push poles

[EAN]

I need a push pole and was hoping someone would have an opinion on loomis vs. stiffy. I will be poling a jones brothers 1910 LT.

[joshr]

I use a stiffy hybrid (yes, we are all coming up with a bunch of juvenile jokes now ;-) )...it's a great pole. I haven't used a gloomis pole before but have used a few other graphite and glass poles, and the stiffy hybrid is the best I've used. I'm pushing a much lighter boat than yours with a lot less wind resistance (18' Hewes), so that may well affect what pole you want to use.

Also, if you're poling a Jones Bros., you're probably in water that's more like 2-4 feet than 1-2. Get a long pole--22'.

--Josh

[EAN]

Yeah, i know i'll need a longer pole. I was hoping that i would get some input on the stiffy hybrid, it was at the top of my list. I'm a big guy and dodn't want a pole with too much flex. So I wonder if an all-graphite pole might be better.

[bonesnbass]

:confused: Good luck poling that Jones Bros. I had one and I don't think you want to be poling that boat around, I did try, I don't think you can pole it "around" maybe push it straight and going down wind. Better get electrics motors, maybe electric trim tabs. The pole is good on that boat to bail you out of trouble, say close into rocks or running aground. Maybe you can shoot some steroids in your behind --125-3

[danny]

while i'm not really familiar with a jones bros., i'm assuming it's a v hull, etc. i'm used to poling a skiff. but i will tell you that you should go with a long pole (22') no matter what (assuming you're on a platform), and that i have broken 2 g loomises. i currently use a stiffy. have fun...

[Frequent Fly-er]

EAN
Bones is right about poleing a Jones Bros 1910LT. You might want to borrow a pole first before you lay out the money for one of your own. If you are local you may borrow the one I have. It is a fiberglass two piece. The pole is a bit on the heavy side but you will get a feel on what it is like to push around a three thousand pound boat.
I will be installing one of those bass boat removeable pole type seats on the poleing platform this spring so I can use the electrics from the platform. The seat will let me have something to lean on while I use the electrics. I saw one on a boat last year and the guy raved about it.

[EAN]

I hear what you guys are saying about poling this beast around. But there are a couple of places that I fish where it is too shallow to run but I still have enough draft to drift them. I was kind of looking to use the pole as a way to get to these areas and set up a drift, but you guys have more experience with it than I do, maybe for the amount of time I will be using the pole it might be a waste of money.??? Frequent-flyer, do you have the lenco trolling motors?

[Frequent Fly-er]

EAN
Yes I do have Lencos on my Jones Bros 1910LT.

[danny]

don't know how freaked out stripers get, but i used lencos one summer for tarpon (with a push pole--i used the trolling motors to chase them in deep water)... and they scared the hell out of them from pretty far away. i know it's a whole different ballgame up here, but just fyi...

[duff]

For what its worth, I have a Jones Brothers 1910 LT, and I use a 18 foot piece of wood closet doweling for the limited purpose of setting up long drifts over shallow water, avoiding rocks as the creep up or pushing off the sand if I misjudge the draft. I got the doweling at a local lumber yard about two years ago, and I think they sell varying widths that go up to at least twenty feet in length. Of course, the wood is heavy, noisy if it hits the gunwales and is difficult to move around, but I find it works for these limited purposes. The makeshift pole has not rotted out, but I suspect it will over time. (Don't think they make a marine grade doweling, but who knows??) I got the idea for using the doweling from an old Lefty Kreh/Mark Sosin book on fishing the flats.

[brushfly]

I echo what Duff said. The idea first started when I attached a plunger to a long dowel to stir the bottom for flatties in Lake Montauk years ago.

The pole is a bit short though, mine maxed out at 10' but I now use it to bump the bottom setting up drifts, nudging off rocks, and moving into real shallow stuff when conditions are right. The plunger is now broken off but it use to help in pushing on the mud flats common in my area. It does O.K. pushing my 17'. Extra length would really help and I'll poke around in the lumber yards for a bigger one.

The one thing I did was add cork tape to the top to prevent blisters and splinters although after ten years on the boat it's pretty smooth. I'm sure you could add a bit of Hypalon to the top to cushion the edge. I've also pondered using PVC pipeing, filling it with foam fill to lighten the pole. Nice part is it gets you in the game for a few bucks and will give you an idea of polling the Jones.

[dollarshort]

Ive been kicking around the "Pole " idea for a while myself. I have a Maritime 20D ( a bit lighter than the JB ) but because it has so much free-board I get blown around alot. So with that said I think bucking up $200-400 for a pole that may be total waste I may just go for the the PVC or the Dowel. I was thinking that if the PVC was foam filled it should stiffen up a little as well. Or maybe modify the dowel to stiffen it in its major flex points.

Last year I found a floating aluminum pole around 6 or 7ft long that fell off a sail boat. Worked pretty well if I sat on the stern aor bow and walked the boat accross the shallows. As like you I like to fish the skinny stuff but with a tight budget I dont want to waste money I dont have to.

Great idea guys. HOME DEOPOT here I come! :brow

[danny]

i think you guys are on to something. if you're not pushing a true skiff 8 hours a day, why spend $600. on a pushpole. that's what my poles have cost, and unless you use one all the time, or a lot, you can probably get away with a heavier, less specialized (expensive) pole.

[mctrout]

In order to keep the pole in the the holders on the gunnel, the pole needs to flex quite a bit. the only material that does that is glass/graphite without retaining its shape. otherwise it will pop out all the time or you will need to bungee the crap out of it and then there goes the point of having the freedom of a pole, if you have to spend 5 minutes strapping it on everytime you want to move. that or you mark the crap out of your boat just leaving it inside without strapping it on.

At the very least buy a moonlighter glass one or not at all

[brushfly]

In regard to mounting the dowel. Like I said, on my 17' the 10' pole rests on top of the freeboard port side. The dowel snakes between the stansions of a bow rail and stern rail. One 12" bungee wraps it around one stantion and the spring cleat. It's off the "mount" in less than five seconds and is pretty simple, however on a boat without rails, it might be a problem mounting it down. (Although I wish the boat was rail-less, they help in keeping the kids from going in the drink!)

I also mounted teak step pads at the points fore and aft where the pole hits the fiberglass to protect the glass.

[dollarshort]

I was doing a little day dreaming and was thinking about making an 18ft 3pc out of wood. I figure if I cut it into 6ft sections it could be more portable. Also to stiffen I would glass the area where the sections joined.