river boat anchors ??

[icehousebob]

My #3 son just upgraded his river fishing boat to a seventeen and a half foot jon boat with a 40 horse motor. To use this on the Minnesota and Mississippi, what size and type of anchor would you experts in the crowd recommend? Also, its been mentioned before about adding a length of chain to the anchor line to help its holding ability. What size? how long? I don't want him doing any rookie mistakes like snagging and losing his anchor.

[Dennis Steele]

Your going to need a good sized anchor to hold that boat.

First I would just consider getting one 2 sizes bigger than you really think you need.

I experimented with a lot of different type of anchors and they all have advantages and disadvantages.

What I found, for at least the MN river is that "river anchors" (a version of a mushroom with three "flukes") holds very well in the MN. THe flukes catch rock where there is rock and do a good job of grabbing sand and muddy bottoms.

The problem with them, is your going to loose them. They have no way of "backing out" when snagged up good.

WaterSpikes. While these things are great on a lake, they just don't work in the river. Since they are so light, the current just sweeps them away when you set them in the water and they end up behind the boat. If they do get to the bottom the current tumbles them and you don't get set.

Navy Anchors are very good. However most do not have a slip ring to back them out when stuck.

I did find one that has a slip ring and still have it!

I wish I could rember where I found it because I'd go buy another.

It is a 28lber and will hold most of the time.

Rictors are good too. They don't hold the mud as good as others, but still do a good job. In rock and wood?, they ROCK! They have a slip ring to back them out as well.

My favorite so far has been "Big Bertha". Its a 37#, 3"diameter solid round steel with 4 tines on the bottom. It has a slip ring on the side to back it out when it gets stuck. The thing will hold a freight train!

Its pretty tough on the "anchor biotch" though.

You can get them from Ed Carlson's buddy Big Shannon.Itwas the anchor they used on the Gander Red River cat show that recently aired.

What I would like to have, is a 1 1/2" diameter tube that is 24" long and filled with lead. On the bottom you weld 4 tines that are somewhat flexible. Just felxible enough to be "powered out" of a snag. As an additional feature it would have a slip ring as well.

The thin diameter "body" would sink faster and be less affected by the current. The flat bar tines would hold well in the mud as well as in rock and wood. Plus you have two retrieval features, the flexible tines and a slip ring.

At any rate, your going to loose an anchore sooner or later.

Its a device meant to get stuck, How can you not???

[hanson]

Quote:

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Its a device meant to get stuck, How can you not???

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RIP Big Bertha!

At least you lost her at the catfishing mecca of the midwest.

I someday hope to lose an anchor up there.

[icehousebob]

Dennis, thanks for the info. Maybe sometime, I could bring my 'little' boy down to your place and you could give him the benefit of your experience on rigging out his new boat for river use. I was also thinking that you two could collaborate on anchor designs. He's a lead man in a welding shop so he could convert your ideas into metal. He has a problem in that he doesn't think light. He's a weightlifter and it doesn't occer to him that other people aren't. He once built me a catfish sinker mold that was great except for the fact that it weighed almost 20 pounds.

[DARK30]

I had a welder friend of mine make me a couple....A 1" thick by 12" round plate with a 2" by 12" long solid rod and a loop on top. I forget exactly how much it weighs but its heavy. We made um from scrap so the price is right for loosing um too

[danlk]

Hard to find but works great railroad rail steel about 2feet will weigh 50 pounds cut hole in middle with torch. will stick a boat anywhere and is cheap need 2 if achoring cross current. DLK.

[Dennis Steele]

Funny you should mention the good old hunk of rail.

My dad has one. I live by a rail way and if I had a way of cutting a section, you could bet I'd have one too!

[katchaser]

Bob

A wreck anchor is the best anchor almost anywhere you fish.

Either make one or have one made at a weld shop. The tines are made from rebar. I suggest 3/8 inch because if you bend a tine removing the anchor you can reshape it when you retrieve the anchor.

The chain is welded to the bottom but connected to the top with wire ties. If you anchor gets hung on obstructions you can pull the rope with your boat and break the wire ties. This will pull the anchor opposite the tines out of the snag or bend the rebar to get it loose.

The benefit of this anchor is that it will hold in mud and sand, you can use a lighter anchor (which is important in deep water or if you move a lot), it can usually always be retieved, and size can be custom made to suit each boat.

No anchor will be perfect for all situations but this one covers most and does so at low cost and in a smaller size and weight.

[Dennis Steele]

....or that would work just fine.

[icehousebob]

Katchaser, I like the design of that anchor of yours. You must be much more intellegent than Dennis Steele. Fortunately, Dennis has his charm and good looks to fall back on.

[Canuck]

Katchaser: I like the idea of wiring the chain on to the one end and if U are hung up it will break loose and pull out. My anchor is very similar except instead of using rebar I use flat iron 9" with a rounded end . It is hard to tell from you picture but I also run about a foot and half of chain off where I tie to get the anchor to lay down and grab quicker.

[icehousebob]

Thanks for the info, guys. My son welded up two last week using ideas he got from here and his own ideas. They have five 3/4 in. diameter tines about 12 in. long. The center is 2 in. solid steel with two feet of heavy chain fastened to a rod leading to the base for reversing and retrieval. He plans on coating them with some rhino-lining material that he has left over. He tested them on the Mississippi last weekend and the boat held well using one. He plans on using two if the current is too great for one to hold.

Thanks again for the ideas.