Heavy monofilament anchor line

[Janderson45]

Hey everyone-

I fish primarily from a kayak, and one of the toughest issues I face on a regular basis is boat positioning. I don't have a trolling motor to position me, so more often than not if I want to fish certain structure I need to anchor.  I have an anchor trolley installed, and just purchased the "anchor wizard" kayak anchoring device.  This anchor wheel holds 60' of anchor line, ideally I'd like to fit more line on it... Which brings me to my question.   If I use something like 4 or 500lb monofilament fishing line instead of anchor rope I could have a lot more "anchor line" to play with.  It is a 3lb folding anchor that I'm using, and the weight of my kayak loaded down with gear + my body weight is about 300lbs.  Is this a plausible solution?  Has anyone else done something similar?

Thanks!

[Darren.]

33 minutes ago, Janderson45 said:

Hey everyone-

I fish primarily from a kayak, and one of the toughest issues I face on a regular basis is boat positioning. I don't have a trolling motor to position me, so more often than not if I want to fish certain structure I need to anchor.  I have an anchor trolley installed, and just purchased the "anchor wizard" kayak anchoring device.  This anchor wheel holds 60' of anchor line, ideally I'd like to fit more line on it... Which brings me to my question.   If I use something like 4 or 500lb monofilament fishing line instead of anchor rope I could have a lot more "anchor line" to play with.  It is a 3lb folding anchor that I'm using, and the weight of my kayak loaded down with gear + my body weight is about 300lbs.  Is this a plausible solution?  Has anyone else done something similar?

Thanks!

Interesting question!

I suppose it would work, but I imagine
the line would be pretty coily after a while.

As well, exposure to the elements will
weaken it over time, but that may not make
much of a difference with such thick mono.

Interested to know how it works out if you
try it.

[Bass Turd]

How bout using braid?

[fishnkamp]

I got some heavy duty but thin cord from West Marine. I use it on an electric anchor winch.  It is sorta like paracord 

[Janderson45]

3 hours ago, Darren. said:

Interesting question!

I suppose it would work, but I imagine
the line would be pretty coily after a while.

As well, exposure to the elements will
weaken it over time, but that may not make
much of a difference with such thick mono.

Interested to know how it works out if you
try it.

the memory could be a problem, i actually hadn't really considered that.. I did however consider that the inherent "stretch" that is in monofilament could be a problem... I've got a whole bunch of multicolored 400lb monofilament leader that I use for shark fishing... it's rather cheap actually.  

3 hours ago, Bass Turd said:

How bout using braid?

Braid is more expensive, and less abrasion resistant, both features that make it less desirable to me in this application. It would also further decrease the diameter, which I don't actually think is a good thing, braid under any serious load is a good way to injure yourself, whether its just a cut or a finger amputation.. stranger things have happened.  The only advantage in this case that braid would have over mono is that it's not going to have any memory.... really heavy duty hi vis braid might fit the bill too, but I'm not sure.  

[flyfisher]

Seems like a lot of line to need for fishing from a kayak.  I know many recommend 3+ times the water depth but i have found in my kayak that 2 is plenty in most instances.

As far as using a fishing line for it, i have no idea but i wouldn't think it would be that durable long term and may be an issue when trying to retrieve a stuck anchor.

[GetBent]

I would use 550 paracord before mono or braid. It will take abrasion better. How deep are you going to anchor? I often fish 20 fow with my hand line anchor setup. The whole 7ft of line for 1 foot of water is for boats anchoring in deep water. A kayak can get by with less than that. I would go the paracord route personally. 

[Bluebasser86]

parachute cord was the first thing that came to my mind as well. 

[Kevin22]

I use 400# for duck decoys. You aren't spooling that stuff onto any spool smaller than a trailer winch. 

60' of anchor line should hold your kayak in 30' of water easily. Probably a lot deeper if you up it to a 5# anchor. By the way, you need stretch in your anchor line or you will just pop your anchor loose with every wave or movement of the boat. That's why they sell "anchor line" that has extra stretch built in.

 

 

[Fishing Rhino]

Avoid small diameter anchor line.  True, you can put more line on the spool of the winch, but you risk having the line dig in on the spool.

 

[buzzed bait]

paracord is what i use, but i don't have the anchor wizard.  one way to get it even thinner, yet maintain a lot of it's strength is to take the inner stands out of the paracord and use on the exterior cord.  it's still way heavier breaking strength than you'd need and will lessen the diameter quite a bit.

[WRB]

How much anchor line do you need...75'? Whatever you choose to use make sure you can pull it in by hand. 75' of 1/4" dia polypropylene fits into a small bucket.

Tom

[Catch 22]

On ‎6‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 11:28 PM, GetBent said:

I would use 550 paracord before mono or braid. It will take abrasion better. How deep are you going to anchor? I often fish 20 fow with my hand line anchor setup. The whole 7ft of line for 1 foot of water is for boats anchoring in deep water. A kayak can get by with less than that. I would go the paracord route personally. 

Definitely this.

Get any length you need on Ebay

[Ratherbfishing]

Am not an expert on rope but you'll want to avoid "too thin" rope that digs into intself OR becomes coily and unmanageable.  You may find yourself spending more time fighting with unruly rope than you are fishing.  Also, the thinner the rope, the more likely it will be to cut into your hands or give you rope burn when you pull on it.

[Janderson45]

Thanks for the replies/advice everyone.  I went with 550 paracord and was able to fit close to 90 feet on the wheel instead of 60, which should suit my purposes...

60' is likely enough in most scenarios, I was just looking for an alternative so that I had more line available.. If I can hold my position with an anchor in 25 FOW I can also let an excess 50' of anchor line out and "drift" down something like a drop off or weed edge on roughly the same angle I started at... I attempted this maneuver for the first time this weekend and it worked pretty well, just needs a little bit of fine tuning. 

 

I I think the mono COULD work, but after taking into consideration it digging into the spool, line memory, and not truly knowing how much stretch it has in it, paracord seems to fit the bill more appropriately.