Anchor Question

[mike003]

I want to be able to anchor fore and aft for still fishing. My lake is divided into 3 basins. and is sheltered by trees. High wind is not a problem. The average depth is 8ft., the deepest water is a small area 21ft. deep. I would mostly be anchoring in 5 to 10ft. of water. I was thinking of using mushroom anchors, but don't know what weight I should get. Advice?

[GXPWeasel]

Looks like you have a 20 footer right?

I have a 26 footer ( actual measurements are 25 feet long ) and I have a 25lb. river anchor. This thing will hold me throug a 25mph wind. The main thing is to make sure you have at least 6 feet of anchor chain attached directly to the anchor ( to keep the top of the anchor down, and pulling agains tht bottom), and then have plenty of scope. I normally anchor in 20-30 feet of water, and have never let out more than 75feet of rode (I have a 100' rope).

I would guess that you could get away with a 20lb river or mushroom anchor for the bow, with 6 feet of chain, and 100' of line, then go with maybe a 10lb mushroom on the stern, with maybe 4' of chain, and 50' of line. Should be able to get all that for $100 or so, and be okay to go.

I would set the bow anchor first, float or drift to where you want to be, then toss the stern anchor out as far as you can.

[KConJacomo]

I use a 15 and a 20 mushroom style on my 24 footer. Got one at walmart for $25. I normally anchor in 15-20' and lake is fairly calm. 25 foot of rode is all I need with either anchor. I haven't used both anchors once this season.

[evinrude2stroke]

I have a 15 pound mushroom on my 18ft toon. I have never had a problem since I got it. In fact 2 weeks ago I was tied up with 21ft toon and it held both of us in moderate wind.

[mike003]

Thanks!!!

[yellowk9]

I have a 25 pound Richtor anchor and a 20' boat. I'm pretty sure the rope would break before the anchor broke loose. Sometimes it holds TOO good I see a lot of people recommending at least 3 or 4 times the depth for your rope length, but I get away with 1.5 to 2 times the depth all the time in a variety of wind and wave conditions. That being said, if you're planning on anchoring long-term or overnight when you can't be there (or awake) to monitor conditions it would probably be a good idea to have a lot of rope on hand to increase the scope (depending on the depth of the lake).

[jlbutl]

I was looking for something to anchor the front and rear of my pontoon as well, just for keeping it in position for waves, rafting, etc. What I found was this http://www.stickitanchorpins.com/. Cost was about 60 each for the 8' sticks which work great for me in most areas.

Here is a pic of it holding my 22' Suntracker in the current out on Crab Island in Destin FL.



I got two, and they fit nicely along side the console between it and the rail.

Enjoy!

[Tallykenj]

I have a stick anchor and love....it's quick to get in the water and secures the boat on shallow areas up to about 6'. I still need to get a heavy mushroom for other depths.

[jlbutl]

I have a stick anchor and love....it's quick to get in the water and secures the boat on shallow areas up to about 6'. I still need to get a heavy mushroom for other depths.

Heh, I bet we both got ours from the same little store on Appalachee Pkwy....

[chill'nthemost]

Speaking of anchors........today for the first time neither one of our Diggers would trip. My wife and I had a really nice day anchored in a cove all day swimming and relaxing. Perfect day until the damn anchors wouldn't trip and we spent over an hour fighting them. After 8 season I found another item to keep on board, gloves. Tore up my hands on the nylon rope Ended up tying a fender to one anchor rope so we could deal with one at a time, then taking the toon over the anchor in every direction trying to break it free. In theory, once over the top of the Digger you should be able to pull straight up and trip the latch so the anchor will be able to pull straight up. Finally got pissed and just pulled with the motor and that one broke free. Went and got the other one tried to to the same and no matter what it wouldn't trip either. No issues in 8 years and now both go on strike. We just pulled it with the motor except this time it broke the spring loaded arm, split the square shaft and pulled the spring loaded guts out. At least everything stayed together. Gonna see if Digger will sell me the the arm assembly separately. Can't wait til they see the pic

[ROLAND]

I want to be able to anchor fore and aft for still fishing. My lake is divided into 3 basins. and is sheltered by trees. High wind is not a problem. The average depth is 8ft., the deepest water is a small area 21ft. deep. I would mostly be anchoring in 5 to 10ft. of water. I was thinking of using mushroom anchors, but don't know what weight I should get. Advice?

We've got a 20 foot pontoon that we use almost exclusively for fishing... what we normally do is pull up in the shallows, tie up the front of the boat to a tree and then throw out two 15 lb. mushrooms at the rear, one on each side... mushroom anchors work really well in lakes with soft muddy lake bottoms.... however I tried them on a local river and they didn't hold worth a darn...but like I said, if the lake bottom is made up of a soft muddy bottem they'll hold really well... only problem *( and it's not really a problem ) is when you pull them up they;'re filled with mud and quite heavy... I usually just keep dunking them in and out of the water till all the mud washes thru the holes and the anchors are clean before I pull them aboard..... so far so good!

[GregF]

I guess the power poles have not migrated up that far yet. They are showing up all over around here but I am not sure I have seen one on a pontoon yet. I just use the original "manual" pole.

[chill'nthemost]

I guess the power poles have not migrated up that far yet. They are showing up all over around here but I am not sure I have seen one on a pontoon yet. I just use the original "manual" pole.

Could you explain what a power pole is? Where we toon there is also many water and wake boarders. I'd say the avg. depth is 200ft, so you have to get in pretty close to find shallow water. For wherever reason "some" wake boarders seem to need to come in close when they have 72 miles of shore to boat in, so you need to have an anchor that can hold when some moron comes by and throws a huge wake

[GregF]

If you boat one one of those shear wall lakes with no shallow water these are not much good but around here we are 3 miles wide and a foot deep.

http://www.power-pole.com/pages/about.htm

[chill'nthemost]

If you boat one one of those shear wall lakes with no shallow water these are not much good but around here we are 3 miles wide and a foot deep.

http://www.power-pole.com/pages/about.htm

Thanks! never seen that before. Your right, wouldn't be the right one for us. Our lake is actually The Crooked River Gorge, with 3 lakes feeding it. A least you never have to worry about tearing off your lower unit