Today it may seem like Power-Pole shallow water anchors are just about standard equipment on new bass boats. It’s gotten to the point that when you see a relatively recent model without them it looks bare, but it wasn’t always that way, especially in Canada.
The first time I saw a Power-Pole on a boat was fishing a tournament at Rice Lake in Ontario. A guy from the U.S. had come up to compete, and his boat was rigged with them. I didn’t take the time or have the courage to go up and ask him what they were, so I remained in the dark for a while. Then we started to see more and more of them, and eventually I figured out what they were for.
I didn’t get Power-Poles of my own for a few years after that, and I quickly learned that they were good for so many more purposes than just bed fishing. No matter where you fish you’ll end up using them far more than you ever expected.
As I started to compete in some AAA level tournaments in the States, I got to know some of the Power-Pole technicians, which gave me a window into what a mission-driven company it is. They don’t just make great products, they live and breathe them. Then when I was fishing FLW, an opening on the team came up and was offered to me. I jumped at the chance. Who wouldn’t want to represent a company whose products they already relied upon heavily?
What’s great about them is that they never rest on their laurels. Power-Pole could have stayed with the original models and not expanded to other categories of products and still dominated that market for the foreseeable future. Of course they didn’t do that. They found ways to make their existing products better and added new things to improve the overall fishing experience.
In the first category, they added the Drift Paddles, which replace a drift sock and do the job even better. For those of us who fish the Great Lakes, they are indispensable. If you fish any sort of big, open-water scenarios, they’ll quickly pay for themselves. It’s a very basic product, affixed to your existing Power-Poles and mounted flush along the sides so that they don’t catch wind when you’re running.
When you want to deploy them, you simply pull a pin and turn them by hand to the desired angle to maximize your drift. It takes less time than setting up or retrieving a drift sock and doesn’t leave that big “bag” in the water to get in the way. Simple solutions, done right.
More recently, they added the Power-Pole Charge, which is a complete battery management system and an absolute game changer. You can monitor all of your batteries through an app on your phone and move around power as you need it, recharging as you run.
Anyone who has fished tournaments knows the sickening feeling of cranking the ignition at the end of the day to go weigh in and having a dead battery. The Charge fixes that problem with an emergency start feature. You just hit it and give it 30 seconds to transfer power from your trolling motor batteries to the cranking battery and you’re good to go. It’ll pay for itself the first time you need it.
All of their products are simple to use and highly functional straight out of the box, but they continue to innovate with features like the C-Monster app and the improved Power-Pole Blades. They improve things “under the hood” too. The hoses continually get more durable, and they’ve introduced new brackets that you rarely have to tighten. I used to check the brackets after just about every day of crashing through big waves, but now I only need to do it once or twice a year.
I know that this may seem like a big informercial for Power-Pole, but the products and their popularity speak for themselves. Go to any local tournament or gathering of serious anglers and the majority of them will have Power-Pole products on their boats. If they’ve had to deal with the customer service department, they invariably rave about it being the best in the industry.
For a product that wasn’t even a category a generation ago, they’ve built an empire based on quality and innovation. I’m thrilled that they asked me to join their team, and like the rest of you, I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
