43
Adding power to my game
What’s new?
It’s a greeting as much as a question these days. “What’s new?” a friend may ask without really expecting me to unravel a yarn highlighting all that is new in my life.
But when anglers ask, “What’s new?” they really are ready for a list of cool new stuff to try on their next fishing trips. They’ll make time to listen, even when time is short.
New is exciting. New is fun. New, more importantly, might provide an advantage in the fish versus fisher encounters waged daily on waters here and far.
I am like almost all the other anglers. I love new gadgets. I try to add a new thing or two to my fishing equipment annually. With decades of fishing behind me, I continue to marvel that great new stuff becomes available each year.
So I had been watching with interest as the new genre of shallow-water anchor systems swept the fishing world like a huge wave across a wide beach. In particular, I have been watching as pro bass anglers’ boats continued sprouting the Power-Pole brand of hydraulically deployed bottom grabbers.
Power-Poles are mounted on either side of the transom – or both sides – just above the water line. They are controlled by wireless signals that can be beamed into the hydraulic pumps mounted in the bilge.
Each pump powers the business end of the Power-Pole system, which is a hinged assembly made from aircraft-grade aluminum that reaches out and down to pin the boat to the bottom so that it remains stationary while the angler fishes.
Even if you aren’t familiar with Power-Poles, you may have noticed them on boats you pass as they are trailered on the highways. Power-Poles are the long appendages hanging vertically off the stern on one or both sides of the outboard engine.
It’s 21st century technology. It’s really cool stuff. And it’s packed with benefits. But I sometimes am a procrastinator and rationalizer. I had resisted buying and installing Power-Poles by telling myself I could do just as good a job handling my boat on the strength of the MotorGuide electric trolling motor.
Then I changed my mind. Today, the BassCat sports a pair of 8-foot Power-Pole Blades.
My bass buddies told me I was long overdue to get Power-Poles. “You’re a shallow-water guy and I don’t know how you haven’t installed them already,” one friend scolded late last winter.
I didn’t do it for him, but I did decide to take the plunge. I hired Ravenna Marine to install the shallow-water anchor system. Other than the direct hit on my credit card, the process was relatively painless.
It’s been four weeks since I first put them to use and I’m impressed by the performance. I look forward to a long summer and fall of fishing with the new convenience of applying the parking brake and floating motionless next to fish-holding cover.
I’ll be using my new Power-Poles this weekend on Shenango, where I’ll be working shallow cover. Soon, I’ll be hitting Lake Milton and the backwater areas where largemouth and smallmouth bass thrive.
Other venues on my 2017 calendar include Pymatuning, Presque Isle Bay, Lake Wilhelm near Meadville and Mosquito Creek Reservoir.
“Guaranteed, they’ll add a fish or two every time you hit the lake,” said another friend as I weighed whether to invest in Power-Poles.
So far, he’s right.
Watch this space in coming weeks for additional reports about how wireless communication, hydraulic motion control and aerospace materials combine to put extra fish on my line this summer.