I just bought a new to me Skeeter and was thinking about installing either an I pilot or shallow water anchor. I got it for primarily bass fishing and I am mostly shallow fishing but do enjoy chasing striper and sandies. If I went with anchors
is one sufficient? I guess I am looking at pros/cons. Thanks for any input.

Spot lock is great for schooling fish and linking to a graph is even better. It can also be used shallow although not as effective as anchors because the boat will turn bow into the wind. Anchors are great in shallow water but useless in deep water. 2 anchors are better than one for keeping the boat in place in shallow water if the wind is blowing. since you fish both I would suggest starting with a spot lock trolling motor linked to your graph(s) and 1 starboard anchor. You can add a second anchor in the future if you want....

Does the added weight of two poles hinder the performance of a 19' with 150 VMax?

I don't have anchors so I hope someone else jumps in. I would imagine the answer is yes since you are adding 55lbs each 10-12" behind the boat plus a little more wind and water drag. Would probably need to re-prop for a better holeshot and loose a bit on the top end....

I had 8’ poles on a 20’ boat with a 250. I didn’t realize how much different the boat would handle until I sold them. The two and pumps weighed 84 pounds. I now am running a Minnkota trolling motor with ipilot link and am much happier.

That's what I thought. I think I will go with the pilot.

I have Blades on a 18’8” boat with a 4Stroke 150. I actually didn’t notice a thing. I lost MAYBE 0.2 mph GPS, and MAYBE 0.5 seconds on the hole shot. A PowerPole Blade doesn’t weigh much.

I will say that I have an Ultrex too. I use the spot lock about 100 times to 1 of the PowerPole while fishing. I usually am deeper than what the Blades useful range is. I have 8 ft and it has to be 6ft of water or less for them to grab and hold. I like the Powerpoles for beaching the boat and bed fishing though. For that, it can’t be beat.

They both have a time and a place, but the spot lock is used FAR more often.

I have a pair of 12 foot Talons on a ZX190.I believe they weigh 50 pounds each with the bracket. The additional weight was noticeable. They are bolted to my hydraulic jack plate.To help I had to make some minor modifications to the brackets where they would clear the sponsons,which allowed the Tallon to be pulled back towards the transom,securely locked down within half an inch of the back of the sponson. I also ditched the flooded cell batteries and went with AMG batteries. That got me about 30 pounds back. I lost a couple miles per hour but still had the porpoising issue Skeeters are known for. I wound up buying a foil from the guy out of Louisiana, don't recall his name, but that totally eliminated the porpoising issue. I also have an XI5 saltwater on the bow with spot lock. Personally,I think they both are very useful in different situations. It would be a coin toss would decide which I use more

I love my I Pilot. The challenge in shallow water, depends on how shallow, how windy and the amount of silt, etc. I have had times when my spot lock did not have a negative impact and other times when it stirred up too much stuff in the water. For the too much stirring up, I will be looking for at minimum one shallow water anchor. Only one to balance out the weight when I am running the boat along. The only experience I have with a boat only having one shallow water anchor was on a guide trip in Galveston. The guide only had one and it had plenty of hold for the boat. It did move side to side as the waves and current changed. I can see pros and cons to that as well. My opinions only, but hopes this helps in your decisions.