# boat anchor setup



## 2007NNBS (May 7, 2009)

Im looking for a anchor setup for my fisher marine. Post pics of your anchor set-up and maybe it will give me a idea


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## grizzly (May 7, 2009)

i've been thinking about one of these, curious if anyone uses one and what they think of it.


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## 2007NNBS (May 7, 2009)

that is what i was looking at but i wasnt sure of the durability of it...my anchors are 20lbs


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## russ010 (May 7, 2009)

I've got the anchor mount above on my 1236... and I've got 100' of 3/8rope attached to a 4' link of chain, which is attached to an 18lb claw anchor... You'll have no problems with that little beast.


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## grizzly (May 7, 2009)

russ, is it on your bow or stern?


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## Quackrstackr (May 7, 2009)

russ010 said:


> I've got the anchor mount above on my 1236... and I've got 100' of 3/8rope attached to a 4' link of chain, which is attached to an 18lb claw anchor... You'll have no problems with that little beast.



Holy smokes... I bet you don't drag. :lol: 


Someone enlighten me.. what is the purpose of having an anchor chain for the majority of the fresh water that a jon boat would see? I have never used one as I don't want the muddy mess that would wind up in the boat and never had a problem. The lakes around here are mostly mud or gravel bottom, though.


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## ben2go (May 7, 2009)

Chain prevents chafing if the line hits something or scrubs on the bottom due to slack line.I use them but I am a safety nut.


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## russ010 (May 7, 2009)

my setup is on the stern... and the reason I have a chain is because it helps even more to prevent dragging. we have a lot of soft bottoms, and that anchor would still pull a little in high winds. I don't know why, but it did. I put that chain on there and it has made everything that much easier, not to mention lifting the anchor up out of the mud. But I can throw it in rocks and not worry about the rope getting snagged and cut - but with a 3/8" rope, I doubt it would happen, but it sure does make it easier to pull that bad boy out.


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## Quackrstackr (May 7, 2009)

How big is your chain?

Guys use bare 4' lengths of chain around here for drifting stump flats. You can throw two of them out behind the boat and nearly stop it dead in it's tracks in a pretty good wind even without an anchor attached.


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## russ010 (May 7, 2009)

I think I used a standard galvanized safety chain that you would normally use for attaching your trailer to your truck... I'll check when I get home. Now that I think about it, it may not be 4' long... I think it's a little shorter


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## CarlF (May 7, 2009)

On my 1440mv, I've got a big mushroom anchor on the front & a smaller one for the stern.
about 50-75' of rope on each. I rarely anchor in more than 15' of water, normally in 3-7'.

Always put your primary anchor off the bow, with your bow into the wind. Anchoring stern into the wind is a quick way to swamp a boat if the wind comes up .

When I had my 20' offshore boat, I used a danforth anchor rated for a 30' boat with 12' of heavy galvanized chain & 300' of rope. The chain keeps the anchor & rope parralel to the bottom & decreases the amount of rope needed to anchor in deep water. I could anchor in 100' of water with 200' of rope with this set up. without the chain, I would probably needed 400-600' of rope.


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## heavy-chevy (May 7, 2009)

lol. you want to see my anchor? sbc stock exhaust manifold, bout all there good for anyway.


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## moetrout (May 8, 2009)

I use to have that Anchor pulley, but they are kind of on the cheap side and will eventually rust. I now have these anchor pulleys on the bow and stern in opposite corners of each other. I use 15lb navy anchors with 25' of 3/8" anchor rope. This is all on a Lowe 1232 jon. Sorry no pics right now.

https://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0013355011132a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=anchor&Ntk=Products&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&_D%3Asort=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1


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## Popeye (May 11, 2009)

An anchor chain helps the anchor hold because it absorbs the impacts of boat motion and allows the anchor to stay in position. I use a 4 foot piece of 3/8" galvanized chain on my anchor which is why I can't use and anchor winch like I originally was thinnking of installing. I was gonna be cool about it and mount the winch under my front deck and run the anchor line through some EMT conduit to the davit and put a couple switches iin, one on the dash and one on the bow.


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## lowe1462 (May 15, 2009)

The chain helps hold the anchor down and in a position where it can dig in to the bottom.


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## Waterwings (May 16, 2009)

Where I fish is 99% mud bottom at both lakes, so I use a 12# mushroom anchor, with 3/8" polyrope attached to it. What I did was run the rope through the eye of the anchor twice, then tie a couple good knots (nothing pretty) because I never learned to back-splice line. After I got the knots done I used 12# test Yo-Zuri fishing line and wrapped it real well up the length of the line above the eye, then placed some shink wrap over the line and applied some heat with my wife's blow dryer. I used the shrink wrap to prevent the line from pulling loose, and have not had one problem in the 3 years I've been using it. I also have a 15# mushroom anchor that I did the same way, only I used a rope thimble through the anchor eye and then did the line the same way using the shrink tubing. The 15# anchor is in my garage somewhere and I didn't want to dig for it so there's no pic of it.

12# anchor with shrink tubing:





The reason I went to the method I use now is due to losing two anchors at KY Lake when I had my Tracker rig. I bought the pre-rigged anchor clip at Walmart and both times (two seperate trips) the clip apparently was against something on the bottom (log, rock, etc) and caused the clip to open, releasing the anchor. I highly recommend to not use the clip method on an anchor. I now use this line with the pre-rigged clip for my bow line on the boat:

Pre-rigged (store-bought) anchor line with carabiner-style clip:


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## Henry Hefner (May 16, 2009)

I have a rig like Grizzly posted mounted on the bow of the Minnow Bucket, and it works great so far. I don't use an anchor chain on my 15# mushroom anchor, as I rarely anchor in deep water, and my understanding of the chain was to weight the top of the anchor, causing it to lay sideways and grip. I don't have this problem in 30' and shallower water. I do allow enough rope so that when the rope tightens up, I am well away from the anchor's location, allowing it to lay down. 

Waterwings, your anchor clip may not have been against anything under the water. I have used these clips to pull freon drums up on rooftops. I would clip them on at ground level, climb the ladder, and when I would pull the rope the clips would come off. I played around with it and found out that if you swivel the clip around to the right position on the freon drum handle, (anchor eye), pulling on the rope unhooks the clip. It all depends on how the clip has swiveled while the rope was slack.


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## Waterwings (May 16, 2009)

Henry Hefner said:


> I have a rig like Grizzly posted mounted on the bow of the Minnow Bucket, and it works great so far. I don't use an anchor chain on my 15# mushroom anchor, as I rarely anchor in deep water, and my understanding of the chain was to weight the top of the anchor, causing it to lay sideways and grip. I don't have this problem in 30' and shallower water. I do allow enough rope so that when the rope tightens up, I am well away from the anchor's location, allowing it to lay down.
> 
> Waterwings, your anchor clip may not have been against anything under the water. I have used these clips to pull freon drums up on rooftops. I would clip them on at ground level, climb the ladder, and when I would pull the rope the clips would come off. I played around with it and found out that if you swivel the clip around to the right position on the freon drum handle, (anchor eye), pulling on the rope unhooks the clip. It all depends on how the clip has swiveled while the rope was slack.




That occuring does make sense, and just might be what happened. After losing the second anchor I quit using the clips, and went to my jury-rigged method. No problems so far.  . I've thought about installing sometype of anchor retrieval system on the bow of my rig, and besides not wanting to drill holes, plus have a trip hazard (I enter and leave the boat from the bow just about 100% of the time), I fish in shallow water and pulling it up by hand is no problem. Plus, it gives me some a little exercise and a reason to get out of the pedastal seat for awhile.


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## Hanr3 (May 26, 2009)

I have two 15lb Navy Anchors rigged with 100' of 1/4" line. One on the bow and one on the stern. I dont have problems drifting. No fancy anchor thingys, I just walk back and forth or make my fishing partner work one of the anchors.


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## grizzly (May 26, 2009)

i just added a second anchor to my boat, and man is it great. what a difference on boat control. i have a 75' rope & 12lb mushroom on the bow, which i set first, 20yards or so upwind of my desired spot. drift down to my desired spot or use my TM, tie off the bow anchor and then drop another mushroom straight out of the stern. i only have 25' or rope for the stern anchor, and works great for me, as the only time i use two anchors is when i have 2 people in boat and want to stay parallel to shore.


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## Zum (May 26, 2009)

What's an anchor for?

I have one...brand new never use it.


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## Quackrstackr (May 26, 2009)

Zum said:


> What's an anchor for?



It's to keep your boat from banging on the shore while you go to get the truck or from drifting away while you are in the water for some reason (or at least that is what mine is primarily used for :mrgreen: )


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## Zum (May 26, 2009)

You know...me being not to bright and all.Using the idea of the anchor,to keep the boat from banging on the rocks while I get the truck,is a great idea.So simple...just drop it off the stern,hop on shore off the bow...no more banging on the rocks...is that how you do it?
I don't how many times I wished the wind would calm down,think my 15lbs anchor would be heavy enough.


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## Quackrstackr (May 26, 2009)

That's how I do it. Stop the boat out in knee deep water and let the anchor hold it until I can get the trailer in the water.

If the wind is blowing directly offshore, you can put the anchor on dry ground and just let the boat drift out. :wink:


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## Popeye (May 26, 2009)

I pull up to the dock and use 2 dock lines from my cleats to the cleats on the dock to keep my boat in place when I go get the truck. Works well to keep it from both drifting away and from banging it to rocks.


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## Quackrstackr (May 26, 2009)

I tie to the courtesy dock as well when there is one to tie off to.

Several of the public ramps on KY and Barkley Lakes do not have them. Winter storms and big swells take a toll on the state provided docks. They only replace the ones that get destroyed as often as money and state labor allow.

Sometimes it is also a lot faster to anchor near the shoreline than wait on a parade of loading/unloading boats to take turns with the courtesy dock.


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## Popeye (May 26, 2009)

Guess I'm spoiled then. The only places I fish have plenty of dock space. Might be why I fish there. If there isn't a place to tie up I don't launch there. I'm not wading to get in the boat. Too old and clumsy to be climbing in and out of the boat too.


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## Zum (May 26, 2009)

No docks here at any of my launches,except salt water.
So do you jump to shore or get wet,in the knee deep water.
I think I'll try putting the bow as close to shore as I can get then jump.
I'm still going to have the "rocks" issue when launching as I tie my bow line to my truck to get it to shore.Oh well.


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## Quackrstackr (May 26, 2009)

In the summer, I'm wearing flip flops and shorts so being wet isn't an issue. If it is cold and I know there won't be a courtesy dock, I will throw my hip waders in the truck.


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## Hanr3 (May 26, 2009)

I generally fish alone, which makes unloading interesting if I dont want to get wet. I throw my anchor on shore and pusht he boat off the trailer and let it float into the lake. Park the truck and pull the boat back to shore via the anchor line, push off/climb in at the same time.

I generally Crappie fish and use both anchors to put the port side facing teh crib with the wind blowing at my back. This keeps me opn teh crib and the wind/spray out of my face.


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## ben2go (May 26, 2009)

I rarely use an anchor.Usually if I'm fishing bottom for catfish.I'm almost constantly moving when I fish for bass,crappie or other pan fish.


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