So many walleye fishing presentations rely on boat control to position the boat over the right spot at the right speed in order to get bites. To accomplish ideal boat control walleye anglers have many tools at their disposal, but one boat control device we have come to rely on a great deal the past couple seasons is a paddle … bet that gets your attention!
We’re talking a Power-Pole Drift Paddle! If you have seen our boats the past couple seasons, you have noticed they sport these tall apparatuses on the transom opposite the kicker motor. That is a Power-Pole shallow water anchor. The Power-Pole shallow anchors have been very common on bass boats the past few years, they're just beginning to seen mounted on walleye boats.
Tip: Drift Paddle™ Accessory for Power-Pole® Shallow Water Anchors
While we do occasionally use the Power-Pole for shallow water presentations, it’s when we attach a Power-Pole Drift Paddle to the unit’s spike that we have a boat control tool that can be used in a number of ways to keep us on fish.
Ideal for Fishing Windy Days
Let’s say you are trolling open water in early summer using spinners. The wind is up to about 15 to 20 mph, and as you troll with the wind, it becomes difficult to maintain a good slow speed for the spinners because the wind is pushing you so much. With the Drift Paddle attached to the Power-Pole, you simply deploy it into the water creating drag that helps slow down your trolling speed. You can even control the amount of drag it creates by how far down into the water you lower the paddle. Deploy it only half way and it slows you down a little; deploy it all the way down into the water and we have actually been able to slow the boat down as much as a mile to a mile and quarter when trolling with our big engines.
Another advantage of using the drift Paddle in this scenario is that with the paddle down, it dramatically decreases the “surge” effect the waves have on the boat as you troll. That’s a big deal, especially when trolling spinnerbaits, as the surges can affect how the spinners are running, and in dingy water can make it difficult for the fish to track down your bait. By eliminating or at least lessening the surging, the spinners run truer and therefore are more effective. Not to mention it just makes for a more comfortable ride for the angler.
The Drift Paddle has also proven to have several advantages over using drift socks for drifting presentations … but that’s for another Blog.
ep1012 Hot Topix Excerpt: Power Pole Drift Paddles and Trolling from The Next Bite on Vimeo.
Note: If you have questions or comments on this or other articles of mine you may have read, contact me through the website The NextBite.
by Gary Parsons
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