I am looking for a suitable pole for moving a small aluminum boat across shallow, soft, cattail marshes with channels too narrow for rowing. Is there someone that makes such things? Something that breaks down or telescopes would be ideal. I could make something but I'm hoping something is made specifically for this that would be better than building a take down pole from wooden coat closet rods or stair railing dowels. I have a motor but would prefer not to use it for half a dozen reasons.
Evidently they have stopped selling it with the paddle and the duck-bill ends, that snapped on and off. But, it looks like the exact same telescoping pole.
If you're interested I could take some pics of mine tomorrow. It has served me faithfully for nearly 15 years, with zero problems. You might could find one with the two attachments on Amazon or eBay.
Thanks. This is a lot of help. I was finding mostly boat poles for hooking lines off a dock while mooring.
The high-end, $175 outfits look really nice, but this is an idea in the testing phase, so I think Stan's suggestion will work well enough. Wish it was a couple feet longer, but I really don't know what I need at this point. Some summer scouting trips will tell me a lot more.
I did find some duck-foot accessories for other poles sold separately. Stan, if you could get me an ID on the South End of that pole I might be able to see if I can make one of these feet attach.
Brent, I'll get a couple of the pics of the snap on ends, tomorrow, for you. The "duck-bill" spring loaded end is made especially for poling in places with a soft, mucky bottom. It works well, IMO. Worth looking for. I'll also look closely to see if there is a brand name on it.
I found it. It's not "Banded" brand. It's an Avery Greenhead Gear - 3 in 1 pole. There's a duck foot attachment for sale on eBay. There's the pole with the paddle on there too, on a separate listing. Very reasonable.
Thanks looks like what I need. I'll be in Omaha Tuesday and Saturday, either side of bird hunting. Might see if I can get one shipped to the Cabela's store for pick up.
I have used a cedar pole with a duck bill for 45 years. Stored well and given a bit of oil finish will make them last a long time. Love it for soft marshes and it does eve better on hard ones. I cut down a cedar tree that was growing in a very dense cedar patch so it was very tall without being too thick. In fact Ihad no saw or axe with me and cut it down with a Buck Folding hunter knife. Took awhile. Let it season out then worked it down a bit with a spoke shave. The only way to improve it would be to make it telescope.
I thought about going that direction but was afraid they would not hold up to hard use. Nothing would displease me more than having one fail me when I needed it. The phrase up the creek without a paddle comes to mind. If you used wood version you must get the grain perfect or heavy use would tend to cause it to break easily. Mine has flexed a lot over the years but springs right back without any cracks. You can pole faster than you can row and it takes a lot less effort.
When I had a small fishing skiff with a poling platform I used several poles of either fiberglass or graphite composite. The first was a length of fiberglass pole used by linemen to trip powerline jacks. It was fitted with an aluminum tube "Y" end for soft mud and a pointed end for harder shell bottoms. Herter's at one time sold the spring loaded "duck bill" which I mounted on a long wooden rod for poling a smaller skiff for duck and marsh hen hunting. Despite the availability of space age materials used by US guides in expensive lightweight poles, the old guides in Belize use saplings to pole their pangas for bonefish and permit fly rodders. A suitable end for a pole is a slingshot shaped piece of a limb whittled down to fit inside a fiberglass or composite tube with the "y" portion having 5"-6" limbs. Gil PS here's an assortment of poling duck bills: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...nkw=duck+billed+poling+pole&_sacat=0
In my youth, I used a wooden long handled boat paddle, that my dad made, when poling our 12' jon boat around the shallow swamps and sloughs in the area, in pursuit of bullfrogs! It obviously didn't telegraph, but was satisfactory for the task at hand in the waters I plied for frogs. Of course, it wasn't long enough for use on most rivers and lakes in the area, but worked well in the shallow back waters and adjacent swamps. I used the same set up for poling around while setting out and picking up duck and goose decoys and if the water got too deep, simply used it as a paddle to maneuver around.
Brent, I use unfinished wood curtain rods from home improvement stores. They don't telescope, but you don't need nearly as long a pole as you might think. A triangular scrap of plywood screwed to the end will keep it from sticking in the mud. In open water I use the pole like a kayak paddle. Cost is within anybody's budget...Geo
Can't beat a duckbill pole in the wetlands I hunt. Just buy the hinged bill and bolt to a 6-ft piece of 2" wood rail. I keep one on the bottom of each of my Duckers. They also sometimes come in handy for stabilizing the boat in deep water on windy days, as the Duckers have holes through the hull for that. Never tried aluminum, but you want something that will float and take a lot of stress and abuse.
One trick I use with my curtain rod push pole is to put a substantial screw in the handle to use as a pull pole rather than a push. If you get stuck on a sunken log, reach out to the next tree and hook it with the screw. Then pull the boat over...Geo
I just went out and looked at mine, it is an octagon collapsible aluminum one with floppy duckbill that I bought in the 1970's marker Rich Mar Glenwood, I bought in MN and used it for hunting, trapping and harvesting rice for 10 yrs in northern MN and WI and duck hunting out on the west coast. Great rig.
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