My wife bought me a telescoping 12-ft aluminum pole with some sort of hook on the end. At the time I thought "what the ....". It has become a very valuable tool. It lets me pull the boat in closely to trees w/o any noise and keeps my boat from crashing into the best crappie hangouts. I can tie the rope around trees without getting to close to spook fish. I'm sure it has help me land a few more in the boat.
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