Drag Anchors

[MGF]

Another river related topic. Do you use a drag anchor and what are your thoughts on them?

[TnRiver46]

Too loud 

[MGF]

I guess I'll add a question. If you don't use one, how do you address boat control? This is fairly skinny water I'm thinking about.

[Scott F]

My river boat has an anchor, but it doesn’t drag. When it hits the bottom, no matter how fast the current, it sticks. 55lbs of chain, with an electric winch.

 

 

[WRB]

Novel anchor! The winch clutch prevents going down bow 1st.

Tom

[CountryboyinDC]

I am taking a kayak, but I use almost a drag chain almost all the time on the river.  I use 3/8" chain, nothing close to what @Scott F has there, covered with bike inner tubes.  I have a much weaker winch called an Anchor Wizard. I control how much it slows me down by how many sections I attach (the New in spring may be 3 1' lenghts and the Shenandoah midsummer might be a single 1' section) and how long I let the line out.  I would imagine you'd want something that can fail before your boat sinks in any event.  The Anchor Wizard supposedly fails at 10 lbs of pressure, but I have a river knife strapped to my PFD just in case.  I haven't found that the noise really spooks off fish too much, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.  I do find that I'm able to fish pools and structure of interest easier this way than before I started using one.  I don't know how this might translate to whatever boat you're fishing from, but I know not many use them on kayaks either.

[MGF]

I use one on the canoe and on the jon boat. I don't like doing it because it can't be good for the river but boat control sure is rough without it.

[CountryboyinDC]

16 minutes ago, MGF said:

. I don't like doing it because it can't be good for the river but boat control sure is rough without it.

I have heard others with similar concerns.  I consider the force of the current and the laminar and turbulent sheer stresses that the current exerts on the bottom probably are magnitudes greater than what a couple of pieces 1' logging chain drug across it will be.  Anything you would damage would probably not survive in the current very long either.  That same current can also sink your boat pretty quickly should the chain or line get hung.  I don't really have a solution for that concern other than have a quick release system of some sort, and mine is not ideal.  Mine is a knife and I would have to turn sideways in the kayak to use it.  I would not recommend this setup to someone starting out, particularly if there is quite a bit of class II and over rapid along the way.

[MGF]

2 hours ago, CountryboyinDC said:

I have heard others with similar concerns.  I consider the force of the current and the laminar and turbulent sheer stresses that the current exerts on the bottom probably are magnitudes greater than what a couple of pieces 1' logging chain drug across it will be.  Anything you would damage would probably not survive in the current very long either.  That same current can also sink your boat pretty quickly should the chain or line get hung.  I don't really have a solution for that concern other than have a quick release system of some sort, and mine is not ideal.  Mine is a knife and I would have to turn sideways in the kayak to use it.  I would not recommend this setup to someone starting out, particularly if there is quite a bit of class II and over rapid along the way.

I've had my drag anchor hang up many times. I've had it happen in some pretty strong current too. It was never a big problem. 

 

Last year I had it happen in some current that was strong enough that I couldn't budge upstream without using the gas motor.. The water was deep enough that I could use it. I just motored upstream until we got above the anchor and my wife could lift it off the snag.

 

As long as the anchor is off the bow (bow pointed upstream), it would take one hell of a current to be a problem. We use regular anchors all the time in the river and that doesn't sink us.

 

 

[CountryboyinDC]

For a john boat, I really don't know what it takes to sink one of those, first or second hand.  I know it would be a more force, I'm just not sure how much.  For your canoe, even if it is a high volume wide job like a Wenonah Fisherman or a Sportspal, it only takes enough force to get one gunwale under, and you're submarined.  I don't know that I've seen anyone use a drag anchor on a canoe, but I would assume that you'd rig it similarly to a kayak with the chain off the stern dead-center.  I have an anchor (3 lb dumbell) on the bow of my kayak.  That's to hold me on so I can thoroughly fish the pools above a falls or riffle, or the eddys and trailing pools.  If that anchor doesn't hold me completely still, I pull it up and try something else.  I don't think it would be a good idea to fish the kind of water I do with a drag chain that allowed you to move with it rigged off the bow.  You'd really be begging to hit a strainer, sweeper, or other obstacle.  But those are different circumstances than what you're facing in a powered john boat.

[flyfisher]

Anchoring in current can be a tricky proposition in any boat.  I fish from a kayak and have used a drag chain in the past and had no issues but it is also straight off the stern of my boat.  It doesn't take much current to get dicey if the anchor gets stuck.  As stated elsewhere a way to quickly release the anchor is key, luckily i haven't had to do it yet but i have a river knife mounted right underneath my kayak seat should the need arise.

[WRB]

Just use a mooring hitch knot to quick release the anchor rope, no reason to cut a rope.

Tom

[flyfisher]

5 minutes ago, WRB said:

Just use a mooring hitch knot to quick release the anchor rope, no reason to cut a rope.

Tom

In a boat you are probably right but in a kayak it is a different story as are tie off points being available that would accommodate that knot.

 

[CountryboyinDC]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Just use a mooring hitch knot to quick release the anchor rope, no reason to cut a rope.

Tom

I used to try to have a quick release for anchors.  It really does become tricky in a kayak, as there's not a lot of room to coil a cord that doesn't leave an appendage at risk for getting hung up in those coil.  I made the conscious decision to use a winch to eliminate that all but eliminates that potential.  Unfortunately once it gets to the end of the cord, you're still hung.  

http://www.anchorwizard.com/kayak-anchoring-winch-system/

There's an argument against it and for having a quick release, but for me, the knife is as good a contingency plan as I can come up with.  Anchoring in or using a drag chain in current comes with some risks, at any rate.

[WRB]

1 hour ago, CountryboyinDC said:

I used to try to have a quick release for anchors.  It really does become tricky in a kayak, as there's not a lot of room to coil a cord that doesn't leave an appendage at risk for getting hung up in those coil.  I made the conscious decision to use a winch to eliminate that all but eliminates that potential.  Unfortunately once it gets to the end of the cord, you're still hung.  

http://www.anchorwizard.com/kayak-anchoring-winch-system/

There's an argument against it and for having a quick release, but for me, the knife is as good a contingency plan as I can come up with.  Anchoring in or using a drag chain in current comes with some risks, at any rate.

Tie the of the cord to the winch drum using a mooring knot, just pull the tag end in lieu of cutting. whatever...

Tom

[CountryboyinDC]

42 minutes ago, WRB said:

Tie the of the cord to the winch drum using a mooring knot, just pull the tag end in lieu of cutting. whatever...

Tom

I guess you could go about it that way.  You'd be assuming that you could find and pull the tag end in what would likely be a potentially dicey situation.  Come to think of it, I'll probably go tie a quick release on mine.  It never hurts to have a couple of contingency plans.