Shallow Water Anchor Or Hydraulic Jackplate

[Jdw2920]

Looking into getting me a shallow water anchor pole or into a hydraulic jackplate if you were buying one of the other what would you get and why? I'd like my boat to run faster so that why I'm thinking of the jackplate route or if you have other suggestions let me know.

[WRB]

Hydraulic jack plate gives performance options and allows to maneuver slowly in shallow water without hitting the prop. Hydraulic anchors have 1 use, easy anchoring shallow to target bed fish or sight fish in the wind, otherwise you don't need them.

Tom

[Jdw2920]

Thank you

[starcraft1]

I fish a very shallow impoundment in N. Ca. and I'm looking at either the Talon or PP. Both have their pro's & cons, but I have to disagree with WRB on this as far as "only one use". I have a 11" jack plate on the back of my Skeeter with is fine for what I fish and is set in one position. The shallow water anchors have more uses than just site fishing IMO. I've found that if the winds have come up to the point of being on the tm all the time to keep on an area it takes away from your fishing. I've fished out of a couple of boats with them (both the Talon & PP) and found that you fish and your not on the TM all the time keeping your position on any structure. What really impressed me was the way I could fish the wind-word side of a tulle island (which this water has a lot of) or a rock pt. from any side you want to and still have room for the other guy to fish without leaving them out in the deep water. This is important to me because my buddies aren't young (like me?) anymore and moving around is getting harder for them.

As far as the hydro jack plate, I have no option because I've never owned one.

Hope this helps you a little more.

[junyer357]

I would much rather have the power pole over a jackplate personally but thats because of where and how i fish. Top end speed isnt a concern for me since i normally only run 45-50. Once it gets shalow i just come off plane and troll or idle. Its just a comfort thing since its how ive always done it. Id love a power pole for more stealth. Drop off plane n coast into position n drop pole and not trolling motor.

[J Francho]

Power poles usually are attached to the jack plate…

[WIGuide]

Hydraulic jack plates are a nice option as they let you tune on the fly for best performance per water condition, load, and allow you to get into very skinny water without dinging up a pro. As far as the shallow water anchors go, they are very useful if you're a shallow water fisherman, but if you're out deep a lot they aren't quite as useful. Something else worth mentioning is that depending on what bracket you get, shallow water anchors can be mounted multiple ways. The most common standard bracket gets sandwiched in between the motor bracket and the transom so you don't need a jackplate to mount either. 

[Jdw2920]

Yea I'm trying to decide how and what eventually I will have both thinking I'd rather have speed

[J Francho]

Set back doesn't automatically give you performance. It depends on the hull, which you haven't indicated.

[slonezp]

Power poles usually are attached to the jack plate…

the bearer of bad news........

[Al Wolbach]

the bearer of bad news........

He is talking about adding a Hydraulic Jackplate. He may be replacing a standard jackplate. He has not been very clear about what he has on the boat currently. As WIGUIDE stated earlier you can mount power poles without having a jackplate, as on the larger Rangers.

[Glenn]

It's a common misconception that Power-Pole's are one-trick-ponies, used only during the spawn.  Those myths are propogated by people who don't own PP's, because nothing could be further from the truth.

 

I can honestly say I use my PP's on EVERY outing, year 'round.  From holding in current and wind, to fishing an area more stealthy and thorough, to docking....or even just holding the boat in place while I re-rig or eat a snack, I'm ALWAYS using my PP's.

 

Hydraulic jackplates, on the other hand, indeed have limited purposes.  Plus there are less expensive ways to gain more speed. I'd first experiment with simply raising the motor on your existing jackplate.  There's prop options too.  And by all means, lighten the load by purging all that "must have" tackle in the boat.  I think I removed about 100 lbs of excess plastics out of my boat 2 years ago, and picked up a few mph as a result. LOL!

[Way2slow]

Well, I don't run either. For my style of fishing and the lakes I mostly fish, Power Poles would be a fancy, useless add on. None of the lake I fish a clear enough to sight fish more than a foot or so deep.

Hydraulic jack plates help a lot of some hulls, and do very little others. Lighter hulls that you can run your prop semi surfaced on benefit from dropping the motor to get on plane. Heavier boats, can see very little benefit, other than being to lazy to spend the time tuning everything the first time. My boat is fast and fairly heavy, to get good bow lift, I have to run my motor about 4 1/2" down on a fixed 10" jack plate. Having a hydraulic jack plate on it would do nothing, since I have already had a prop tuned for it, blue printed the hull, and found the best offset and engine height the old fashion way. The main benefits of having a hydraulic plate is it lets you lower the motor for better bite on the hole shot, or raise it way up when moving around in shallow water, which I don't use my gas motor for that, $800 props don't appreciate it sometimes. On some boats, when you have high rake, high cupped prop running shallow for max speed, the hole shot can suffer sometimes. Being able to drop the motor helps on that. If you are not planning on playing with different props and then having the one that works best professionally tuned to for peak performance, You might not see much bang for your buck with a hydraulic jack plate.

[J Francho]

There was a lot of trial and error getting the height right on my boat. No way I'm changing it now, lol.

[Scorchx1245]

Shallow water anchor, drift paddles are awesome.

[slonezp]

He is talking about adding a Hydraulic Jackplate. He may be replacing a standard jackplate. He has not been very clear about what he has on the boat currently. As WIGUIDE stated earlier you can mount power poles without having a jackplate, as on the larger Rangers.

Guess that joke failed

[slonezp]

It's a common misconception that Power-Pole's are one-trick-ponies, used only during the spawn.  Those myths are propogated by people who don't own PP's, because nothing could be further from the truth.

 

I can honestly say I use my PP's on EVERY outing, year 'round.  From holding in current and wind, to fishing an area more stealthy and thorough, to docking....or even just holding the boat in place while I re-rig or eat a snack, I'm ALWAYS using my PP's.

 

Agreed.

 

And if you do any fishing for panfish, especially in the spring, they are worth their weight in gold. 

[Jdw2920]

I have a 98 astro 2000 for those asking. Im looking to maybe just build this motor some or maybe just sell my 98 mercury 200 2 stroke and buy a 225 or 250

[Way2slow]

It would be easier and cheaper to trade up to more HP. If your motor is the 2.4 I would not mess with it. The 2.5 is the better motor to modify, but there is not much you can do unless you plan on tearing it down and have the ports remapped. This would have to be done by a person that has the tools and know how or you will end up with a piece of junk for a power head. After having it remapped, there are a number of other mods that need to be done to go along with that to get the full benefit.

After doing this, you still face that old rob Peter to pay Paul syndrome. To gain top end hp for more speed, you will give up hole shot, especially if you want to get 250 hp or more from it. With the mercs, more hp means turning it more rpm, more rpm means shorter ring life. That can be as little as every 100 hours having to tear it down.

Find you a 3.0 225 or 250 and swap out motors if you want to stay with a merc, or get one of the newer 3.3s or 3.4s in another makes. On a heavy bass boat, it's hard to beat having those extra CCs.

By the way if you really think you want to go that route, the best source of information on modifying mercs. Is Scream and Fly.com,

[Jdw2920]

Thank you I was looking at the brucato svs thing but I may just start saving money and get a whole new boat or something down the rd

[Way2slow]

That's part of the additional mods I was referring to, but that system alone, just stuck on a stock motor will give you a few more hp but not much bang for the bucks. You will also need to do and ECM change and a few other changes. Like I said, fairly expensive upgrade when you have to pay someone like JSRE to do the porting it will need.

[Jdw2920]

Yea it's crazy high for just the svs 1900. A man would be better to find a motor buy it n sell other come out probably cheaper