Good anchor for boat in sandy river

[livemusic]

Can anyone recommend an anchor for fishing a sandy bottom river? Not a swift river, flows about 2mph. Water depth of 4-25 feet. I have a 17 ft Bass Tracker aluminum boat. A friend has a 16 ft jon boat and he uses one of those 3-pronged anchors that kinda looks like the one shown below and it works okay. He just throws it out and it finally grabs (no mechanical crank, just a rope).

Wondering how big an anchor I need. They make 12-20 lb anchors like this below. I can't use anything that has real hooky appendages due to snags and logs in the river. He had a grabby one previously and got it hung one time on a snag and had a heckuva time getting it pulled up. Actually broke off one of the prongs and that allowed him to get it to the surface. One of the simpler designs that is kinda mushroom shape, I don't know if that would hold well enough.

I hate having an anchor with a loose rope in my boat but for now, it will have to do. Maybe later I can install some kind of crank.

[Outlaw86]

Get you one of these:

 

I always called them sand anchors but I guess they're called fluke anchors, heres a small picture showing how they work, they're perfect for sandy bottoms.

 

[fishnkamp]

Get a 12 pound river anchor. Here is one on Wal Mart's site http://www.walmart.com/ip/SeaChoice-41520-River-Anchor-Black-Vinyl-20-lbs/32739408

Consider seriously mounting a Anchor Mate 2 on your boat the are terrific. I nave run them on several boats.  I run an electric anchor winch on my boat now. It is a171/2 Lowe aluminum bass boat so not to different then your boat.

[livemusic]

43 minutes ago, Outlaw86 said:

Get you one of these:

 

I always called them sand anchors but I guess they're called fluke anchors, heres a small picture showing how they work, they're perfect for sandy bottoms.

 

The problem with that one (I think) is getting off a snag... if I happen to hook into a submerged log.

 

43 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

Get a 12 pound river anchor. Here is one on Wal Mart's site http://www.walmart.com/ip/SeaChoice-41520-River-Anchor-Black-Vinyl-20-lbs/32739408

Consider seriously mounting a Anchor Mate 2 on your boat the are terrific. I nave run them on several boats.  I run an electric anchor winch on my boat now. It is a171/2 Lowe aluminum bass boat so not to different then your boat.

That is like the one I posted a pic of. Do you think a 12lb one is enough? I have no idea.

[Avalonjohn44]

Just wait until they make Talons or Power Poles that go 25 feet.

I have always used a fluke anchor and had good luck with them, never gotten one stuck on a log (although now I will since I said it...). The plow/scoop anchors look good for sandy bottoms as well.  Here's a link for a description of the plow/scoop anchor:

http://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Selecting-The-Right-Anchor

When I was in my kayak I used the mushroom style anchor and hated it, I did better with a brick tied to some float rope... I can't imagine it would work well for a bass boat, even a 17 footer.

[Outlaw86]

1 hour ago, livemusic said:

The problem with that one (I think) is getting off a snag... if I happen to hook into a submerged log.

 

It happens occasionally, try to keep the anchor rope taunt and motor in a circle around it, it'll pull itself off the log/snag 

[fishnkamp]

I have owned some type of bass boat for over 40 years.  many of them were aluminum and until i started fishing the Chesapeake Bat tributaries with heavy tidal current I never needed anything more than two 10 pound mushroom anchors. Now I have to rum a 20 pound river style anchor but it is attached to a MK electric anchor winch.  The plow style anchors would work better for me but carrying it on a bass boat is a pain.  With the river style anchor add 1 foot of 1/2 inch chain and then the rope it will work pretty good.  The current you are dealing with is not fast at all.  You can add a second anchor like a 10 pound  mushroom if you wamt to setup to fish for catfish and do not want to swing.  

[livemusic]

11 hours ago, fishnkamp said:

I have owned some type of bass boat for over 40 years.  many of them were aluminum and until i started fishing the Chesapeake Bat tributaries with heavy tidal current I never needed anything more than two 10 pound mushroom anchors. Now I have to rum a 20 pound river style anchor but it is attached to a MK electric anchor winch.  The plow style anchors would work better for me but carrying it on a bass boat is a pain.  With the river style anchor add 1 foot of 1/2 inch chain and then the rope it will work pretty good.  The current you are dealing with is not fast at all.  You can add a second anchor like a 10 pound  mushroom if you wamt to setup to fish for catfish and do not want to swing.  

I hope you will clarify; you first mentioned 12 lb anchor for me but you have mentioned 20 lb. Which one do you recommend for me?

Secondly, what does the 1/2 inch chain accomplish? Thanks.

[fishnkamp]

I recommend a 12 pound anchor for you because the water you are boating in has slow moving current. I never needed anything heavier until I started boating the Chesapeake Bay tidal rivers, which have heavy fast running current at times. If you were running on a river that had faster current I would suggest the 20 pounder for you.  The addition of the chain will help the anchor stay in place once the flukes (the ears on the river style anchor) catch on the bottom.  The chain lays on the bottom so the rope pulls on the anchor more horizontally rather than directly vertically which might lift the anchor and loose bottom contact.

[Bankbeater]

I've used a 10 pound mushroom anchor but it doesn't hold well in the wind unless you are tangled up in the weeds.  I like a 15 pound mushroom much better.

[livemusic]

To add chain... do vendors sell small sections of chain, will they cut what you need?

[fishnkamp]

You can get it from Lowes, Home Depot and even West marine. Try something like this 5/16 or 3/8 or 1/2 inch chain should do it.  http://www.lowes.com/pd/Campbell-Commercial-1-ft-5-16-in-Welded-Galvanized-Steel-Chain-By-the-Foot/999909269

Attach it with  one of these  http://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-Stainless-Steel-Anchor-Shackle-with-Screw-Pin/999971034

Tie your rope to the other end of the chain and this will also protect the knot since it won't be dragged on the bottom as much. Good Luck

[Catt]

I use the one in your picture in 18-20# for a 16-17' boat; 25' of rope no problems.

[Nice_Bass]

Just a thought but a 2mph flow is actually pretty darn quick and if it were my tracker it would be tough if I were not in some slack flow.  Get the heavier anchor as 2mph is not slow (to me anyway).  That should be about 3 feet per second actually and in runoff situations you are going to be running a lot faster than that depending on the width, elevation change, contours, etc.

Also, if you are going to use 2 anchors just know the correct way to deploy two anchors on a river...I am sure you do but would feel dumb if I did not mention it at all.

12# will not cut it in 2mph imo. 

[J Francho]

On 7/31/2016 at 3:16 PM, livemusic said:

The problem with that one (I think) is getting off a snag... if I happen to hook into a submerged log.

Then rig it with a zip tie break away.  Then if it's snagged, yank hard enough to break the zip tie, and pull the anchor up by the bottom.