Push Pole Recs

Get the longest pole you can afford. My 23 foot pole is down to about 21 feet and that's about as short as I'd like to go.

Forget trying to fish with an aluminum pole. Too loud. Too heavy. The 21' MHX mud hole pole is $400 and it's about as cheap as useable push poles get. The Mangrove push pole is a piece of shite. Don't even bother with it.

Carbon marine 21' GL2R is $700. There isn't much between the MHX and GL2R.

https://thesuperstick.com/

I have been using these poles ever since I started tournament fishing. They have worked great for me.

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I can't imagine spending $700 on a pole.

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$700 is not an expensive push pole.

You should go at least two feet longer than your boat, but that's a stretch. I have several pushpoles and a couple of them are aluminum. You do not want an aluminum pole for sight fishing. Any pole that's long enough is going to be too heavy, and if it is made out of lighter gauge aluminum, it will bend. Trust me on that one. Aluminum is fine for shorter poles/duck boats/pirogues/etc., but you need something significantly longer to push a poling boat properly for long periods of time.

There is a local guy in St. Bernard that sells Stiffy poles for good prices. If you're interested I can get you his contact.

Pretty sure they sell the superstick at basspro but they ship them for $20. You won't find a better pole for the price.

Just read some recs on superstick and they have great reviews.

Anyone here have one?

Go Devil makes a nice aluminum one that floats.

I wouldn’t be spending a dime on it

What makes the Carbon Marine one twice the price as the first one you posted?

First decide how serious you are about pursuing sight fishing by poling. You can sight fish with a trolling motor in the marsh. Poling a 16ft high and wide aluminum jon boat is not the same as poling a Hell's Bay flats skiff. Match your spend and equipment to your boat and desire to sight fish. Most people that pole an aluminum jon boat don't last long before they get their fill of trying to sight fish by poling. They soon realize a trolling motor will get it done and the pole most often stays in the cradle. A good $300 fiberglass pole will do for that level of effort. A really serious sight fisherman that is poling a $40K to $50K dollar flats skiff for hours at a time will be glad they dropped $800 to $1200 on a carbon fiber pole.

Some manufacturers sell "Blems" or blemished poles at a reduced price. The poles are structurally sound, but they have a cosmetic flaw. Call some of the makers and see if you can luck into one. I bought a Stiffy fiberglass pole that way, that was a great pole. It was just too heavy for all day poling.

Definitely agree with whoever said the longer the better. The less you have to reset the pole the better. Too short and it will work you to death. Plus all those resets make it less stealthy.

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What makes the Carbon Marine one twice the price as the first one you posted?

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Energy transfer mostly. Weight savings a close second. A pole that has a lot of flex eats up a ton of energy before the boat starts to move. Personally I can't tell too much of a difference between a one piece and multi piece.