Anchor for river fishing

[RDJ]

What do you guys that spend a lot of time on the rivers prefer as your anchor style of choice? Need to hold a 17.5' alum. boat well in fall/winter/early spring currents. Bottom is good mix of rock and sand so looking for something that works well on both. I have a 25# Richter for my lake boat but don't have any history of using it in a rocky river enviornment. Also how much anchor is necessary(lbs)? Pretty light boat with 90/65 yamaha jet on it and won't be loaded heavy. thanks for the help. I usually think along the lines of the 3:1 ratio of anchor rope:water depth when setting anchor on lakes, will this ratio work ok in most river situation? I know what kind of depths I'll be into and will buy new anchor rope accordingly to go with this boat. Thanks for the help. RJ

[undguy]

I have a 19' YarCraft and fish the Missouri River - mostly sand bottom with fairly stiff current. I have had good luck with a Chene anchor with a 3 foot chain.

[tbomn]

I fish the Mississippi all year, and the best anchor I have found is the "Water Spike" with a 3 foot chain. Sometimes it gets hung up, no problem, just motor up in front of it, drag the chain forward, and she pulls right out. Holds good in most bottoms as well.

[Ristorapper]

Another Missouri River fisherman here with again a mostly hard 'packed' sandy bottom. I run a 17 foot aluminum rig with a 90 hp outboard. I've put my 18# Richter to the test. UND guy will know this area and it was stupid on my part but I wanted to know what this anchor would hold. At the mouth of the Little heart the river gouges deep there, about 17' when I did this. The river narrows there and of course the current is greatest there at the narrows. That was my testing grounds. Of course I shouldn't have done it with the snags laying down there but I did anchor my boat there, and it held solid as a rock. AND I did get that anchor back. After the fact it was really stupid to do that, especially without a knife handy. But that was my test and I'm still alive to talk about it.


As far as my experience goes, if you are anchoring in current you will need more than the 3:1 or 4:1 rope to depth ratio you are talking about in a lake. I would say depending on the current, 7:1 or more. I've had all 100' of my initial rope used once so I did pick up another rope 3/8 nylon X 150'. I have never used it yet but it is always available.

[undguy]

I would never call you stupid, Risto, but that was not up to your usual intelligent standards. Back when I was on the Sheriff's Dept. Dive Rescue Team we went after a 16 foot Lund in about that area. The guy thought it was a good idea to tie his anchor on the stern. As soon as he reached the end of the rope, the current was enough to pull the stern right under the water. We found the boat and brought it up, but he lost a lot of gear.



>Another Missouri River fisherman here with again a mostly
>hard 'packed' sandy bottom. I run a 17 foot aluminum rig with
>a 90 hp outboard. I've put my 18# Richter to the test. UND
>guy will know this area and it was stupid on my part but I
>wanted to know what this anchor would hold. At the mouth of
>the Little heart the river gouges deep there, about 17' when I
>did this. The river narrows there and of course the current
>is greatest there at the narrows. That was my testing
>grounds. Of course I shouldn't have done it with the snags
>laying down there but I did anchor my boat there, and it held
>solid as a rock. AND I did get that anchor back. After the
>fact it was really stupid to do that, especially without a
>knife handy. But that was my test and I'm still alive to talk
>about it.
>
>
>As far as my experience goes, if you are anchoring in current
>you will need more than the 3:1 or 4:1 rope to depth ratio you
>are talking about in a lake. I would say depending on the
>current, 7:1 or more. I've had all 100' of my initial rope
>used once so I did pick up another rope 3/8 nylon X 150'. I
>have never used it yet but it is always available.

[KHedquist]

Yep I have had good succes with a waterspike


quoting Mr McNamara. A SKUNKED ANGLER SHOULD BE DELIRIOUSLY CONTENT TO GO FISHING AND ACCEPT HUMILITY:exactly:. moreyes <'{{^}}< :cheers:http://www.walleyecentral.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=106750

[fm]

http://www.ezmarine.com/page4.html
we do alot of anchoring on the Columbia River in fairly heavy current and these work well.

[bentrod]

>http://www.ezmarine.com/page4.html
>we do alot of anchoring on the Columbia River in fairly heavy
>current and these work well.

Yep, I used this on a 24' boat in 70' of water on the Columbia, it will lock you down tight. Now, have a way to get off the anchor fast if your boat gets turned around, or you will get sucked under.