The Garmin Spy Pole Changes How You Fish Forward-Facing Sonar
The Garmin Spy Pole is a motorized pole that controls your LiveScope transducer independently from your trolling motor.
If you're running LiveScope or the new GT360UHD, you already know the problem. When you want to look at fish or structure off to the side, you have to swing your trolling motor. You're repositioning your sonar and your boat at the same time. If you're in anchor lock, you're stuck looking at one spot unless you break anchor.
The Spy Pole solves that. It's a motorized arm that mounts to your Garmin Force or Force Pro trolling motor. Your transducer goes on the Spy Pole, not the trolling motor shaft. Now you can swing your sonar 360 degrees without touching your trolling motor direction.
You can point LiveScope at a brush pile while your boat stays in anchor lock. You can scan an entire channel without repositioning. You can track a school of fish as they move without chasing them with the trolling motor.
What It Does
The Spy Pole gives you independent control of your sonar direction. You control it three ways:
Wireless Remote
The gesture remote twists in your hand. Mount it on your rod or hold it. It comes with four mounting options and runs on a CR2032 battery.
Foot Control
Hands-free operation. The foot pedal comes with a mount. You adjust sonar direction while you're casting.
On-Screen Control
Use your Garmin chartplotter to position the sonar. You can set it and forget it, or make adjustments from the screen.
The Spy Pole also has three automated modes:
SpyLock locks your sonar onto a structure or waypoint. When your boat drifts or moves, the pole keeps pointing at the target.
SpyScan sweeps back and forth automatically. You set the scan range, and it searches the water while you focus on fishing.
SpyLink syncs the pole with your Force trolling motor. When you use the trolling motor foot pedal in anchor lock, you're steering the sonar instead of the boat. Your boat stays locked, but you can point LiveScope wherever you want.
What Transducers Work With It
The Spy Pole is designed for two transducers:
Garmin LiveScope transducers (LVS32, LVS34, and the new Plus models). This is forward-facing sonar. You're looking ahead or down at fish in real time.
GT360UHD transducer. This is Garmin's 360-degree scanning sonar. You get a birds-eye view of everything around your boat in 2D or 3D. Fish, structure, bait. You're seeing it all at once without rescanning.
You can mount both a LiveScope transducer and a GT360UHD on the same Spy Pole. The pole handles both at the same time.
How It Mounts
The Spy Pole mounts two ways:
Trolling Motor Mount (included). It clamps onto the shaft of a Garmin Force or Force Pro trolling motor. The 42-inch pole is made for 50-inch trolling motors. The 49-inch pole is made for 57-inch trolling motors. The mounting plate comes with a kickstand, and there's a quick-release system so you can remove the pole when you're not using it.
Gunnel Mount (sold separately for $430). If you don't have a Force trolling motor, you can mount the Spy Pole to your boat deck. It swivels in and out of the water.
What Comes in the Box
When you buy a Spy Pole bundled with the GT360UHD transducer, you get:
- Spy Pole (42-inch or 49-inch shaft)
- GT360UHD transducer with mount
- Mounting plate for Force trolling motor (with kickstand)
- Wireless gesture remote (with 4 mounting options and battery)
- Foot control with mount
- Power cable (6.6 feet)
- Quick-release cable management kit
- Wireless heading sensor
- Dogbone stabilizer
- Adjustable perspective bottom mount for LiveScope transducers
- Hardware and documentation
If you buy the Spy Pole by itself (without the GT360UHD), it's $1,999.99 for the 42-inch model or $2,199.99 for the 49-inch model.
If you buy the bundle with the GT360UHD transducer, it's $4,199.98 for the 42-inch or $4,479.98 for the 49-inch.
Weight and Power
The Spy Pole weighs 9 pounds for the 42-inch model, 9.35 pounds for the 49-inch model. That includes the motor, mount, and cables.
It runs off your boat's 12-volt system. It pulls 1.5 amps normally, up to 7 amps peak when the motor is moving. It comes with an 8-amp fuse. The power cable is 6.6 feet long.
The pole is rated IPX7 waterproof. It can handle being submerged up to 3 feet for 30 minutes.
Who It's For
The Spy Pole makes sense if you're already using LiveScope and you're tired of repositioning your trolling motor every time you want to look at something. It makes even more sense if you fish in anchor lock a lot, because now you can scan around your boat without breaking anchor.
If you're looking at the GT360UHD, the Spy Pole is how you control it. You can manually position the transducer, or you can let SpyScan sweep the area automatically while you fish.
The system is built for Garmin Force and Force Pro trolling motors. If you're running a different brand of trolling motor, you'll need the gunnel mount instead.
The Trade-Off
The Spy Pole is another piece of equipment on the front of your boat. It adds weight. It adds complexity. It's one more thing to set up, one more battery draw, one more system to troubleshoot if something goes wrong.
But if you're serious about forward-facing sonar, the ability to control your transducer independently is a big deal. You're not fighting your trolling motor to look at fish. You're not repositioning every time you want to check structure. You can lock onto a spot and stay there.
It's expensive. But if you're already running LiveScope and a Force trolling motor, it's the next logical step.
