Fully Rigged W Fishing Kayak

Posted on August 5, 2012 by kayakfishing101

The battery for the motor is located in the front, between the hull tips, in special wooden box I made. More about motorized kayak fishing >

Fishing kayak rigged with electric trolling motor - Alabama

Fishing kayak rigged with electric trolling motor - Alabama

Fishing kayak rigged with electric trolling motor - Alabama

Fishing kayak rigged with electric trolling motor - Alabama

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Stand Up Paddling and Unkinking in the W Kayak

Posted on August 4, 2012 by kayakfishing101

Jeff is a big guy (6’3″, 245 lbs), and if he can stand up nonchalantly in his W fishing kayak, and drift in the tidal current, anybody can.
In this short movie, Jeff explains why it’s important to stand up in your fishing kayak – It allows you to see we’re you’re going, avoid places where you shouldn’t be going, find passages between oyster bars, and spot fish that you wouldn’t be able to see sitting.
In other movies and articles, Jeff explains how important it is to be able to stand up and stretch, and thus relieve fatigue (‘unkink’) -

More from Jeff about kayak fishing and Emmrod fishing rods >
More about kayak fishing >

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Avoiding Overloading Your Fishing Kayak

Posted on August 1, 2012 by kayakfishing101

What Happens When You Load a W Fishing Kayak?

The illustration below shows a W500 kayak in three load points -
The left image shows it unloaded.
The image in the middle shows it loaded with around 200 lbs (91 kg). The load is distributed evenly front and back, so the kayak stays level, which offers optimal speed and control. The draft is shallow.
This load results in a slight splaying of the hulls, and no problem at all. Flex is built into the W design.

3 kayaks loaded

The image on the right shows the kayak loaded with around 360 lb (163 kg), which is the maximum load recommended for it. Assuming the load is distributed evenly front and back, the kayak stays level, and it’s still fast, agile, and easy to paddle.
-Watch tandem paddling demo video >
The hulls are noticeably splayed, but sitting on the saddle is still very comfortable, and stability is still good. This amount of flex in the kayak is still perfectly normal.
Waterline is considerably lower than the saddle’s gussets (reinforcement ribs), so there is no hydrodynamic problem, since the water between the hulls flows without restrictions.

Recommendations:

  1. For optimal performance, keep your kayak level. In order to keep it level, paddle it from the middle of its cockpit, not its rear. This is especially true if you’re a heavy person.
  2. Do not paddle your W kayak from its rear, unless it’s just for a specific purpose, such as surf launching, beaching, or going over an obstacle.
  3. When motorizing, drive the kayak from the middle of the cockpit, using a long, articulated (jointed) tiller extension. Don’t drive it from the cockpit’s rear.
  4. When paddling in tandem, try as much possible to distribute the load evenly between the front and the back of the kayak. Do not overload the back.
  5. Do not overload your W kayak, whether you’re going solo or in tandem, paddling or motorizing.
  6. Do not paddle this kayak in tandem, unless both yourself and your paddling partner have each paddled it solo before, and gained sufficient experience as solo W kayakers.
  7. Take the time to learn how to paddle this kayak when it’s loaded – Like any vessel or vehicle, the W kayak behaves differently the more it is loaded.

More about fishing kayaks >

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Kayaking and Kayak Fishing for Kids and Teens

Posted on July 29, 2012 by kayakfishing101

While it is true that the vast majority of kayakers and kayak anglers today are adults and seniors, as has been the case since the advent of modern kayaking, this need not be the case. The revolutionary new W Fishing Kayak makes kayaking and kayak fishing for younger users not only easier but actually fun, in contrast to the tedium of using old fashioned kayaks. Youth kayak fishing is a new website that highlights kayaking and kayak fishing among kids and teens, check it out!

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Kayaking in the Greek Surf

Posted on July 27, 2012 by kayakfishing101


Patrick is French, and he likes to paddle standing up, and seated. He resides on the island of Crete, in Greece.
Says Patrick: “Wavewalk Kayak 500 – Première mise à l’eau – Balade de 1h dans la Baie de Kissamos dans l’île de Crète. Bonne glisse et position assise très confortable.”

Translation: “Wavewalk 500 kayak – First launching, and 1 hour trip in the bay of Kissamos, in the island of Crete. Good glide, and very comfortable seated position.”

More about ocean kayaking >

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Jeff Shows How To Sit Side-Saddle in the W Kayak

Posted on July 19, 2012 by kayakfishing101


It’s an easy way to precisely move in tight quarters. Around bars and the related cuts they create it’s a way to shift around without moving off the fish.
Jeff

More about fishing and kayak fishing, on Jeff’s blog >
More about fishing kayak ergonomics >

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Photography Equipment On Board W Fishing Kayak

Posted on July 17, 2012 by kayakfishing101

I’ve had the kayak out a number of times now and am dialing in my photography setup. I found that splaying the tripod across the top of the cockpit is much better than having the legs inside. This way, I have more room for my own legs and cargo and I can slide in nice and close to the camera. I added some hooks to the inside so that I can keep the tripod nice and secure given the weight and expense of the photo gear. I can control the kayak and casually paddle while facing the camera with ease. I just lay the paddle across my legs while shooting which works well. If I have a long distance to cover and don’t want to take the setup down, I’ll turn the other way to avoid striking the tripod while paddling more aggressively.

Things are working out well! I’ve got some great photos of herons and pelicans already – much better than the past years of trying to get close by foot.

More about rigging your fishing kayak >

camera with telescopic lens mounted on stable kayak for photography

camera tripod mounted on stable kayak for photography

 

wildlife photographer looking through telescopic lens in stable kayak

 

This review first appeared on Minn Yaks, W kayaks distributor in Minnesota >

Posted in Fishing kayaks, Kayak fishing, rigged fishing kayak, rigging, rigging your fishing kayak | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Rigging a Fishing Kayak with a Transducer

Posted on July 15, 2012 by kayakfishing101

I recently upgraded to a combo fish finder GPS unit. I was using a suction cup to hold the transducer to the side of the W but I noticed it would create drag and occasionally fall off. I tried several different methods to mount it in the inside of the W and shoot it through the hull, not so successfully. Again sometimes the simplest method works the best. I wish I would have tried this first. On YouTube tube I noticed a installation using duct seal. I purchased 1lb. at under $3.
Simply form a well at the bottom, lay transducer flat to surface , pinch some of the duct seal over it to hold in place. When you start kayaking simply put a slight amount of water in the well you formed to cover bottom of the transducer and start enjoying drag free readings. This duct seal sticks great, is waterproof, remains soft, and is portable. If you want to move it to another W simply peel off and reset it.

John

Brew City Kayaks
More about rigging your fishing kayak >

Transducer for fishfinder installed in bottom of fishing kayak hull

fishing kayak rigged with fish finder and transducer in bottom of hull

Wisconsin kayak fisherman showing chunky bass he caught

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Gary Rigs his W kayak With and Anchor System

Posted on July 12, 2012 by kayakfishing101

In my never ending quest to simplify and diversify using my Wavewalk kayak, I just added a cable anchoring system.
I first assembled the pulley arrangement as per Jeff McGovern’s video in the rigging section of the W website (which had both the top and bottom sections of the cord at the pulleys spaced outside the carrying handles), but experienced problems with the cord coming off the pulley when moved forward or backward. So I repositioned the pulleys as shown so that the top cord passes to the inside of the carrying handle while the bottom cord passes to its outside.
This seems to work OK but I’ll give it a good test over the next week when the water around here clears after Debbie did her thing. If a problem persists, I’ll replace the plastic pulleys with the small metal ones that have built in shields to keep the cord from slipping off.
By doubling up on the anchor line as shown I can let out about 10 feet (which works well 90% of the time on the flats here), but can also easily convert it into a single 20 foot line when needed.
Of course, I also still have the option of my 6-foot metal clip fish stringer to anchor while fishing in a foot or two of water using the ropes installed through holes drilled in the top rim of the W.

Hopefully, I’ll get out later this week after the water clears. It was chocolate brown and full of grass and weeds when I checked it out over the weekend.

Gary

More about rigging your fishing kayak >

fishing kayak anchor system

fishing kayak anchor system

fishing kayak anchor system

fishing kayak anchor system

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Motorized Fishing Kayak with Oceanographic Equipment

Posted on July 8, 2012 by kayakfishing101

Here are some more pics of my motorized fishing kayak, and a blog from the project: http://blog.iod.ucsd.edu/RIVET/

We keep talking about turning the wave walker into a robot..autonomous surface vehicle..so I don’t have to drive!…haven’t done it yet but will let you know when we do. We have lots of robotic underwater vehicles here so on the surface is easy.

Hope all is well with you and you are having a good summer.

-Peter

fishing kayak converted into oceanographic research boatNote this kayak is outfitted with two motor mounts – The one in the front serves for mounting scientific gear

fishing kayak converted into oceanographic research boat

 

2hp outboard motor mounted on fishing kayakWide wheel cart for transporting the heavily loaded kayak over long distances on sandy beaches

motorized fishing kayak ploughing the waves with scientific gear mounted in front

motorized fishing kayak ploughing the waves with scientific gear mounted in front

More fishing kayak articles >>

 

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