tips for using Sentinel Anchor

[fishermatt]

I just bought a Sentinel anchor, and tried using it last night with very poor results. It's the 13 pound model and has the slip ring that's sposed to make it easy to retrieve. But the problem I had was that I couldn't get it to dig into the bottom like it's sposed to. Is there a trick to deploying this kind of anchor to make it work good? It seems like you'd have to be very careful to make sure it hit the bottom in just the right direction to make the points dig in, but that's kinda hard to do in deeper water when you can't see it.

I have about 5 feet of chain just above the anchor. Maybe that's bad to use with this kind of anchor?

Any information/experiences with Sentinel anchors appreciated. Thanks.

[Northsider #13]

The weight might not be enough for the conditions (wind, lake bottom). Also you will want to have at least 50' of rope.

My $.02.

[eyebjim]

I do not have the sentinel but I do have a water spike anchor that works very well. It is somewhat similar in design to the sentinel. The biggest thing to be careful of when deploying the anchor is do not drop the anchor. Slowly lower it into the water so that the anchor hits bottom with the anchor bottom down. Then hold the rope as it drags until you feel it dig in. I have had mine hold very secure in 25+ mph winds and huge waves. It has never once pulled out except when I failed to deploy as stated above.

[broken_line]

you neeed to have rope at least 7 to 10 times the water depth.. it should hold strong..

[eyebjim]

With a good 4 foot chain I don't need any more than 3 times the water depth for the rope length but the longer the better.

[fishermatt]

I'll be trying it again tomorrow, got the day off (Yippee!!). Will make sure to try and get the spikes pointed the right way as it hits the bottom, and to "set" it on the bottom and not Drop it to the bottom! I have 100' of rope and 5' chain above the anchor.

[Northlander]

I always have at least 100' of rope on my anchor. I like the richtor anchors because they work great in all conditions. I use a 25# and 5' of coated chain. If its too windy for that its too windy to fish that spot.

[Vickie]

We also have the Water Spike, not the Sentinal but this works GREAT for us. Bring the ring to the top and hold it there. Take duct tape and wrap around ONLY two times about 3" down from the top.

This keeps the ring in the correct spot so the anchor lands correctly to hold -- If the anchor gets stuck the duct tape will break and allow you to pull it out.

Try it and see.

Vickie