Best For Money Shallow Water Anchor?

[Brent Christian]

Whats the best for the money? Dont want to spend alot of money on one, anyone have the Minn Kota shallow water anchor?

          Boat is an 18ft Laser

[Scorchx1245]

I like the idea of the power poles better, all the boats I've fished as a Co angler the power poles seem quite and I can find them cheaper.

[slonezp]

I got the Talon 3 years ago. Best pricing was on amazon.  MK has mail in rebates

[WIGuide]

If purchased new, they seem pretty comparable in price.

[BaitMonkey1984]

Yea, pretty comparable. Talons are a bit cheaper than the power-poles at all major retailers I frequent. Never used them, have no friends that have. I am looking to get 1 or 2 shortly, and for me a major factor in my decision is space. The Talons don't eat up the battery box like a power pole does to my knowledge. Thats important for me because I do not see how I could realistically fit the power pole accessories in my back compartment. Talons to my knowledge are self contained and do not present this problem. 

[WIGuide]

14 hours ago, BaitMonkey1984 said:

Yea, pretty comparable. Talons are a bit cheaper than the power-poles at all major retailers I frequent. Never used them, have no friends that have. I am looking to get 1 or 2 shortly, and for me a major factor in my decision is space. The Talons don't eat up the battery box like a power pole does to my knowledge. Thats important for me because I do not see how I could realistically fit the power pole accessories in my back compartment. Talons to my knowledge are self contained and do not present this problem. 

It really depends on the model of power pole you're looking at. For instance the Sportsman II is cheaper than the Tallon. ($1,395 vs $1,799.99). If you compare the Power Pole Blade to the Tallon the Tallon is cheaper. ($1,995 vs $1,799.99) If you don't have a flat transom or don't want to drill holes in your transom, you'll also need adapter brackets. Power Poles brackets run around $200 where the adapter for the Tallons are $299.99. So comparing Blade vs Tallon with brackets they are very close in price with a Tallon being slightly cheaper ($2,099.98 vs $2,190).

I hear you on the space issue though. 

[IntroC]

Also with the talon if you plan on going under low bridges you'll need a tilt bracket or even backing it into a garage. Thats another $200 bracket. For my boat I would have had $500 tied up in brackets for the talon. Made me look into the power-pole which is what I pulled the trigger on.  Hoping I made the right decision. I like the all electric of the talon. The simpleness of the power-pole. You can install drift paddles on a pole to slow your troll if you were so inclined to do so. The only thing I don't like about the pole is the hydraulics. It seems though problems with them are few and far between. IMO its a horse apiece depnding on what you want. I really thought they were both great additions to any boat so for me it really just came down to price as im sure I would have been happy with either units. $300 was the deciding factor.

[gulfcaptain]

I went Talon simply because I wanted the extra 4ft of depth, (12ft Talon) and is still all contained in the same size unit (4ft high)as a Power Pole, but if I'd gone to 10ft poles it would be even taller, so that was a no go for me.  Also has a manual raise if you loose power since it  runs off batteries.  So no need to try and manually have to lift them by getting in the water and tying them up as you will have to do if the blades fail.  I do have the fold down bracket and with a $60 plug adapter I can pull the Talon off the boat and store it if needed without any problems in about 3minutes.  The fold down I wanted especially for travelling and storing reasons.  It may run a bit more but the positives outweighed the costs in the long run.

[stfreed]

I am waiting on the new three stage 8 foot Minn Kota Talon.  I have a 36Volt trolling motor and just do not have any room for hydraulics.    The new 3 stage 8 foot Talon is significantly shorter and based on my measurements will be the same height as the top of my 225 Pro XS.  Thus garage and low bridges should not require the tilt bracket.  The frustrating part has been that MinnKota announced this model back in July at Icast and it is still not fully released to dealers.  They have been telling me next week next week since October.

 

[BassnChris]

2 hours ago, Carp104 said:

Just in case you are unaware, there's also manual options out there.  Check out the Bottom Buster from Alien Labs for an example of what I'm talking about.

I like the price of these.....but 'convenience' is my main concern.......not sure I really 'need' poles......but I know I would love to 'have' them!

[warrior1]

I bought my 2004 boat used a couple of years ago and the Power Pole was having some issues with the pump brain not recognizing the remotes.  After a call to PP and help from them with troubleshooting they figured it out and sent me the part in two days; for free. Must add, that my pole is outside it's warranty, so that says a lot.   If and when I add another or buy another boat, it will be a power pole based on the customer service they provided to me.  

 

 

[Bass newb]

5lb dumbell on a 50 yard line is pretty hard to beat.

[Bankbeater]

I use a 15lb mushroom anchor.  It sinks into the mud on the bottom, and you can tie off with the anchor line if you need to without using the anchor at all.

[Josh_Bovaird]

can get a 12ft talon with rebate now for 13-1400 if you shop around

[South FLA]

http://www.stickitanchorpins.com/

Best bang for buck, been using it for duck boats for years!  No issues and way cheaper than Powerpoles and Talons. I assume an 18' Laser is an Aluminum boat, correct?

 

As far as Talons vs PowerPole, I have Powerpoles and have broken two.  I learned that holding a 2500lb boat in a cross current with one doesn't work!

[Allen Der]

I got a dig in shallow water anchor and motor mount from TW on sale.  great deal and works fine

[WRB]

I have managed to bass fish over 50 years from "bass boats" without a mechanical power pole anchor and don't see any reason to start now. When I need a anchor, it's tied to the end of a rope and good for any depth I fish.

Tom

 

[gim]

I have the new 12 foot talon.  I have not used it yet though, as I live in MN and everything is still froze.  The reason I chose the Talon was for reasons already indicated on this thread...space in the battery compartment, tilt bracket, added depth, etc.  WRB, yes I do also have a manual anchor with a rope in my boat too, and I use it.

[Bass newb]

On 2/13/2016 at 0:54 PM, WRB said:

I have managed to bass fish over 50 years from "bass boats" without a mechanical power pole anchor and don't see any reason to start now. When I need a anchor, it's tied to the end of a rope and good for any depth I fish.

Tom

 

This is an anti-progress response. I'm sure you have a great deal of information and experience  to share with  this community but saying things like this will guarantee that your opinions are marginalized to newer members like me and many others.

Occasionally someone will tease me for having power windows in my car as well, as they have hand cranks that work fine.

It just paints an unnecessarily stubborn picture.

 

[WRB]

Tell me this; when do you use a shallow water anchor?

Answer, you want to hold the boat in place quietly to target bed fish. You only anchor the boat to stop it and hold in place in windy conditions. 

How often have you anchored during the past year, past 5 years or past 10 years to hold the boat in place and targeting bed fish?

Mty answer; only when night fishing isolated deep structure in windy condition so I am not blown off the spot when retrying hooks etc. I don't use anchors during the day because I do not target bed fish or use live bait.

To me shallow water anchors are a fad, a must have accessory because everyone else in club has them. I control my boat position using my trolling motor becuase it works for me and and see no reason to change. One reason is I prefer to keep my boat in water deeper than shallow water anchors are functional.

Tom

[Bass newb]

19 minutes ago, WRB said:

Tell me this; when do you use a shallow water anchor?

Answer, you want to hold the boat in place quietly to target bed fish. You only anchor the boat to stop it and hold in place in windy conditions. 

How often have you anchored during the past year, past 5 years or past 10 years to hold the boat in place and targeting bed fish?

Mty answer; only when night fishing isolated deep structure in windy condition so I am not blown off the spot when retrying hooks etc. I don't use anchors during the day because I do not target bed fish or use live bait.

To me shallow water anchors are a fad, a must have accessory because everyone else in club has them. I control my boat position using my trolling motor becuase it works for me and and see no reason to change. One reason is I prefer to keep my boat in water deeper than shallow water anchors are functional.

Tom

I fish power gen rivers. I have to anchor constantly so I can pick apart areas with my frogs or buzzbaits or the current would take me right off the spots that I want to cast from. I did this last season by using a dumbell tied to a rope. I won't do that for the rest of my life. Sooner or later I will spend money for convenience.  I just haven't made my mind up yet.

I also like to spend a minute or two picking apart fallen timber in the strong current of these gen rivers. Anchoring is needed.

 

Shallow water anchors are no fad, they are here to stay. 

My dad told me one time that "no one needs a 4 door truck" when I bought one. These things are ridiculous to say.  Do you remember when 4 door trucks weren't even made? I do. 

 

It's like this "if it helps, it will be successful ".

 

[WRB]

Every new bass boat comes equipped with them, standard option.

The only time I have witnessed the anchors down is when the anglers are targeting bed fish, otherwise they are up. Time will tell if they are a fad or not.

If you need them , get 2 so the boat doesn't spin in wind or current damaging the unit.

Don't fish in rivers, do fish in 25+ Mph sustained wind often in 2' waves where these anchors are worthless.

Tom

[slonezp]

8 minutes ago, WRB said:

Every new bass boat comes equipped with them, standard option.

The only time I have witnessed the anchors down is when the anglers are targeting bed fish, otherwise they are up. Time will tell if they are a fad or not.

If you need them , get 2 so the boat doesn't spin in wind or current damaging the unit.

Don't fish in rivers, do fish in 25+ Mph sustained wind often in 2' waves where these anchors are worthless.

Tom

I have a single Talon on my Lund. It gets more use fishing for panfish than it does bass. I am not a bed fisherman, I do not have the patience. I do however like to pick apart shallow docks and it comes in handy. I use it as a pivot point while I'm on the trolling motor. I can thoroughly fish neighboring docks with zero or minimal boat movement. I believe it's money well spent but by no means is it a necessity. It would be the last upgrade I would make to a boat. Just another tool for the arsenal.  

[Airman4754]

I just don't know when the hell I would ever be able to use them. Other than the one time I go to Clearlake every year I'd never even get to use them. Everywhere I fish here is steep canyon reservoirs. Even when bed fishing the back of my boat is usually deeper than 12 feet. 

I'd love to have a set, but they'd be more for looks than actual use. 

[warrior1]

i use my single PP a lot.  I tend not to bed fish but I've parked in coves to get out of the wind, and use it in extremely windy days on the delta river and it's helped and held me with no problems.  The other day my trolling motor died and the wind was blowing, without the PP our day would have been tough but we managed to park in spots that produced some good fish.  although not a necessity, it is nice to have.