly fishable kayaks in the long run.
Sit-in kayaks have tiny, restrictive, and therefore less than adequate cockpits, and SOT kayaks feature no cockpit at all, since in essence they are just paddle boards outfitted with backrests and footrests. This greatly reduces these kayaks’ fishability, since it makes it hard for anglers to fish out of them comfortably when handling gear, tackle and fish are concerned.
Remember: In order to score high in fishability, a boat or kayak should feel great to fish from, and ‘possible to fish from’‘ simply isn’t enough. The only fishing kayaks that feature a real, full size cockpit and deck are W kayaks, and this is why they are truly fishable.
Fishing requires gear and tackle, as well as space for storing fish. Sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks feature hatches, which are too small, not absolutely watertight, and hardly accessible to the angler once he or she is seated in the kayak.
This is clearly unacceptable in fishability terms, and the golden standard is set by W fishing kayaks that offer plenty of internal, dry, and always accessible storage space.
Mobility is about being able to start a fishing trip anywhere, go wherever you feel like, and beach whenever and wherever you want.
When compared to most bigger boats, fishing kayaks offer advantages in accessing certain spots, mainly in shallow water, and obviously in no-motor zones. Still, sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks don’t offer the same degree of mobility that W fishing kayaks offer, because W kayaks enable launching and beaching in places where launching and beaching other kayaks is too hard. In addition, while going over obstacles present an absolute barrier to other kayaks, W kayaks offer ways to overcome such restrictions in mobility.
It terms of fishability, W kayaks score considerably higher than sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks.
As for pedal-driven fishing kayaks, those score even lower than regular, paddle activated sit-in and SOT kayaks.
Being able to fish while standing up is an important aspect in evaluating a boat’s fishability, simply because standing up is natural, and especially desirable if you have you spend long hours fishing seated.
While certain kayak manufacturers claim some of the sit-in and SOT kayaks models they offer are suitable for stand up kayak fishing, nothing could be further from the truth: Some small stature, athletic people may be able to stand on one of those kayaks, and even cast lines, but this is far from being enough to have any of those kayaks qualify for stand up kayak fishing, because of serious safety issues:
When you stand in or on a small boat you will inevitably lose balance – sooner or later, and there are many things that can cause you to lose balance, including a moment of inattention, and catching a fish… So this is not a matter of if, but rather of when. And when anglers attempting to fish standing in a sit-in kayak or on a SOT kayak lose their balance, they fall overboard, and can lose some of their fishing gear and tackle. The result of such probable accident can vary from ‘unpleasant experience’ to drowning.
Fishing standing from a sit-in or SOT kayak is hazardous, and so is paddling standing in them, and therefore these boats score zero in stand-up fishing and paddling.
In contrast, W fishing kayaks are not only much stabler than sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks, but they also feature a 14 inch high saddle. This means that a paddler or angler standing in a W kayak and loses balance is likely to fall down on the saddle, in the most stable riding position, and avoid an accident in most cases, as well as losing fishing gear.
Tracking is a factor that’s not related directly to fishing, as it can be measured only when the angler is paddling. However, we think it should be included in the fishability score system since it is a critical factor in paddling, and by that also affects both the kayak’s range of operation as well as it safety: A kayak that tracks poorly might become too hard to paddle in strong wind, and get out of control as the paddler suffers from exhaustion.
Sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks track very poorly, to a point where most of them require their owners to outfit them with rudder systems. Such systems are by no means ideal solutions, as they demand constant attention, and impede the kayak. A rudders might become altogether unusable in shallow water, and leave anglers struggling to control their kayaks in strong wind without any assistance. that is to say that sit-in and SOT fishing kayaks are prone to windage problems, and score very low in this fishability factor.
In comparison, W kayaks track exceptionally well, both in calm weather as in strong wind, regardless of the direction from which the wind is blowing. W kayaks require no rudder at all, since anglers who paddle them dispose of a range of effective means to control their directional stability (I.E. tracking) through changing location along the saddle, and by leaning into the wind.
This ability makes W fishing kayaks score high in the Tracking factor on the fishability score system.
Sept 8th Rainbow Res.
Hit the bow at 12pm, off at 5:30pm.
Water levels are up, temps were 70 to 74.3 degrees.
Cranks, chatter, ball jig, dingers-
Cranks got nothing, chatter baits zip, dingers, of course, put the Bass in the boat.
Fishing the flats produced a 3#er and a 2 1/2#er.
Caught on the dinger fished like a jerk bait.
Then while fishing an over hanging tree in 10′ of water with the ball jig and That Bait Pickle, on 8lb test on my custom smallie rod from RayZ!!!
Pitched it up and under the tree and started reeling it in slowly, when all of a sudden, it all comes to a stop……..dang I snagged a
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Holy Cheese On Rice, BIG FISH!!!!!!!!! I can’t turn the fish!!
Drag set as tight as I dare, back down past me she flies!!
I turn her and up she comes besides the yak……………………. It’s a Huge PIKE!!!! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Off she goes again, I’m stuck between two trees, and shes dragging
my yak towards one of them, I yell to James, in his boat anchored
down below me for a Big Net, it has to be at least 38″ long and thicker then my arm, he’s watching me now, I turn her again, and
shes towing my yak, turned me back towards the opposite tree.
Then Up She Comes for a Complete somersault, I watch as she wraps herself up in the line, and snap she was gone.
Lord have mercy, 5 minutes of pure heaven and 5 minutes of pure hell,
all mixed into the same pot!
I knew there where Pike in here, now I have proof, and a witness.
Spent the next few minutes clamming myself, hands shaking some bad,
I couldn’t retie a new ball jig on.
Sept 10th Weathersfield Cove, Weathersfield CT:
Hit the Cove today, got there at 12:30 PM.
WINDY WINDY WINDY, white caps sometimes, and did I tell you,
it was WINDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Water temps were 69+degrees, sunny, partly cloudy.
Fish came to hand in 1′ to 14′ of water.
Bad news, I broke my first rod of the season, my Med Heavy Premier St Croix rod!!!!!!!!!!!! I was drifting and was blown into a tree
that I had just pulled a bass out of, didn’t see it till it was to late.
Had a Huge blow up and was cut off by Mr Pike over by the Police dock.
Best part of the day was near the end of my trip.
I was getting plenty of smaller bass, perch, and a few crappie.
But had no real solid bass in the yak yet.
Till I found the magic tree.
Life is Good.
Rox
Hi All,
Here’s a recap of Septembers W500 adventures.
I can’t believe September is come and almost gone.
Fall is approaching way to fast this year, maybe it’s because June and July, we were faced with rain, heavy rains.
I feel a little cheated this season, August was good to me, September was Outstanding.
Some of my best Small Mouth Bass fishing ever.
The Large Mouths were Pretty Great too.
And a Bonus Pike.
I fished Rainbow Reservoir, and Weathersfield Cove, which is a Cove Off the Ct River.
Sad part is, Rainbow Reservoir has been Drained for Dam Repair, Last pictures I got were very bleak.
On September 11th:
While fishing in the Rain, prior to the draining of the lake.
I was thinking what 9/11 has done to our country, waiting for that next ball to drop!
But we got threw the day, no mishaps, and even a few bass came to hand.
I was only out for 3 hours.
On September 12th:
Today water levels low, no movement of water, wind was blowing one way,
I’d anchor up, but Mother Nature changed her mind, and would swing me in the other direction.
Thats okay, I can take what ever she had to dish out.
Sooooooo, She opened up the skies for me!!!
But today I was ready, and good thing, because I couldn’t hide under any trees, unless you beached and walked in ten feet to the trees.
My handy dandy tarp worked out great, kept me high and dry!!
Outside view of my weatherproof yak
Inside view of my weatherproof yak
A tree I found with the sonar in 20′ of water, was Lit up with a big School of smallies, but I could not hold position to fish them, the wind was whipping, and my Anchor wouldn’t hold me!!!
Time to upgrade the anchor!!!
So I paddled out to a fellow with his 2 sons, and told them to hit the tree that was sticking out, I told him to tie on some grubs and hang on.
Within 5 minutes, the boys where Screaming like Girls!!!!!!
I met them at the launch when I was leaving and loading my yak.
He came in Thanking me for making his sons day.
His boys and himself caught 18 smallies off that tree, and his youngest boy got the biggest Smallies. (his older brother was pissed)
His first and best ever was a solid 3lb smallie, then he landed a 5lb Smallie, his Dad was so Proud.
He shook my hand and thanked me saying, “I’ve never had anyone give me help on what to fish, let alone a spot like that to fish from, Ever”
It made my day to see how happy those boys were.
I got there at 10am and left at 6pm.
Life Is good!
Then the rest of my September, was outstanding, Last day I fished was the 21st.
My hard work had paid off, and the Bite was on with each trip.
The last trips I made were with the yak cart, they had closed the Parking lot at Rainbow, do to the draining, so it was an easy
walk down to the waters edge, but the walk back was All Up Hill!!!!
(in my best Roseanne Roseannadanna voice) “I Thought I was Gonna Die!!”
I’ve never landed so many Quality Small Mouth Bass, some over 3 pounds, and the Biggest went 4.3lbs, caught on my last trip, September 21st of the season.
She turned my W500 in a complete circle while I battled her, once she was in the net and I lifted her from the waters, I knew she was a big girl.
I include the release photos of this 4.3 pound Smallie.
All of this Brought to you by……………..The W500 and W300, best fishing Kayaks in the World.
I also included a Video of Rainbow Reservoirs Draining, I am heartbroken.
Hopefully they will have the repair done before the Ice comes.
Tight lines all, and Paddle Safe.
Rox
Sharon and Jim Bramm, from Wisconsin, got a W500 early this year. Since they couldn’t decide who’s going to paddle it, they ordered a W500, in yellow. Here is Sharon’s review of her yellow W500 kayak:
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my yellow W500 kayak, and really see a difference between the new and old model (that Jim has). It’s MUCH easier to balance and to turn…you can actually see the hulls flex in the water when you get in heavy waves. I’m turning it just like a regular kayak now and sitting in all different positions…as my legs get stiff in one position, I just straighten them out or sit sideway on it.
Greater cockpit area and leg-width room is really nice. Since I’m disabled it’s really a joy to just step in from the shore with my walking stick on the side of the hull to balance me and then I just sit down and slide to the back to get it to float and we’re on our way! It’s also easier to handle in the wind. I’m still working on those pictures! My husband works as a Forest Ranger on the weekends so it’s hard to get him free to take pics when I do my fishing/kayaking on the weekends! But I promise I’ll get them to you.
Darby (my Service Dog) just got a new vest that is bright yellow (to match my kayak?). I use a fold-up soft canoe seat in it so I have some back support if I want it and when Darby comes along I just unfold that seat and lay it flat on the seat in front of me and that give him something to dig his claws into and is also softer for him to lay on. He really pouts if it’s too hot and I can’t take him kayaking!!! I use a drop/stop anchor rigging in the back with a 5# downrigger weight as an anchor. The round shape catches less weeds when you pull it up. I let Jim try mine and he really noticed the difference too. When are you going to come up with a cockpit cover for it? I’m too busy kayaking to sit down at my sewing machine and make one!
Sharon
Midnight Star Farm, Wisconsin
NEW: Sharon and Darby Paddling The Eagle River
W kayakers usually report excellent performance of their boats under wind, mainly because it tracks well and offers various means for power-paddling and counter-affecting the wind.
Here are some tips that can improve your W kayak’s performance when you’re paddling in strong wind:
1. Paddle only in the Riding Position, and lean a bit forward, with your knees lower than your hips – That would give you extra power.
2. Paddle from the middle of the cockpit, as much as possible -
3. Lean your W kayak into the wind – That would make it harder for it to affect the course of your W kayak.
4. Cover the front of the cockpit – That would improve the cockpit’s aerodynamics. Any waterproof fabric or plastic sheet would do for that matter. Every W kayak comes with a preparation for a cockpit cover that’s easy to use, and you can cover the cockpit in seconds.
5. Apply short J strokes on the side from which the wind is blowing, and more powerful strokes on the lee side (the sheltered side) – That would help you track. You may even hold the paddle not from its middle, so that you can apply longer strokes on the lee side.
6. Any object protruding from the deck is exposed to the wind, and therefore generates additional drag – Dismount deck mounted rod holders, and store your fishing rods inside the hulls whenever possible. A milk crate would act as a small sail that’s controlled by the wind, so you’d better avoid using one.
7. Keep paddling in a steady pace and a straight course – This is not about one-time corrections, but about minimizing your effort and getting there. Precision and efficiency are as important as power.
8. Again: Remember you can move fore and aft along the saddle, and by that control the angle in which your W kayak will point relatively to the direction from which the wind blows: Paddling from a forward position will tend to point the bow into the wind, and paddling from a backward position would tend to point the bow sideways and away from the wind (not a desirable thing).
Here is an instructional video on the subject:
NEW (June): Roxanne’s W500 Trip to the Backwater of the Farmington River, Connecticut (+Movie)
Roxanne Davis from Connecticut is a seasoned kayak fisherwoman who has owned and rigged two early models of the W300 series, and reviewed them. Now she got a new W500, and this is her initial review:
-”I can say three things about it so far: “I LOVE IT” – The room in it is just perfect.”
-”I was on Rainbow Reservoir testing my W500 on a very wind day, and more boat traffic then I had expected. It handled like a dream, tracked great, and pushed threw the winds, with gusts up to 25mph, and constant 15mph. I was amazed how well I could paddle into the wind with it without killing myself.”
-”Most motor boaters don’t care about the laws and wakes… I Had a big 18′ Deep-V powerboat fly by on plane about 20′ from me, and I rode the 2′ wake with no problem. Then I went back to fishing, turned my head just in time to see the next wake hit me, (not even sure where it came from??) I didn’t panic, and let it hit sideways, and the W500 just gently swayed up and over the wake, and down, and then over the second wake with ease.
The W300 would have handled it also, but not as smoothly as the W500 did.
I’m really going to have to take it on the salt now, that wake gave me the confidence this baby can take it!!
I applaud you Yoav, you’ve taken the best yak in the world, and made it better!”
-”I broke the W500 in with 15 Smallmouth Bass, nothing huge, just fun.
She’s been officially Slimed!!
Rox”
Rox’ new W500 with her special side rod holder
Rox’ W500 with a transducer mounted
Don Rainey is a seasoned kayak fisherman who decided to switch from traditional fishing kayaks to the Wavewalk kayak because his back and legs wouldn’t let him go on…
Don tells in his fishing kayak review that it took him some time to master his new W kayak, and he found out that not only was his back and legs feeling good, for a change (which he had expected), but he could in fact fish under conditions that would have previously forced him to stay home, including strong winds and chop:
“All fish were caught in extremely windy conditions with a good bit of a swell going on. I probably wouldn’t have ventured out in those conditions with my old kayak.”
Another observation from Jeff, following yesterday’s fishing trip:
-”I saw two other fellows out in kayaks toward the end of the my time on the water. By then is was blowing pretty hard out of the south. Both of them were in sit on tops. We headed in about the same time, right into the wind no way to avoid it. Slow going for sure but I never paused and just paddled back with that walking pace stroke. The other guys started out with me but fell way behind as they struggled with the waves and spray. The W just churned on in. I got wet mainly from paddle drip but that was minimal. The two guys were soaked and their reels would need a major cleaning thanks to being drenched from the salt spray. They did not say too much right away because they were too winded when they got in. I was already packed up in the Ranger and ready to go. The younger man looked at the W and then at his off brand sit on top and just asked. OK, where the heck did you buy that thing? I passed along the website info. The young man had only been kayaking maybe six months, his buddy maybe two years. After seeing the W and then we talked about set up expenses I think both of them might be considering a W down the line. Both men should be far better candidates for the boat than I was. I don’t think either fellow topped 160 lbs and they were just a hair shorter than me. Had the wind not been blowing so hard I could have given them a quick trial ride.
Jeff”