ALTERNATIVE POWER OPTIONS BRING
KAYAK FISHING TO MORE ANGLERS. PHOTO: JASON ARNOLD
syaks, Komarinetz set his sights on improving the kayak’s performance. “With our transom mount unit the kayak will turn 90 degrees and even go in reverse,” he boasts. Not surprisingly, motors, pedals and sails have made a lot of noise in
David Hadden, product manager at Johnson Outdoors. “Many fishermen relate better to a motor than a paddle.” He adds that the boat is so popular they are working on a new model. At Native Kayaks, brand manager Woody Callaway says that research
and development eat up a big part of the budget. “It takes a lot of testing to get a system right,” he says, pointing to the thousands of water hours it took to produce their Propel pedal-driven propeller system (check out our review of the Slayer Propel on page 44). While kayak companies race to add alternative power to their line ups,
smaller companies are popping up with bolt-on alternatives to paddling. WindPaddle makes a parachute-style sail that clips onto most kayaks for a fast way to get down sea. “The challenge was designing a sail that would use existing hardware to fit almost any model of kayak,” Wiltz says. At Bas-
the paddle world. “I hear people say, ‘That’s not kayaking,’” admits Ko- marinetz, “but the sport is called kayak fishing—for many anglers, the kayak is just a tool.” Education is the key to gaining acceptance of alternative power sources.
“We distribute videos showing installation and use of the WindPaddle,” says Wiltz. “These show how real people are using the system.” Some pad- dlers criticize that these systems threaten the simplicity of paddle fishing. Callaway at Native responds, “The Propel system is built out of common bicycle parts that can be found almost anywhere and maintained by al- most anyone—it is simple.” As technology continues to improve and more kayaks hit the water,
the future will be crowded with alternative power options. And this year’s demo day will be even wilder.
DIGITAL EXTRA: Click here to watch Nick Wiltz fish from his wind-powered kayak.
www.kayakanglermag.com…23
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