Drift Sock?

[BridgerM]

I fish out of a 14' tin boat and only have a trolling motor for now. There isn't much weight on the boat even with two of us, so its hard to stay on a spot when the wind picks up. We have two anchors and use those when we want to stay put. But I wondered if a drift sock would be of use when we want to move at a more controlled pace. I don't see them mentioned much on here.

 

Anyone care to share pros and cons of them? They are on sale at bps and am considering buying one.

[CJV]

I've used one before in my boat which is a 16ft aluminum however I have a 70lb thrust trolling motor so I only use it when it gets super super windy. There nice and work as advertised however most times it's more of a pain than what's it worth IMO. Try one out for yourself you may like it.

[Christian M]

Back when I had a 14' trihull, I would use 2 drift socks whenever the wind was bad. I would troll against the current, until I got to a spot where I wanted to start fishing, then I would use the socks to slow my drift down the bank. It would save battery life and they never really got snagged. I still keep them in my current boat but I have yet to use them. If you're having trouble with the wind I would definitely get a couple, they key is to have a path planned out before you deploy them.

[Loop_Dad]

Maybe different kind of problem, but I only have a trolling motor myself and the boat spins around and hard to control in the wind.

 

I fill empty soda bottles with water, tie rope and deploy on the other end of the boat. I have two of them at the moment and they give a light resistance to the end and boat spins less. I just leave them in the water from the start to finish. It doesn't seem to slow my boat much at this low speed level.

[buzzed bait]

i've actually considered one for my 10' kayak.... that thing is brutal when the wind picks up, so much so that it makes you want to just load up and go home....  Let us know if you get one and your take on it.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

A couple feet of heavy chain attached to a length of rope can be use as a drag anchor when drifting small craft.

[Mattfrom_NJ]

I've read people use laundry detergent bottles filled with sand. Haven't tried it but I'm going to give it a try once I get an anchor trolley

[Felix77]

When I want to drift slowly I close up my grappling anchor and just drop it down in the closed position.  Slows my drift right down.

[Hi Salenity]

I've used one drifting over flats fishing for Waleye, but if your bank fishing for bass the wind generally won't blow the direction you want it to.

[OkobojiEagle]

Yes, I have three drift socks in my 16' Alumacraft.  Two of them are the same size and are deployed in tandem to help keep the boat aligned, the other is larger and most often used alone.  I like to pull my boat down a shoreline with my bow electric motor and drag the tandem socks behind.  The larger sock I will usually use tied to the bow and let the boat drift with the wind backwards, controlling position with a stern electric motor or the outboard.

 

I have seven cleats on my boat; at the bow, on both port & starboard stern, both port & starboard 1/3 back from the bow and 2/3 back from the bow.  This allows me lots of options both drifting and anchoring (two anchors).

 

 

oe

[BridgerM]

I should've guessed it. Varied responses just like 'what bait to use for x?'. lol.

 

I think im going to go try out a drift sock. At 40 bucks, its worth it if it allows me to fish more instead of trying to maintain position constantly. 

 

Thanks for the input. I i'll post back when i've tried it out.