Author: microskiff cat

Whether you’re on a paddling or fishing trip in shallow water, you don’t want to have to turn back, or worse – get stuck somewhere because of underwater obstacles. Such obstacles may be rocks, tree roots, fallen branches and fallen trees that prevent you from reaching your destination, be it an interesting place to tour or a promising spot to fish in.

If you have to turn back the W solution is either to paddle backwards, or turn the boat, or turn yourself inside the cockpit and face the direction from which you came from: The W kayak is fully symmetrical front and back and it feels the same paddling forward and backward.

Another strategy you can try is poling with your paddle (preferably the Wavewalk PSP), or going over the submerged obstacle – whether it’s top part is underwater or even a few inches above water:
You position yourself at the back of the cockpit, thus raising your Wavewalk kayak’s bow. Then you paddle forward full speed and try to get the boat to go as forward as possible over the barrier. If you succeeded in getting the middle of the boat pas the obstacle you’re almost there, and you’ll have to move swiftly to the front part of the cockpit and thus make your Wavewalk kayak tilt forward and go over the obstacle.
It may not be as easy as it sounds, but practice makes perfect, and in this case it’s fun too.
It’s also great to know that you’ve gone where no other canoe or kayak could go…
This video shows how it’s done:

Seal launching your kayak can be a good solution if you don’t want to spend too much time looking for a better spot to start your paddling or fishing trip from. You can do it just for fun too.
The kayaker or kayak angler who’s planning to venture into seal launching should cover the front part of the cockpit, at least for the launch.
We advise you to start learning to seal launch on a moderately steep slope, and slide over a shorter distance… You can seal launch from a dock or a deck too.

Also, before you become proficient in seal launching, and when you’re just learning the technique, remember the rule ‘Stuff Happens’, so leaving your cellphone, camera, GPS and fishing gear on shore might be a prudent thing to do.

Have fun!

The following demo video was created by Roxanne Davis, a kayak angler from Connecticut, when she fished from a Wavewalk 500. These days Rox fishes mostly from a motorized W700 –