Anchoring, Does Anyone Still Do It?

[Bluebasser86]

I do occasionally, seems to be no surer way to shut down a hot bite than dropping an anchor though. 

[bassindon]

I do at times. 

[Long Mike]

I often "anchor," but I use the Spot Lock function on my Minn Kota Terrova.  The motor keeps me in the same position, without me having to use a real anchor; although I do have one on board.

[hookset on 3]

Yes I do. Anchoring has always been a huge part of my game plan.  Very few if any trips go by where I'm not anchoring at least a couple of times a day (or night).

 

And like you, after reading Mr. Murphy's book, I adopted the twin anchoring system.  Don't always use it for It's not always needed.   But fishing from a canoe, the ability to lock down my position is quite valuable.

 

Plus the arm & shoulder workouts are a most positive fringe benefit.

 

A-Jay

 

This is exactly how I roll. I have the same canoe as Goose52.

 

[TorqueConverter]

Where I fish 20+ mph wind is common.  I have no choice but to anchor If I want to stay on that main lake structure and fish it rather than fighting the wind with the trolling motor.      

[Ratherbfishing]

In reasonably shallow water (no more than 7 or 8 feet) and/or when there is a soft bottom, I'll often anchor.  But only if it is windy or when i really want to pick an area apart.  I seldom anchor if I'm looking for active fish.

 

Depending upon the wind direction, a friend and I will often anchor in an expanse of flooded cattails, then drift down a ways, reanchor, and repeat the process.  We can fish those flats really thoroughly and I can't tell you HOW many bass we've caught in this fashion.

[MikeinFresno]

I do it to fish large rock piles or rock faces in lakes when the wind blows hard enuf to constantly push you off your spot. Too much TM work and battery used to hold it otherwise.

[mnbassman23]

I tried anchoring for the first time late last fall on a windy day. Caught the biggest 5 fish limit my boat has ever seen. I'll be doing a lot more anchoring this year. 

[bassindon]

Wish I had two power polls on back but the cost of that is just to hard to justify to my wife lol 

[blongfishing]

My trolling motor went out this summer for about 2 weeks so I would just use the wind and drive to spots and anchor and fish a circle all around me. That was not something I would do again haha! I have an anchor in my boat because I striper fish too and it comes in handy.

[FrogFreak]

I don't like to use an anchor but I will if I need to. Two years ago I used my anchor to fish a main lake point on a windy day. Worked OK but I made the mistake of anchoring in the prime fishing spot so I think I scared em away for a bit.

[Firefight1981]

We use this anchor. Always keeps us in one place and we don't battle the wind:

https://www.theangleranchor.com/

[roadwarrior]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Sam]

I have an anchor on my boat for emergencies, only.

 

I do not anchor to fish.

[Captain Phil]

On 1/16/2015 at 12:38 AM, FloridaFishinFool said:

All I carry is an anchor. No power poles. Don't care for them. Quite often, rather than tossing out the anchor, down here in Florida I can push into the lily pads and let them hold me in place. Sometimes I'll just tie the boat to one or, anything I can to stay in place- cattails, trees, whatever. I like using an anchor or tie up to something. No need for power poles. They just get in the way and add more stuff to the boat I don't need. I also do not and will not use one of those trolling motors mounted up on the deck. I'm not giving up one inch of space for any of that. I got one of those longer shaft trolling motors that comes up high enough to where when I stand on the front casting deck I can bump it with my knee to steer or by hand without having to bend over. Works for me.I guess I am just an old school simple man when it comes to bass fishin'.

Here in Florida, there is rarely a need to anchor when bass fishing. Most of the time, I am covering water hunting fish, not sitting on one spot.  When I was guiding and a customer wished to use shiners, I would anchor.  I can also remember a few times when I would camp on a spot during a tournament.  When salt water fishing, an anchor is essential due to the current.  Power poles on bass boats are like big engines.  They have little purpose other than to boost egos at the ramp.  Until pros started putting them on their boats, no one needed one.  Now you must have two to prove you are a "real" bass fisherman.  This sells a lot of power poles.   My current boat has a Minn Kota Terrova with the anchor feature.  It works much better than an anchor or a power pole.

[roadwarrior]

I anchor on wind blown points when we find active bass. NEVER leave feeding fish to find others.

 

[MN Fisher]

Having a canoe, I find spots that look good and drop anchor. Even a slight breeze will blow me around, so if I'm gonna stay on a spot, I need the anchor.

[Team9nine]

Dubious resurrection, but I keep an old school anchor in the boat and use it several times a year when conditions don’t favor my first generation spot lock TM (a.k.a. “Cove lock”)  ?

[lo n slo]

in the jon boat, absolutely, old school marker buoys too.

 

[NHBull]

I carry a small box anchor for emergencies and times when wind and chop blow me off of spot lock.  That said, I have an “all species” boat

[WRB]

5 year old thread I missed when I had a boat to anchor.

Back in the day when I was fishing San Diego lakes with the Pieces bass club double anchoring was more common the trolling motor use. Read Bill Murphy's book In Pursuit of Giant Bass for double anchoring tecnique.

As trolling motors evolved anchoring has become less and less used by bass anglers with modern bass boat that have Spot Lock TM's and Power Pole or Talon anchor systems.

I always carried a 20 lb anchor and 100' of rope in my boat for emergency use and whenever there was a need to anchor, especially night fishing.

Tom

PS, the anchor is another item I need to give away.

[TnRiver46]

I anchored today, a lot of my Waters are very fast . Caught a smallie with a drop shot while anchored 

[N Florida Mike]

I rarely use an anchor while bass fishing . My best numbers day in the last year though was real windy ( like 25 + ) and I got on some fish on the windward side of the lake . I anchored and fan casted . When the bite slowed , I pulled up and went aways down the bank and anchored again, and started catching again.

I anchor a lot though for other kinds of fish.

[.ghoti.]

Considering the number of boats I see with those flogging annoying power poles, I’d say, yep, lots of folks are anchoring to fish. 

[Junk Fisherman]

In my kayak I use an anchor just about every time out.  With a Talon and spot lock trolling motor there is no need to carry an anchor in my boat.