I'm looking at either 8' or 10', push pin type, fiberglass shallow water anchors for my 17' all-weld.

Just to be clear, I'm not even considering the Powerpole or Talon type anchors. All I need is a pole to stick in the mud.

Anyhow, I've priced out my options, measured my boat and still can't decide on either 8' or 10'.

I'd love to hear from some of you with experience with these type anchors. What water depth can I realistically expect to anchor in with a 8' pole? 10'?

It would seem that I'd need about 2' in the mud to hold and another 2' above the water surface. Based on this math I'd guesstimate that I could expect to anchor in 4' of water with an 8' anchor and 6' of water with a 10' pole. What do y'all think?

Thanks in advance, I appreciate any info, shared experience, tips or tricks regarding the matter

Why even spend that much? Go to lowes and buy you (2) 10' 3/4" galvanized pipe they are $20ea. And just tie them off to the boat

I'm not buying pre-made anchors. The fiberglass poles are only $16 each.

Don't mean to ask a dumb question but will the fiberglass rub off on your hands?

No, it won't. These are Max-Gain fiberglass poles specifically for this purpose.

Max-Gain Systems - Shallow Water Anchor

Catfish Edge - Shallow Water Anchor

I use a 10' pc of galv. pipe and put it threw a hole in my swim platform just above water level. this still only allows me to pin the back of the boat "well" in 4-1/2 to 5' fow., so I would say as long as you can reasonably keep in your boat is best. I often wish mine was 12 foot long.

I went to lowes and bought 2 - 12' x 3/4" pieces of galvanized conduit for $5 a pop, then took an old broom stick and jammed it in one end and cut it off a few inches long and sharpened it some and jammed it a couple inches in on the other end and made it flush, and glues it up. Now I have two anchor pins for my 17' Lowe boat that won't fill up w mud and water when I use them and they work great!

10 or 12 foot, I prefer 12

I have one of these on the back of my mudboat skiff. It sits in a couple of hooks with Velcro straps inside the gunnel and its about 10 feet. I personally wouldn't go shorter.

I can hold in 5' with my 10' pole

Two 10' steel conduit pipe 3/4 put a 1" pvc tee pop riveted to the top end to push with. Also I had a broken plastic boat paddle with an aluminum handle with a tee it fit right inside the conduit for the push tee. Just hammer one end together. And they worked well until the lake got too high.

Thanks for the ideas and the info gents.

You should be able to anchor in 7 foot with an 8 foot pole.

Longest pole you can carry on the boat is what you want. The fiberglass bends and flexes a lot. I would use the galvanized pipe. The less it flexes and moves, the better it will hold the boat. I had 8' poles just like you want to order, and sold them to use galvanized pipe instead. Fill one end with some sackrete to prevent the pipes from filling up with mud. Makes it easier to drive them into the ground too.