Power Poles, Definitely!

[MotherNature]

^{Get The Net/ by Mike Cork/ July 21, 2011}

I'm putting my new Legend Bass Boat together, and lots of things are going through my mind. Thankfully I did not have to pick the colors! This is going to be our fourth Legend bass boat, and we are kind of celebrating if you will. Laurie picked some really "hot" colors, and I am putting a very exciting package of accessories together. In the past, I hadn't considered Power Poles. I always figured that they had a really limited use, bedding fish. This limited use didn't really offset the added cost and weight to the boat for me. I mean, really how much bed fishing do I get to do. However, since being invited to fish with folks that have Power Poles I have come to learn that they are extremely useful, and I have been very close minded about them.

I was invited by Garry McCollum to fish the Louisiana Red River Oilman's tournament in Shreveport Bossier City. Garry had a set of Power Poles that he had just recently installed himself and hadn't really got to put them to the test yet. He wanted to take his boat, so we could test the new shallow water anchor system. Other than being very "cool" looking on the back of a bass boat, I wasn't sold on their usefulness, but that was about to change.

We went through a morning run of topwater and reaction baits covering water until the sun broke the horizon and slowed that bite down. Here, is where it gets awesome! My next pattern was working breaks in the levees of the Red River. Sitting away from the levee breaks and casting frogs, spinner baits and crank baits through the breaks. As the boat drifted up to the first break, I explained where the fish should be sitting and what kind of casts we should make. As Garry trolls up to the levee, I said, "Try and hold the boat right about here." He chuckles, and I catch a glimpse of something moving in the back of the boat. He deployed the Power Poles and in 2-3 seconds we were anchored! This was so cool; we sat there without touching the trolling motor, making repeated casts to the levee break. Without the Power Poles, we would have to fight the wind and current that was coming through the levee break, constantly readjusting with the trolling motor, and if you had to come off the trolling motor for just a second or two the boat would float away. That was impressed #1.

Later, the sun got high and hot; it was time to start working punch baits through matted hyacinths in pockets off the main river. I normally just troll slowly along the hyacinths working my bait as best I can while trying to control a drift. This usually results in a very quick pass and having to circle back around and work an area again. The wind is never perfectly in your favor. Usually, it will either blow you along the bank too fast, or blow you onto the cover or structure you might be trying to fish. If you're lucky, you can fish into the wind; however, you're constantly on your motor, and it's creating noise. Here's impressed #2. I showed Garry the areas we needed to work, he would line the boat up so that the wind would blow us along the hyacinths and hydrilla. Once in the correct position, he would deploy the Power Poles and stop the boat. We would work the area extremely effectively, then he would lift the poles slightly and let the wind blow us a few feet then lock them down again. We were able to cover 50 yard stretches of vegetation and never use the trolling motor, were never rushed, this created a very effective presentation. I was amazed at how well we were getting to work some of my favorite spots. I was finding stumps, brush, rocks, all kinds of cover that I never knew was under the vegetation simply because I had always passed through these areas so fast with just a trolling motor.

Impressed #3. Garry was just learning the art of "Punching". He had lots of questions and was soaking up information as fast as I could answer. After I placed a couple fish in the boat, and he had missed a couple, I asked what kind of knot he was using? He was using a Palomar knot, so I recommended he switch to a Snell knot. We both sat in the bottom of his boat and walked him through the process of tying a Snell knot. He was so excited about learning a new knot that he forgot to put a weight on, so we walked through it again. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking we're going to have to circle back around and work this area again as we just caught one nearly four pounds. We stand up, and there it was, we are still in the same spot!

The day went on like this; every new spot created a new way to use the Power Poles to enhance our fishing and catching. Everything from the perfect boat position for working a cut, to being able to make an adjustment in tackle, or just take a break and drink some water, boat position was never an issue.

I have used a trolling motor for nearly 40 years; I feel like I am pretty good at obtaining and maintaining boat position. However, fighting mother nature, wind, waves, and current can be very exhausting, can cause issues when fighting fish allowing your boat to drift into your productive water, or even cause damage to your boat because of rocks or timber. Maintaining boat position can be difficult; however, Power Pole Anchors allow you to concentrate on fishing versus boat position.

I am a true believer now; Power Poles will enhance your fishing! Just as effectively as sonar and GPS have helped offshore and deep water fishing; the Power Pole will improve the shallow water fisherman, creating a quieter approach and easily maintaining boat position to work shallow cover. Just as important as it is for a trolling motor to move you across the water, I have learned it's just as important to be able to stop on a dime, quickly and quietly.

I'm going to be adding a set of these on our new Legend; I have no doubt Power Poles will greatly enhance my shallow water fishing. Now I'll be able to sneak up on them and have the time to find that perfect pitch! My only problem is going to be picking which color. No, I'll put that off on Laurie.

Get the Net it's a Hawg

Mike Cork

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