Fish-Hawk.Net

I'd appreciate your advice on what type and size of anchor has worked most satisfactorily in typical shield lakes. From what I've read, there appears to be some standard anchor attributes:

Holds well in most types of bottom - weed, rock, sand, mud, clay
Can be set and re-set quickly and easily
Good holding power
Can be released easily from the bottom
Can be easily stored

Most of my fishing trips are with outfitters and consequently I'm typically in 14 to 16 foot boats (either fiberglass or aluminum). Many times, outfitters only provide 1 anchor. And sometimes, the anchor provided has been a one foot piece of railway track - heavy yes, but not a lot of holding power. Consequently, I'm considering purchasing an anchor, that is easy to bring along, that will facilitate better on the spot fishing in current or on windy days. Thanks in advance.

Tomcat most important thing when anchoring is "rode" length of anchor line. A ratio of 7 to 1 is considered best 7 X depth, 10' of water 70' rode. As for anchors for a smaller boat a Brydon or a Danforth will work well or a small Bruce is best. Go to a marine store to see what these anchors look like then go shopping else where Some marine places have cheap offshore versions that are great for a smaller boat. Buy 150' of 3/8 rope, non floating, lay it out on the yard, start with one end and simply pull it in to a plastic tub let it fall where it wants, when you get to the other end attach anchor, a clevis is great, sit anchor on top of rope put lid on the tub and transport from boat to boat. Good anchoring!

don't forget the chain, most anchor types do not work very well without the chain - it helps put the correct angle on the anchor so that it "bites" in, 4' is typical for small boat anchors

Thank you both for the tips.

i have a danford type on a 16ft+ boat and have never had a problem
i fish in heavy winds and current ( below a dam in the chute current)

i also have a 20 lb anchor which is my "lending out" anchor
problem with danford type is it's not what you want if it's
sheild bottom, it needs something to bite on

you have a great idea about bringing your own anchor to the outfitters
i wished i 'd have done that in the past

nofish(bob)

Danforth and Brydons are tough to set on rock bottoms, this is where the Bruce excells.Ady the chain is nice and necessary for overnight anchoring but very noisy when fishing, you have to go under water and listen to chain tighten and loosen.

fishforfun wrote:Danforth and Brydons are tough to set on rock bottoms, this is where the Bruce excells.Ady the chain is nice and necessary for overnight anchoring but very noisy when fishing, you have to go under water and listen to chain tighten and loosen.

I got a plastic coated chain for this reason

I have a 14' aluminum. I use a 10lb navy without the chain (less noise and hassle). I'm lined the bottom of my boat with a rubber mat so the anchor doesn't bounce around too much. Works great.

Thanks for all the responses.

Combining your responses with information from the net, I believe that I will try a Chene anchor for soft bottom anchorages. Its reputed to have 4 times the holding power of other fluke type anchors and it requires only a 2:1 rode ratio to work best. For hard anchorages, either the Navy or the Bruce seems like a good choice. I might buy a Grapnel as a back up for hard anchorages because the Navy anchor sometimes can not be retrieved.

Thanks too for the tips. I hadn't even considered the impact of chain noise (the noise of the chain as it tightens and loosens) on fishing. Rubber mat is a great idea too. Looks as if 200 feet of 3/8 nylon rope would satisfy most of my anchoring requirements.