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.
