Month: August 2009

By Jeff McGovern

Florida

Range of motion and protection from the fish – Sounds a little weird but the Wavewalk kayak offers a far better range of motion for anglers and some measure of protection when landing fish.
I’ve noticed this the most dealing with saltwater speedsters in the form of jacks and ladyfish. Both are considered trash fish but only in terms of eating them. For getting into lots of pulling and yanking they are a blast. But when brought boat side for landing they always have far better ideas than the angler. Leaping and jumping at the last moment can easily put one into your lap or worse. Since they also have a face full of hooks the results of this last moment dash for freedom can be a disaster. If you are stuck in that L position you are too low and too limited in movement options to do much about it. These are also fish that will run in any direction and in a boat you can’t turn your body very well chances are you’ll be tangled up in no time.
In the W kayak, because you are upright in the riding position you can turn much more toward the fish and it’s angle of pull. Also when you go to land the fish you are above most of the danger zone and far better protected. After netting a fish you can simply rest the handle across the cockpit rims and hold in in place. You don’t have a net to worry about getting caught up in the rod, a portion of your body, or other gear. Plus if you are dealing with a fish you might want to keep for a great fish meal if it does jump around it’s going to end up at your feet in one of the hulls safe for the table.
Even in the course of battling a fish if all goes according to plan the L position is a lousy one to fish from. Since you can’t rotate well from the waist or really brace for the battle your shoulders and arms take some real punishment. The L position acts to deny using your core muscles to fight the fish. The W offers so many fish fighting advantages but as with many things about the boat they are not truly realized until the angler actually can try it. If there is a problem with that it’s simply that nothing compares to the Wavewalk. No other boats have the advantages.
Anyway I just wanted to shoot a note along this line. Sometimes you just have to feel sorry for all those other non Wavewalk kayak fishermen out there.

By Jeff McGovern

Florida

In preparation for comparison to the new W500 I have been spending time “relearning the joys” of sit inside and sit on top kayaks.

Besides the obvious back issue already known there is the concern of shoulder pain. I have had some discomfort, but in talking to a few other fellow kayak fishermen they mentioned the pain associated with casting from the awkward L position. I noticed soreness the next day trying to power out long casts from the L position. It was far easier to just get out and wade since in the standing position the casts were braced.

I think in many cases the so called fishing kayaks are really just fishing transport devices, since actually fishing from them is a constant compromise. Many times getting out on a suitable bank or sand bar is far more comfortable. Besides, in many sit on tops the wet butt syndrome leads to other comfort problems down the road…

If we compare a standard cast from the Wavewalk kayak to a cast from a sit on top we see two different things entirely: The sit on top cast is a controlled flail with the hope for distance and accuracy. It is many times followed by a winch from the angler as they deal with the pain. A cast from the W kayak is a powerful controlled launch that accurately places the lure right where it needs to be. It’s quite a difference, and one that can only be experienced – it is difficult to describe.