Kayak anchors

FinsnFur · March 17, 2016, 07:34:07 PM

Ronnie/Ed do you guys use anchors when your kayak fishing?
I've seen (briefly) a few conglomerations rigged up and wondered what or if you guys use.

nailbender · March 17, 2016, 07:56:45 PM

Does that mean you now have something to tie it to? That helps ya know.

coyote101 · March 17, 2016, 08:34:46 PM

I'm not a kayak guy, but I use an old window sash weight in my canoe. On the canoe trips to Canada where there is a lot of portaging, I use a basketball net, tied closed at the bottom with a couple of rocks in it. That way I don't have to portage the weight of the anchor, I dump the rocks before the portage and pick up new rocks at the other end if I'm going to need an anchor.

Pat

slagmaker · March 17, 2016, 09:08:56 PM

Quote from: coyote101 on March 17, 2016, 08:34:46 PM
I'm not a kayak guy, but I use an old window sash weight in my canoe. On the canoe trips to Canada where there is a lot of portaging, I use a basketball net, tied closed at the bottom with a couple of rocks in it. That way I don't have to portage the weight of the anchor, I dump the rocks before the portage and pick up new rocks at the other end if I'm going to need an anchor.

Pat

Now that is a neat idea

slagmaker · March 17, 2016, 09:10:09 PM

I use an old golds gym weight welded to a shaft with an eye bolt welded to that. Made a fine anchor for my trips down sand creek

Okanagan · March 17, 2016, 11:18:16 PM

Quote from: coyote101 on March 17, 2016, 08:34:46 PM
I'm not a kayak guy, but I use an old window sash weight in my canoe. On the canoe trips to Canada where there is a lot of portaging, I use a basketball net, tied closed at the bottom with a couple of rocks in it. That way I don't have to portage the weight of the anchor, I dump the rocks before the portage and pick up new rocks at the other end if I'm going to need an anchor.

Pat

Yes, great idea!

FinsnFur · March 18, 2016, 05:20:26 AM

Quote from: nailbender on March 17, 2016, 07:56:45 PM
Does that mean you now have something to tie it to? That helps ya know.

Nothing yet

Kinda irritating that ya hear nothing and cant even track shipping.

__________

From what I've been reading, it's not really necessary to use a weighted anchor unless your in swift water. The ones I'm seeing are like claws or drags and weigh very little. Some even open up and retract for storage. Bad idea here?

Okanagan · March 18, 2016, 09:53:58 AM

Quote from: FinsnFur on March 18, 2016, 05:20:26 AM
Quote from: nailbender on March 17, 2016, 07:56:45 PM
Does that mean you now have something to tie it to? That helps ya know.

Nothing yet Kinda irritating that ya hear nothing and cant even track shipping.

__________

From what I've been reading, it's not really necessary to use a weighted anchor unless your in swift water. The ones I'm seeing are like claws or drags and weigh very little. Some even open up and retract for storage. Bad idea here?

You should buy an anchor! It would be kind of like a promise keepsake about a hope for the future. Put it someplace prominent in your house and tell people who ask, "That's the anchor for a kayak I'm going to have someday."

FinsnFur · March 18, 2016, 11:41:34 AM

LOL I set myself up for that

Sent from my Galaxy using Tapatalk

HuntnCarve · March 18, 2016, 12:19:43 PM

You can tie it to your Ford.

nailbender · March 18, 2016, 01:47:37 PM

Ford doesn't need an anchor it is one!

centerfire_223 · March 18, 2016, 04:24:06 PM

I carry 2 different anchors on mine. The first one is a piece of log chain about 2 feet long. I have this hooked to a 16' retractable dog leash, then carabineer it to my kayak. I use this if I am in somewhat shallow water and the wind isn't blowing hard. It will even drag a little if it is, which sometimes is ok. It lets you fish a bank relatively slow in the wind.

My other anchor is a normal mushroom anchor, about 10 pounds. I have this tied to a long (50') piece of parachord. This is when the wind is blowing pretty good or I am in deep water, which is a lot of the time here. With the 10lb anchor you don't have to let out a lot of extra line. So it works pretty good. I also keep a drift sock in there too. This thing is a life saver when it's windy and you want to cover water, say like throwing a crankbait or spinnerbait.

This sounds like a lot and it is but sometimes it's worth the extra weight to be prepared for anything during a tournament. If I can remember it I will take some pictures of my set up tomorrow, to include my tackle crate and depth finder setup.

Dale · March 18, 2016, 08:03:24 PM

Quote from: HuntnCarve on March 18, 2016, 12:19:43 PM
You can tie it to your Ford.

Quote from: nailbender on March 18, 2016, 01:47:37 PM
Ford doesn't need an anchor it is one!

ya know Jim, GM has had how many billion vehicles under recall and these skid marks keep busting on Ford...

FinsnFur · March 18, 2016, 08:25:09 PM

Ohhhh! I see we had some funny @$#%ers in here today uh?

FinsnFur · March 18, 2016, 08:27:07 PM

Interesting concept with the log chain Ronnie. I like the sounds of that.

weedwalker · March 19, 2016, 08:17:15 AM

I hardly ever use an anchor. When I do it's either a 2 1/2 lb barbell weight or a 2' piece of heavy log chain with a bike innertube stretched over it to quiet it down some, hooked on the large 16' retractable dog leash.

weedwalker · March 19, 2016, 08:21:50 AM

I guess it kinda depends on the type of fishing you do. If you're fishing for bass and casting lures all day like I do, you'll be moving all the time and probably won't anchor much.
If you're wanting to stay in place and fish for crappie or whatever, you might want to put an anchor trolly on your kayak to be able to turn one end or the other of it into the wind.

weedwalker · March 19, 2016, 08:25:36 AM

If you anchor in moving water, you need to have out enough rope for 3 times the depth. Like 10' deep you need out 30' of rope. That's so the rope doesn't pull the end of your kayak underwater.

FinsnFur · March 19, 2016, 11:10:40 AM

I really like that chain idea. The first thing that went through my mind was, "boy I bet thats loud on a plastic hulled boat", LOL. But that inner tube idea is pretty slick

Okanagan · March 19, 2016, 11:51:07 AM

Keep up the good stuff. I'm learning. That inner tube over the chain is a winner!

FWIW here are some ideas that may or may not be useful in your waters. In our swift water, usually very deep, kayak experts caution against using an anchor -- ever. Lots of danger of pulling the boat under apparently, or rolling one side under. However, I would like to anchor in the current and plunk fish for Chinook salmon. I'll pick a place with a little slower current to reduce the danger. I am thinking that with Pat's basketball net bag of rocks, a man could tie a release line to the bottom of the bag. I'd run a regular anchor line with six feet of chain attached to the top of the anchor bag and then a floating rope line to the boat anchor trolley. The weight of the chain keeps the direct pull on the anchor flat along the bottom and holds better. With the trolley I'd run the anchor line off of the stern and face downstream to fish.

Now, the release: tie a light line of hard woven, stiff, non-tangling cord to the bottom of the rock bag anchor, not pulled tight but running back to the cockpit. If I hook a big fish and want to follow it downriver, a pull on the release line dumps the open-topped bag of rocks. The release line and the anchor line trail along behind until I pull them into the boat.