Our W kayaks can be easily outfitted with electric trolling motors, as well as small outboard gas engines.

While we recommend outfitting the W500 and W502 kayaks with motors featuring a long, 20″ propeller shaft, we’re aware of the fact that few small outboard gas engines on the market feature such long shafts, and most old and new small outboards available feature a shorter, 15″ propeller shaft.

We designed this version of the W Transom Motor Mount for such short shaft motors:

Unlike the motor mount for 20″ long shafts, this mount cannot be attached directly behind the cockpit, since that would prevent using the clamp screws that fasten the motor to the mount.
Therefore, this mount should be attached to the W kayak at a few inches distance behind the cockpit’s rear end, in a manner that would make it possible for the user to tighten and loosen the clamp screws without experiencing any problem.
This distance depends on the type and size of clamps your motor comes with.

Kayak Compatibility: The W Kayak Transom Motor Mount fits W kayaks from the 500 and 502 series.

Motor Compatibility: This W Kayak Transom Motor Mount fits electric trolling motors, and outboard gas motors up to 2hp. We recommend outfitting the motor with a long, articulated tiller extension that enables the driver to steer from a position that’s closer to the middle of the cockpit, rather than from its rear.

Material: This W Kayak Transom Motor Mount is crafted from 1″ thick Trex board.
Trex is an environmentally friendly, composite material made from recycled and reclaimed plastic, and reclaimed wood. No trees are cut down for the purpose of making Trex. This material is widely used as decking and railing material since it will not splinter, rot or deteriorate due to harsh weather or insects. Trex resists damage from moisture and sunlight, which makes it a better alternative to wood for this matter. Unlike wood, Trex requires no painting, coating or maintenance.

Dimensions: This W Kayak Transom Motor Mount is 4.25″ high and 20″ wide, and it weighs 6 lbs.

Attachment: This W Kayak Transom Motor Mount is easily attached to the W kayak by means of two bolts. We recommend attaching this W Kayak Transom Motor Mount close as possible to the cockpit, as much as your motor’s clamp screws allow, in order to improve stability, access to the motor, control, and safety.

• Retail price: $118

First and foremost, kayak fishing in tandem involves a Safety issue, because two passengers moving about in the cockpit or on the deck of a fishing kayak in an uncoordinated manner can easily destabilize it. in such case, it’s enough to have one passenger overreacting to cause the kayak to capsize. Obviously, having fishing rods, lures and sometimes even fish flying around in all directions in space that’s so severely restricted isn’t a good recipe for safety. In fact, it is dangerous.

The second problem to consider is Convenience – Every angler wants and needs to have an unlimited range of motion around them, to allow them to perform basic things such as casting, reeling in, landing the fish, unhooking, and so on. Anglers must have a comfortable workspace for tying knots, attaching lures and bait, and doing other technical work involving handling of fishing gear, including sharp objects such as fishing hooks, and knives, which is hazardous in itself, without adding the fact that the angler is sitting in a small vessel, with a fishing partner a few feet away…
Besides, when you’re fishing in tandem, the last thing you want to deal with is your fishing lines getting entangled with those of your partner, and you certainly don’t want to be part of an accident involving someone getting poked in the eye by a misguided fishing hook, etc.. -The possibilities for a disaster are so numerous that it’s practically impossible to list them all in this article, but we assume the reader gets the point…

Kayak fishing in tandem is more complicated, and more difficult than tandem kayak paddling, and we don’t fully recommend it, unless the crew is composed of one experienced adult kayak angler and one junior kayak angler, such as a child, who needs guidance and often even technical help with handling their fishing gear. In such case the obvious choice for a kayak is the W500 that features a 6 ft long cockpit, and a longitudinal seat that makes it possible for the two anglers to sit separated by a long span, but also to approach each other effortlessly and safely when they need to do something together, such as in case the experienced angler has to instruct the novice, or help them hands-on perform a fishing related task.
A small sized angler such as a child may get confused, or overexcited, but they’re unlikely to cause a severe balance problem that the second, bigger, and more experienced will find impossible to deal with.
A large size angler getting into some kind of trouble that would cause them to lose balance and tilt the kayak sideways is a totally different problem that the second crew member might not be able to correct, especially if they’re caught off guard.
This movie was shot by Jesse Martinez in his W500, during a fishing trip in which he took his two small kids on board:

More information about kayak fishing with children >>

Kayak fishing standing in tandem is even more problematic, and should be practiced only after both anglers have practiced tandem kayak fishing before, as well as stand up kayak fishing. Needless to say that the kayak used for this type of fishing should fit for such such activities. Note that vendors’ claims about their kayaks’ stability are often exaggerated, and should be viewed with both caution, common sense, and healthy skepticism. Before getting hooked on the idea of kayak fishing in tandem, remember that it’s you and your fishing buddy that are going to be sitting in kayak out there in the real world, and not some guys who got paid to demonstrate a fishing kayak in front of a camera.

Kayak fishing offshore in tandem is even more difficult, and hazardous, and we do not recommend it, unless both anglers are lightweight and very experienced with fishing together out of small boats, such as dinghies and canoes. Fishing in tandem out of a kayak equipped with a powerful motor, such as an outboard gas engine adds yet another level of risk, and in such cases you may consider outfitting your kayak with a pair of large size outriggers, such as this South Korean couple is using on an offshore fishing trip >>



This year, we started an experiment with local dealers and international distributors who are basically W fans with neither storefront nor prior experience in the kayak business. This experiment proved to be a success, with all having sold W kayaks, and some even making multiple orders.
Our dealers in upstate NY and in the Midwest sold W kayaks not just locally, but also to clients from other states, as well as to clients from Canada. Our distributor in the Netherlands sold W kayaks in his country and in neighboring Belgium, and our distributor in Norway and Sweden was surprised to get a mail order from a duck hunter living hundreds of miles away, who didn’t even bother to come over and see the product before ordering it. Our dealer in Houston got orders for 5 W kayaks in one demo day he organized. One of the clients who picked up a boat from him that day drove 160 miles from San Antonio, and stayed in a motel the night before, to make sure he’d get the W kayak in the color he wanted…
Such stories are normal for us at Wavewalk, and we’re happy to see that our distributors, wherever they are located, are beginning to experience similar things.

Our dealers and international distributors proved to be both creative and productive – Our dealer in Wisconsin developed a way to camouflage the W500 kayak for duck hunting, and posted instructional videos on his website and on YouTube. Our distributor in New Zealand developed a new type of flotation. Our distributor in South Korea successfully rigged a W500 with a powerful outboard gas engine, and our dealer in Minnesota picked up the idea and improved the transom motor mount.
Their efforts resulted in Wavewalk developing two new products: The 502 series that can be outfitted with extra-large side flotation, and an off-the-shelf transom motor mount that fits electric tolling motors as well as outboard gas engines.
These new products are already selling, and our clients are both excited and satisfied with them.

During this year, we’ve learned to work closely with our dealers and distributors, and they’ve learned to provide various services to their clients, including live demos, outfitting, repair, and even finishing and assembly in the case of those who’ve made big orders.

We’re looking for new dealers and distributors in the US and overseas, but we’re also expanding our direct sales, such as in Australia, where we’ve started advertising and selling factory direct as a matter of routine.

This year, more than ever before, our clients proved to be a valuable source of information, ideas and support, both for us and for other W clients. They’ve provided interesting trip reports, pictures and movies, innovative rigging solutions, useful tips, product reviews, and some of them have even battled our competitors in online discussion forums that are not always friendly to us   Both our clients and distributors helped us choose the additional Sand color that we introduced this year, and it turned out to be popular among our new clients.

We’ve produced some amazing and cool videos this year, and a bunch of new technical articles, some of which have become quite popular. Our YouTube channel movies got over 280,000 views this year, a 50,000 increase compared to the year before, and in addition, videos posted by our dealers and clients got thousands of views.  The number of visits to our website was 10% higher in 2011 compared to 2010, and the average time spent per visit increased as well. We hope this means more visitors are finding our website more interesting

The only things that remained unchanged this year are our absolute commitment to our customers, and the fact that our W kayak has no match when stability, ergonomics, mobility, versatility and overall fishability are concerned. As Rox put it – “nothing like it, nothing better”.

THANK YOU ALL, AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!

Yoav

June has really kicked my butt, as far as fishing goes. I’ve caught plenty of fish, but nothing over 2 lbs.

But today, the Air temps were perfect, water was 77 degrees, from 82 degrees yesterday.
Windy, and it was a pain…
Started off with the Carolina rigged worm, with a 3/8 oz weight, fan casting all around me, but the only thing I was pulling in the boat was weeds.
Went to the deeper edge with a steep drop off from 9′ to 22′, started working the C-rig there…….NADA
Went back to my confidence bait, the yum dinger, Texas rigged weedless, and started working the wood.
Remember when I said wood is good.
Well it is, I started pulling in crappies, perch, smallmouth bass, and largemouth bass, but nothing with size.
Headed to a fresh tree that came down last week, and skipping my yum dinger, up and under the tree’s outside edge in 8′ of water – Let it sink, while counting to 10, as I reached 8, I felt a tick – Swung back and set the hook hard, Crap it’s Big and heavy, pulling my yak right into the tree.
I’m trying to paddle with one hand to back out, then the wind kicks up, like Gail Force.

I Worked myself and the fish out in front of the tree and ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ………… Back in she goes, towing my yak back into the tree once again.
Now I’m almost certain I must have snagged a crap, because this baby was yanking me all over.
I dig in as best I could with the Paddle, and backed the yak off a good 10′ with my bail open…………reel in the slack line, and she’s still there, I stand up and really put the screws to her -
This was the moment of truth, either she’d come out of the tree with my lure still in her mouth…………or she’d be gone. I felt the weight of the fish as she popped out of the limbs, and she gives me a big howdy doooooooooo with a tail walk.
I’m c—-ing my pants, grab the net and pull her towards it, and scoop her up.

BIG Large Mouth Bass – I Get her weight, 5.4 lbs, just a hair over 22″ long.
Man if she was fat she would have weighed a lot more. Long and skinny, and recouping from the spawn.

I thanked Rainbow Reservoir for finally giving up one of her Pigs.

Life Is Good.
Paddle Safe All.
Rox