Last year, Steve sent us a review of his W500 without accompanying pictures.
Now he sent the pictures, which we added to his initial kayak review:
http://wavewalk.com/blog/2009/08/08/review-of-my-w500-fishing-kayak-by-stephen-cano-texas/
Enjoy!
I can paddle my W500 standing up, fish, dine, sleep on it naturally.
I like the fact that I can change sitting/standing positions easily if I get tired.
I’ve taken it out quite a few times already over to Canyon Lake in the Texas Hill country.
Over at Canyon Lake, with the water levels lowering, most of the boat ramps are closed, so it’s convenient to have a lightweight setup that I can carry out to the water without a trailer.
In the winter, I plan to use it on the Guadalupe River for some trout fishing. I can’t wait ’till then.
Ultimately, my goal was to have a comfortable fishing rig that didn’t have the consequences of a normal fishing boat (a place to store the boat/trailer, engine/electrical maintenance, fuel) I just have a 2002 Infiniti G20 that only has a 4 cylinder engine, so trailers are out of the question. With this setup, I just mount the rig on my car and head off to the lake on the fly: after work, on the weekend, whenever. Also, in combination with a few rods readily rigged up, there’s no need to stop anywhere to delay the fun.
The first time, I flipped, but it was because I haven’t been on a kayak in a while, but the second time I was able to stand in it, carefully.
The only thing that I had trouble with is kayaking with someone else on the kayak (trying to position the heavier one in the right spot for maximum stability & trying to determine who and how they will lean into the turns so we wouldn’t flip).
-Stepehn Cano, Texas
June 2010: More from Steve -
Attached are some photos on and off the water. Sorry about the delay getting you these I’ve just been having too much relentless fun on the water to be taking much pictures. These are taken by my phone so they might not be as good quality as they could have been with a digital camera, but I plan on rigging it up a little better for striped bass fishing and for video on some good fishing fights by next summer
Steve's fishing kayak, TX
Steve's fishing kayak banked near river, TX
Fish caught in Steve's fishing kayak
Steve's fishing kayak - cockpit and gear
“We just got back from Huntsville State Park, about 45 minutes north of Houston. It is home to Lake Raven, a beautiful, serene and clean lake. We camped overnight there (warm night) and went kayaking this morning. Here are a couple of clips. We tried fishing, but it’s so much fun paddling & trolling that it’s mostly what we did. I even stood up while trolling and got a few stares.. At least 7 people asked me “What is it?” and I told them…”
-”This 4th of July weekend, we will be going down to the coast to try it in the bays. I can’t wait to see how it does in the surf & small waves/wakes from boats and oh, maybe do some fishing.. 
Will keep you posted. Noel”
Robert Fisher is a kayak fisherman from Texas who bought his first W kayak in 2007 – It was a W300 model in today’s terms. A few weeks ago Robert ordered a second fishing kayak for himself, and this time it was a W500. Here is what Robert wrote us:
-”I have had my new W500 kayak out 4 times. The first time was just to see if there was a difference from the older Wavewalk, the next three times it was used to go fishing.”
-”The new W kayak seems to move through the water easier at higher speeds and in a straight line than the old one, it is more stable and easier to stand up in. The extra room is a welcome advantage.
I am 66 years old and am retired, so I use it to go fishing in 2 to 3 times per week.
The only negative I have found is it’s turning radius is larger than the old Wavewalk, this is probably due to the extra length of the W500, but I think with a little more use, that will become unimportant.
It is my opinion that more seniors should look at the W kayak as a source of exercise and entertainment. It is a great source of recreation.
Robert Fisher”
Noel put his design engineering skills to action, and came up with this perfect motorized W500 fishing kayak:
-”Problem solved with the trolling motor steering. I rotated the handle 90 degrees outward, turned around in my seat, so now the trolling motor is in the back. With this setup, you can turn at will, see the (cellphone) pics & video.”
-”My son Rainier also took it out for a spin and he’s very comfortable with it too.”
-”Sorry about the video quality, will have to do better…
Also getting more used to the weight/balance of the boat; standing is almost natural now and the boat does not feel tippy, unless I take my son in it with the trolling motor mounted. It then becomes a little top heavy. 1 person is best with the motor/battery mounted.”
-”The motor mount consists of a 2 ft long treated wood, 1×6 base & a 2×4 upright mounted with stiffening brackets from Lowes. Used 4x 1/4″-20 bolts x 3″ long with fender/spring washers/nut. Drilled 4x 3/8″ holes in the hull to allow for flex, then bolted from inside using another piece of 4″ wide 1×6, thus sandwiching the thickness of the HDPE hull between the pieces of 2×4. This, I hope, will prevent the holes in the hull from tearing out. I’ve run aground twice so far at the bank at v. low speed and it held without any problems or getting loose.”
-”Check out the anchor mount quick release set up, I don’t fish shallow water so this comes in handy. I don’t usually let the anchor hang as shown in one of the pictures, as it creates additional drag; I just pull it into the boat; it’s a 3.5 lb folding anchor.”
-”For the paddle holder, I took closet hanger wire and bent it to fit, it works great; simple solution.
Noel”
Noel Mascarenhas is a Texan who got his new W500 fishing kayak a few days ago… (Read Noel’s ’1st Impression Review’).
Here is his second review – story:
-”I can’t say enough good things about the WW. When I washed it down yesterday, I flipped it over to get the water out of the hulls, and fully expected that some water would remain in the cockpit rim, but sure enough there was none; and then I noticed the drain hole in each end…also the hulls are sloped so that all the water will drain out of the boat when flipped over on the grass! As a design engineer, I appreciate those little thoughtful features that Wavewalk has incorporated…most excellent!”
-”Had an awesome father’s day on the water with the family and the WW.”
-”My son Rainier is a natural kayaker, and is paddling standing, sitting, fishing sideways, turning in circles, reversing, stopping, actually landing at the launch point where we put in, he is already well on his way.”
-”We had a lot of people watching today, taking pictures and passing cars were honking as they went past, it was great!”
-”I mounted a trolling motor, anchor, battery box and crate with fishing rods.. See the attached pictures.
With the trolling motor mounted in the front (I reversed the trolling motor handle to point towards me), at the 3 setting, it was moving along pretty quick. On the 5 setting, I was leaving a good size wake! Steering was a different matter though, as I kept doing S-turns or going in a circle no matter what I did with the trolling motor. I think it has to do with the flow channeling effect and the prop wash between and against the hulls. The reverse on the trolling motor is very poweful, so I’m just going to turn around in my seat & operate it like that for now. That will negate the hull effect, as I was able to steer very well in reverse.”
-”The battery location is critical. On the saddle, it makes the WW top heavy, esp. with 2 people on board and stability/balance became tricky. I moved it to the right hull, moved the anchor itself to the left hull and it stabilized. After that it was smooth trolling!
In between tryouts, my wife Nini happened to notice a Mayfly next to her, so I picked it up & took a picture.. now that’s a perfect fly fishing picture.. a mayfly & the WW!”
-”I played around with the moving (side mounted on pulleys) anchor trolley this morning again and could not figure out a way to easily stop the rope once the anchor hit bottom (and still be able to operate the trolley), so I bought an anchor stop & mounted it between the hulls in the rear, it works great, as I can release the anchor & haul it up real quick, and I have full control of the rope. I bought this in the boat section of (all places) Walmart.”
June 27 UPDATE: See Noel’s final motor rigging
Noel Mascarenhas is a kayak fisherman from Texas, who just got his new W500 fishing kayak. Here is his ‘first impression’ review of it:
-”We christened the W500 today, it was awesome. At first it took some getting used to on balance as my son 12 and myself went, but once we got the hang of it, it was like learning to ride a bike, then it was easy. My buddy who is 250 lbs tried it with his daughter (around 60-70 lbs) and he liked it too. I’ve been sending pics of my kayak to a lot of people and everyone is impressed with it.
I have only paddled a canoe once in the past and I was surprised at how easy it is to paddle the wavewalk.
Here are some pics, we just returned from the lake..
Thanks for a great product. I did notice that the pontoons deflect outward with more weight, which is normal.
Noel”
UPDATE (June 27): Noel’s Motorized W500 Fishing Kayak
Here’s a rather unusual report from Bruce Simmons, a kayak fisherman from Houston, Texas:
-”Just got power back on, look at what 10 inches of rain overnight can do.
As you can see, My son Mark had a blast with his new kayak, no school today, I told my wife thank go we bought them cuz now we can do some front yard fishin and have a way to the grocery store
These were taken out front this morning, several houses in the neighborhood took on water and a few friends had their cars ruined, we expect more rain later this evening. Never a dull moment in H Town!
Bruce”
An alligator gar impaled on Bruce's neighbor fence...
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!