Poling a 22' bay boat?

[Shallowmind]

Do any of you have any experience poling larger flats and bay boats? A couple of years ago I met a gentleman with one of the larger Ranger flats boats. He liked poling it because he said it went where you wanted it to go. I do not have alot of experience with poling but was considering trying it on my 22' bay boat. I love the room and ride of the boat, but not very happy with the trolloing motor in shallow water. Any information would be great.

[Shallowmind]

I'm sure someone has tried!

[sac56fire]

Give it a try, I like poling my 20' flats boat in calm weather. Your not going to push that 22 bay boat very far into any wind. I suggest you borrow a friends pole and keep the trolling motor attached.

Steve

[fat Al]

Bay boats do not come with poling towers. Bay boats are simply not meant to be poled. The best poling boats are flats boats and the lighter the better. A 16 to 18 if lightweight is ideal. As far as I know Rangers are a bit heavy. Those that do not know how to pole are liable to pole in circles and maybe break the pole if the wind is not right. The 21 and 22 flats or bay boats are usually to heavy to be good poling boats while boats like the 15 Maverick or the 17 Sterling, or the small Action Crafts are great for it. The old Hewes 16 Bonefisher is another great poling boat but they are no longer in production.

[castnet]

On my Carolina Skiff 21-8...I carried a 2"x11' wooden dowel that I used as a push pole and to also ward off the occassional aggressive manatee....I didn't make a habit out of poling it (had no platform) but the few times I did it was fairly easy...Id either stand on a cooler in the back or on the front deck....the longest time I ever spent poling was around 3 hours in Mosquito Lagoon.

[capt_matt]

Is not going to be easy..

I have a 12' bamboo pole I keep on board my 18' center console. I use it occasionally to move the boat in the shallows or to position the boat near working fish in shallow water. You can't do anything with it in a wind.

I have also poled a true flats boat (Hewes) with a long pole and a platform. That works much, much better!