We had another recent topic that brought this up, so figured a separate thread would be worthwhile.
I need to refinish my Stiffy this off season and would like to change out the spike and foot. I have not tried these myself and would be interested in what others have to say. We have a lot of oyster here on the TX coast and when it is calm, the sound of a spike hitting an oyster can spook fish. The oysters can come up anywhere, but there are also great opportunities to pole oyster reefs, especially in cooler weather, to find fish warming up.
Here is what I’ve found so far…. please feel free to add your thoughts and other brands:
Stiffy Feather Foot:
Here is a similar design, but with softer poly tips to help improve dampening:
Precision Poling Systems released an interchangeable set a few years back. Their Instagram is still up but with old content and their website does not load, so they may not be making these. It’s a good idea to swap the tips when needed, but the price was high from what I recall and it only contained spikes, not feet.
I’ve looked that last one before. I’m not really wanting to cut the foot off my pole at the moment. I wonder if there is something that can be done to my current foot as far as some kind of thick coating? Think in terms of plastidip repeated a few times.
I’m fairly positive the FrigateBird Feather foot/tip is the same as the Stiffy version- I believe, Stiffy took over producing/selling them. There were a few different colors in the beginning stages.
Here is a video from Stiffy that show the process to cut off the old and put on the new
I would only do this since I am wanting to refinish the pole - so I’ll cut off the ends first, refinish, then install the new ones. I’ve put together a few 4 piece poles before - the labor isn’t too difficult.
I’ve had the poly tip and foot on both of the Carbon Marine PPs for this exact reason. Never had a care for the metal tips as the poly will not wear out in a lifetime of use.
I wonder if some sort of “slipcover” that goes over the foot might be constructed. The material would have to be strong enough to handle oysters with the right amount of padding and it would have to be “bound on” in some fashion to resist coming off.
I’ve had the Frigate bird feather tips since they were available. I actually helped them beta test them. The foot came out first and then the point.
Anyway, they are a fantastic upgrade. I push around a lot of oyster and they are significantly quieter. The fork has held up very well over the last couple years. The point, which I use most often, has taken more beating but still totally functional. I 100% recommend.
That’s good feedback Jay. I am going to change them out at this point. My only downside is that I typically lock my pushpole through the crossbar in the foot, which the feather foot does not have. But I’ve already been working on another solution.
Locking it doesn’t prevent someone from taking it - if they really want it, there are ways to do it. But it is a big deterrent.
I’m running the feather foot on my stiffy. I did cut the feet off my 24. So it’s more like a 23 or so now.
upsides - noticeably quieter than the metal when I’m poling over rock - which I do a lot. It does not seem to matter when poling in close proximity to fish. But I often wonder if it helps some on fish you might not be able to see yet.
Downsides - staking off is pretty much a no go unless you’re in mud. It also still doesn’t do much for crunching grass or sand when you’re tight to fish. You’re still going to spook them.
I’ve also put a couple sizable cuts and dents in the rubber from poling over rocks and oysters. I was concerned about longevity. But it doesn’t seem to be a huge issue. I’m running that pole everyday outside of tarpon season. So it’s on the water over 100 days this year and it’s held up well.
if I had to purchase again, I think I would choose to run the rubber foot and regular metal spike. It would give you the best of both worlds.
Great feedback Brandon - I fish a lot of grass and sand, more so than oyster or rock. Crunching grass can spook fish on calm days when the pressure is high. I may go with what you said - feather foot and spike for the tip.
I’ve used em for almost 2 years and honestly prolly only used the spike end a handful of times- I always use fork side. I’ll rotate from 12/6 to 3/9 postition from sand/hard to mud/soft. I always tell myself i should try to use spike end more but i never do for whatever reason. I’m this way regardless or pole setup-the metal spike + feather fork makes a lot of sense
I had the metal spike tip on a previous pole when I fished around a lot of oysters and limestone rocks (FL Big Bend). It held up extremely well and I don’t think it spooked fish any more so than usual.
Now I’m mostly in sand and grass and my Stiffy Guide just the poly tip and bridged foot. Using the point on the bottom is a little quieter, but with my belt loop tether the point is easier to lasso so I tend to keep the fork down.
