Every day, another angler attaches a motor to their fishing kayak making it more maneuverable and faster, but slowly taking the “kayaking” out of kayak fishing. With one aspect of the fitness of kayak fishing diminished, the new 2026 Fit to Fish Challenge hopes to help anglers get in shape for the coming season.
Fitness meets fishing in new challenge for kayak anglers
Jake Suvak has two passions: fishing and strength and conditioning. Suvak currently serves at the NCAA Division I level as an Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Performance and has worked as a strength and conditioning coach and personal trainer. The Fit to Fish Challenge comes to bring together those passions, and help get more anglers out on the water and get fit for that challenge, even if their primary mode of propulsion is a motor.
“The goal is to get more fishermen active and focused on their health and wellness,” explained Suvak. “The Fit to Fish challenge is a 90-day challenge where we’re going to have 60 total workouts over the course of three months, and participants are going to be entered into a giveaway if they can complete at least half of the workouts.”
Suvak also explained that the program will be delivered via an app called Team Builder with a video demonstration of the workouts and a community to be involved with the other participants and ask questions, motivate each other, and encourage each other throughout the challenge.
While motors may have taken some of the fitness out of kayak fishing, fitness is still a key aspect of the activity
“The fitness component of kayak fishing is slowly going away with all the motors and electronics,” explained Suvak. “Many people I’ve talked to in the past have talked to me about how they use kayak fishing as their form of exercise, but now it’s becoming a little bit easier to be in a kayak and that fitness component is becoming lost.”
Suvak went on to emphasize that while motors have taken some of the inherent fitness out of kayak fishing, anglers still need to be strong, mobile and stable to fish from a kayak. From launching and landing to keeping balance, the fitness aspects of kayak fishing go beyond the kayaking itself.
“Everything is going to be put into the workout plan to be done at home or at a gym. There will be an alternate exercise for everything, so if you don’t have access to a weight room you can do everything at home,” shared Suvak.
Beyond the fitness aspect, the Fit to Fish challenge is also a way to connect and build community in kayak fishing.
“You’re going to have access to the team feed, so you’re able to post videos or pictures of yourself,” said Suvak. “You’re able to write posts and comment on each other’s posts.”
Additionally, the event will also have a nutrition component.
“Essential Provisions is going to be providing nutrition education resources for all of our participants over the course of the challenge,” shared Suvak. “It’s not just going to be focused on fitness, but it’s also going to have some nutrition components to it also.”
Fit to Fish focuses on building good habits and a good foundation for the upcoming season
Ultimately, Suvak emphasized that while this is a fitness challenge, it isn’t a weight loss challenge and the goal is to help anglers better prepare for the coming season.
“We’re trying to help anglers be more consistent when it comes to prioritizing their health and wellness. It’s not necessarily a weight loss challenge, a strength challenge or anything like that because every angler is going to have a different goal,” explained Suvak. “We want to help them create this consistency so that they can get to whatever their goals are on their own after the challenge is completed.”
Jake if you met me you would obviously know I am in shape. The shape is a pear. Which is a shape.