I’m looking to buy a Shallow-water anchor. Should I buy one over the other? I’ve been told that the Talon mechanism doesn’t hold up well in pluff mud. What do y’all think?
I haven’t heard anything about the Talon and pluff mud. There are pros and cons to both.
Power Pole’s Customer Service is said to be some of the best in the industry. Also, I’ve been told PP’s are easier to maintain for do it yourselfers. I’m not that handy so I’d take it to the shop regardless of which one I had.
With Talons, you mount the unit and run your electric. There’s no hydraulic pump to install (as well as mount the unit and run your electric) like on the Power Pole so you don’t have to worry about taking up additional under-deck space if that’s a concern. Talons are also quieter than the Power Poles and they’re faster to deploy (straight line deployment versus the unhinging “crab leg”).
To be honest, I haven’t seen enough of a difference in durability between the two to side one way or the other. Both seem like well-built units.
God bless the “ignore” function.
All I have heard is power pole. I asked Charleston Marine whom is a minn Kota dealer and they looked at me sideways and said power pole hands down. As he is working on a warrently fix for the talon.
Buy a Minn Kota gps spot lock trolling motor. Never mess with the anchor.
I own a Powerpole, but rarely use it. 99% of the time i fish artificial, so keep that in mind.
I used to own a Cajun anchor (read piece of rebar) and loved it. It always had me face. The right direction. The downside was it rusted all over my boat and was muddy.
The Powerpole systems flip you around backwards in the tide and I don’t like that. I guess it would be ok if you anchored above the structure.
The other thing is I don’t trust electrical equipment on a saltwater boat. Hydraulic is easier for me to fix. Pumps aren’t expensive to replace.
Epres does make a good point. If you want to avoid the “flip you around backwards” issue, regardless if you get a PP or Talon, you better get two. Two anchor points will help combat the spin whereas a single anchor will not.
As far as not trusting electrical equipment in saltwater, pretty much everything on the boat (trolling motor, GPS, fish finder, bilge pump, navigation lights, ignition…) has some sort of electrical requirements so that’s probably nothing to be overly concerned with.
God bless the “ignore” function.
Get an i-Pilot instead.
Couldn’t argue with the 1-Pilot.
The only time I’d prefer a shallow water anchor over something like an I-Pilot is in shallow water when I’m trying to be as stealthy as possible. Anchoring with a PP or Talon will be considerably stealthier than a constantly running trolling motor holding you in one spot. Plus, while the position accuracy has gotten exponentially better in the new I-Pilot units, nothing is more accurate than actually anchoring in a spot with a PP or Talon. Obviously if you’re in water deeper than your PP or Talon will reach, the I-Pilot would be the better fit for that application.
God bless the “ignore” function.
I use the fiberglass Stick-It shallow water anchor and the I-pilot for my flats boat. I think my stick it is 6 ft. I love the no-technology, no-electrical, low profile aspect… and it cost like $60. I stow it in the horizontal rod holder under the gunwhale so it is out of the way until needed.
4ft and under i’m using the Stick-it, deeper than that I’ll use the I-pilot. Rarely use my traditional anchor.
I have a Wang Anchor (similar to Stick-It) on the bow, and I plan on either a Talon or Power Pole on stern. I also talked to guy at Charleston Marine, and he poo-pooed the Talon. I have a New (still in box) Talon , just wonderin’ whether to use it or send it back and get a Power Pole. I’d Love more input before I make my decision.
The guys at Charleston Marine are top notch, they have always steered me right. If I was in your situation I would return the Talon because I would ALWAYS be wondering “maybe i should have gotten the Power Pole”.
Get two power poles. They extend out the back giving you better leverage vs straight down.
With winds, tides, currents, and pluff mud it’s a lot to ask of a single anchor.
Above comments are correct, a single anchor would be annoying to me. Constant swinging and no better boat control than a Danforth. Dual anchors allow you to set your angle and keeps swinging to a minimum.
The iPilot is great and can hold the boat in a relatively stable location. 10ft give or take.
I fish shallow creeks so an iPilot is not useful to me when there is only 2-3ft on each side I cant expect it to hold me in the exact center of the creek.
Biggest key here is expectations.
Single anchor has a single fixed point allowing the boat to swing around depending on wind/current/etc.
Dual anchors have 2 fixed points. The boat swings less but is still influenced by the wind/current/etc.
Recommend 8ft poles. Anything higher and they stick out way above the outboard. If your casting from the back deck it can become a problem.
I purchased my poles through Charleston Marine and price matched a competitors price.
One of the benefits of the talon is you can get a quick release handle kit that makes the talon removable in under a minute. If you store your boat in a less secure spot it’s somethiing to think about. Also if you fish deeper water, you can leave the talon off for those trips.
That sounds like an interesting bonus. I have a low garage door opening, so that quick removal could certainly help. Have you heard anything bad about the Talon and pluff mud?
Haven’t heard or experienced any issues with pluff mud, it sinks well into pluff mud, no so much on hard bottom. I assume that’s typical of the power pole as well. Has a rough water setting that keeps it in place a little better. We have had issues with it retracting after use, regardless of bottom type. Ours is older, 5 years or so, need to keep the track mechanisms clean and lubed. We store our boat in a neighborhood boat yard, don’t want to leave it or trolling motor attached. We leave it off a lot when we fish the jetties or beyond, nice to not be encumbered by it. We’lluse it when we go shallow water and the trolling motor battery is near dead.
So, is that the Quick Release bracket ? I’ll look into that.
Do you attach to a jack-plate, or to transom ?
The mounting plate is just part of the mounting bracket assembly, the mounting bracket assembly attaches between the motor and the transom, no jack plate on the boat. Not sure if the mounting bracket assembly is needed or not, ours was already attached when we got the boat used.
The picture shows the 4 quick release handles. The handles replace the mounting nuts only. The power has a twist plug like the one for trolling motors, it’s located in the splash well. It’s very easy and quick to remove.
10’ copper lightening rod.
-attach line to hole in top
-chuck rod in the Plif Mud like u are harpooning the White Whale
-have used one for years on my Sea Hunt 20’er and my 16’ Jon Boat
-no rust and will hold boats well in the creeks in moderate
weather conditions
-cheap-too:)
16’ Alumacraft Mod V Hull Jon Boat
25hp Yammy 4 stroke
One difference between the two not mentioned is that the Talon still has the housing sticking up when deployed so that could be a nuisance to casting. When the PP is deployed, it’s out of the way.
quote:
Originally posted by DownLowOne difference between the two not mentioned is that the Talon still has the housing sticking up when deployed so that could be a nuisance to casting. When the PP is deployed, it’s out of the way.
Depending on how deep you’re fishing. While they may not be sticking up in the way, the legs or poles themselves reach out into the water away from the boat (as opposed to straight down like the Talon) and they can and do get in the way when you’re fighting a fish or retrieving a lure.
Both have their pros and both have their cons.
“…be a man and PM me.”