Garmin, Power-Pole Announces Advanced Boat Control Integration

July 6, 2023
Boating News Archive

OLATHE, Kan./July 6, 2023/PR Newswire — Garmin (NYSE: GRMN), the world’s most innovative and recognized marine electronics manufacturer, today announced expanded system integration with Power-Pole®, the industry leader in shallow water anchors, to offer anglers a remarkably advanced and more automated boat control experience when fishing in shallow water. 

“We are excited to build on our existing Power-Pole functionality that allows anglers to stow and deploy their Power-Pole anchors from their Garmin chartplotter. The new features integrate trolling motor and shallow water anchor equipment to automate boat control so anglers can spend more time fishing and less time positioning their boat.” –Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales

Coupled with an award-winning Garmin Force® trolling motor or new Force Kraken, anglers with a compatible Garmin chartplotter and a dual Power-Pole anchor setup can take advantage of the advanced anchor system integration to access new boat control features, including:

Smart Anchor – The smart anchor feature enables the chartplotter to detect current water depth and decide whether to use the Force trolling motor’s anchor lock capability – or automatically deploy the Power-Pole anchors into shallow water – to help hold the boat’s position over fishing hotspots.

Smart Anchor Jog – When using the trolling motor to jog, the Power-Pole anchors will automatically stow, and the trolling motor will jog to a new position. Smart anchor selection will occur at the new anchor position, and the Power-Pole anchors will either redeploy to hold the angler’s position or the Force anchor lock feature will engage.

Drag Detection – If winds, waves or strong currents cause the Power-Pole anchors to drag, the paired chartplotter can detect the movement and stow the Power-Pole anchors, allowing the trolling motor to maneuver the boat back to the originally selected anchoring position, where the Power-Pole anchors will automatically redeploy.  

End of Route – When using the Force trolling motor’s auto routing capability1 to follow select pathways, this feature engages the smart anchor mode when the angler has reached the end of their route. The Power-Pole anchors will automatically deploy if the water is shallow enough for anchoring, or in deeper water, the Force anchor lock capability will engage.    

Auto Stow – Power-Pole anchors will automatically stow when the Force trolling motor is stowed.

These new features are available to existing customers via the Q3 2023 marine software update. The update will be available as a free download beginning July 7 at Garmin.com, or through the ActiveCaptain® mobile app under the “My Marine Device” tab. In addition to a compatible ECHOMAP™ or GPSMAP® chartplotter, a C-Monster Gateway from Power-Pole is required.