I used on on my previous boat a 17' aluminum, works fine in 4' of water or less. A little bit of work sticking it and pulling.

 

Ive been using one for years and I love it. I believe "Stick-It" is the brand I have and its about 7' long. Low cost and zero maintenance! I haven't used my anchor on the flats in years.

 

I used to make one from some 1" galvanized pipe and reduce it down to 1/2" on the end put a "t" on top to tie off to the boat worked really good and i could make it as long as i wanted too. It didnt do so great in really hard bottoms but otherwise it worked great.

 

I've used my 8' stick it anchor for 10 years, no maintenance and has not failed yet. Very pleased with it.

 

^^^ this,,, I've got mounted on the bow of my 23 explorer,,, it swings the bow into the wind which is good if your wading.....

 

Use an 8' stick it on a Mako 17' and it works great. I also have the anchor bracket that makes it a bit more convenient but is not necessary.

 

x2 - been using it for years with a 15' tether made of paracord.

 

We built two out of fiberglass tree stakes. Been working great for years.

 

cajun anchor

i have a 6ft marsh (cajun anchor that i can throw out) anchor that will hold u almost in anything. (it in the boat but dont use it. that being said if u like to fish in the marsh, u really need to budget for the power pole, it will really save your back and arms after a days of fishing. In the grand scheme of things, its really not that expensive, cause with the service from the company, itll last as long as u have your boat.

 

If you ever fish mud, it really needs to be 8' long. 3/4" fiberglass tree stakes work well, and you can make a T handle out of PVC fittings. Total cost about $10 - $20. If you want to get a little fancier, and still save money over the pre-built ones, check out http://www.mgs4u.com/shallow-water-boat-anchors.htm .

 

I have a Stick It pin and I use it all the time. I still do not trust the Power Pole to hold my boat on a long wade and the pin helps position my boat for multiple casters on a drift when we find the fish.

Any pin works well in soft or fairly hard mud. OK in soft sand and are almost impossible to set well in hard sand. If you don't mind the weight a 2.5 gallon plastic bucket filled with Sackcrete works pretty good too. I used one when I was a West Galveston Bay man a long time ago.

The minimum length I would use is 8'. Mine is 8' and I really wish I had bought a 10 footer. They work just like a rod. The longer the better.

 

All good advice. Longer is better.

As far as attaching it to the boat, many guys get away with rope. You really want the stick, or the rope, to "give" some. Tied tightly, wave action might pull her up from the bottom. I am considering a rope, but with a bungee added to slightly shorten the rope, and give some "give". richg99

p.s. At the bottom of the page that I have LINKED, is another simple attachment solution, for no more cost than an SS ring and a short length of rope. I have NOT personally tried it.
http://www.mgs4u.com/ecommerce/shallow-water-anchor-parts-and-kits/

 

I Have 18' Alumacraft. I use 2 poles when sitting up with bait. One on side, toward front (3 feet from front) and another one on side (3 feet from rear) toward rear. I try to position boat with the side of boat facing into wind and poles on the wind side. This way people in the boat can throw with the wind and more can fish out the side. I use a rope on each and tie up close to side of boat. When using 2 of them, the boat will not swing from side to side. Easier and better than an anchor. Only problems are if trying to put down in deep mud, hard sand or oyster reef. It is surprising how well they hold in the wind.

 

Thanks guys. Lots of good suggestions.

I think I've got a pretty good idea of what I need.

 

Academy sells a stainless 3/4" x 8' rod with a shackle on top. it also comes with mounting brackets to secure inside your boat. I prefer the rod and with a rope attached to the bow over the Power Pole when wading. This will keep your bow into the waves. So waves won't wash over the stern. Their is also less drag on the boat when it's pointed into the waves or current and when you get ready to leave your most likely pointed in the right direction. When sticking it in the sand you just have to work it up and down until you reach a desired depth. It doesn't take much to hold. I lost my boat on a wade with heavy wave action because my power pole broke loose. So I don't trust them unless its slick calm.

 

I have a 10' Stick it and use it along with my Power Pole. I looped a stainless ring on one end of a 2ft piece of 3/8" nylon rope and created a loop out of the rope for the other end. I loop the rope through the boat cleat and run the stick through the SS ring. Keeps my boat straight while my Power Pole anchors the rear. Works great!

 

Got an 8' stakeout stick that's been thru 3 boats since 07.I love my power pole because of ease of use but the stick is a lot more trustworthy.When it's staked out from the bow with 20' of rope the flex of the longer pole takes most any wave

 

Power poles always hold[emoji12]

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

A piece of 1" stainless tubing works great.

 

I build and use 10' and fish Aransas Pass, the 10' if soft mud hold better is will be above the gunnel of the boat verses the 8' Can make them up to 12' and do for folks crappie fishing. 1'' solid fiber glass with about 10' rope they give you time to set them in windy conditions and remember to twist them before trying to pull them up, that brakes the hold on mud.

 

http://www.power-pole.com/spikes/

Just introduced at ICAST.

 

Had 10' Stickit from Corpus. Removed it. Pushing & removing from mud muck was too difficult for my wife. Plus unwieldy long pole is hard to hold when deploying. Strong wind put much pressure on stick also.

Replaced with MinnKota electric anchor lift at bow and MinnKota Talon in stern. Now it's just a push of the buttons for both of us. Fingers never get sore either.