Kayak Anchors

[biggin]

on lakes, creeks, rivers with possible snags. Will the bottom one be less prone to get hung up ?

 

 

 

 

 

[Alex from GA]

I only fish rivers in my kayak and use an 18" section of 3/8" chain.  If the flow is strong I use another piece of chain in parallel.  I use a clam cleat to snub the anchor line and run it out the front through the handle.  I don't have to  put the anchor in the boat to paddle just pull it up to the handle.

[biggin]

On 6/19/2023 at 11:28 PM, Alex from GA said:

I only fish rivers in my kayak and use an 18" section of 3/8" chain.  If the flow is strong I use another piece of chain in parallel.  I use a clam cleat to snub the anchor line and run it out the front through the handle.  I don't have to  put the anchor in the boat to paddle just pull it up to the 

I like the idea of adding or taking away to control drift rate. 

[Standard]

On 6/19/2023 at 8:07 PM, biggin said:

on lakes, creeks, rivers with possible snags. Will the bottom one be less prone to get hung up ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've used a style similar to the bottom one on the river a few times and it would easily get hung up.  

 

That's why there's an eyelet on the bottom of the claw anchor - you tie another rope to that and pull that one if it's hung up.  But that's a lot of ropes to have in the kayak, and it's not a guaranteed thing.  For any moving or shallow water it's best to use a pole style or drag chain.  They're expensive, but the micro power pole was one of the best upgrades I've made for river fishing.

[biggin]

Watched a vid about a guy said the same thing about getting hung up and being slim to none retrieving it..the first anchor l pic’d. He likes the chain better and mentioned about adding or taking away to control drift. 

[Darth-Baiter]

My friend uses a small dumbbell 

[MediumMouthBass]

The chains go out the back or the front, but when using a dumbell or regular anchor for kayaking most people clip or tie it to the side of their kayak, which can be very, very dangerous. If theres a strong wind or boats going by causing a wake the kayak can be pulled to its side causing it to flip. If you do decide to use any type of anchor aside from a drag chain use a anchor trolley that would send the anchor to the front or the back of the kayak. And make sure you can cut the rope or unclip it quickly if needed to for safety. But for your question the anchor chains and the dumbell will be the best option for not getting stuck on the bottom.

[flyfisher]

i have used chain, window weights, dumbells etc but two seasons ago i bought one of the Da' Bomb anchors and haven't looked back.  They work very well, especially in rivers and I have yet to hang one up.  I primarily fish a rocky freestone style river.

[biggin]

20 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

i have used chain, window weights, dumbells etc but two seasons ago i bought one of the Da' Bomb anchors and haven't looked back.  They work very well, especially in rivers and I have yet to hang one up.  I primarily fish a rocky freestone style river.

Think 5 pounds will do it ? I was thinking 10.

[flyfisher]

I think mine weighs 6 and it does fine.  I do have the chain version instead of their fuse version which adds a little weight as well.  The key is having enough line out, more in heavier current and the times I wanted to use it and couldn't because of current too strong i probably shouldn't have been anchoring anyways.

[IgotWood]

Chain works, but it can be rather noisy. As mentioned, Da' Bomb is a great option.

 

@biggin for a hard bottom river, check out Tornado Anchors. They are designed for drift boats. A little pricey, but a very cool concept. I've used them before (on a drift boat)...they work very well!

[biggin]

2 hours ago, IgotWood said:

Chain works, but it can be rather noisy. As mentioned, Da' Bomb is a great option.

 

@biggin for a hard bottom river, check out Tornado Anchors. They are designed for drift boats. A little pricey, but a very cool concept. I've used them before (on a drift boat)...they work very well!

I’m wondering if the discs on the tornado anchor will hang up on wood. 

[Bankc]

Take your rode, and tie it to bottom of the folding grapple anchor (top one), instead of the top, like how most people do it.  Then pull the rode up by the top attachment point, and secure it to that with a zip tie.  That way, it'll reference from the top, so you'll get the good gripping action and the anchor will hold well.  And, if you ever do get it stuck and can't free it, pull it hard enough and the zip tie will break.  Then the rode will pull the anchor free from the opposite end.  It's the best of both worlds.  

[biggin]

10 hours ago, Bankc said:

secure it to that with a zip tie.

Loosely from a pic l saw and a light small one. Thanks for the help, l’ll see how it goes this weekend. 

 

[Crow Horse]

On 6/28/2023 at 10:00 AM, Bankc said:

Take your rode, and tie it to bottom of the folding grapple anchor (top one), instead of the top, like how most people do it.  Then pull the rode up by the top attachment point, and secure it to that with a zip tie.  That way, it'll reference from the top, so you'll get the good gripping action and the anchor will hold well.  And, if you ever do get it stuck and can't free it, pull it hard enough and the zip tie will break.  Then the rode will pull the anchor free from the opposite end.  It's the best of both worlds.  

This! It works a treat and is so simple to do.

[Crow Horse]

This is the anchor setup that I use. It gets threaded through the anchor trolley and terminates at a zig zag cleat. It allows me to release the anchor line quickly and paddle away. The float works well and I can return to recover the anchor. I use a small 1.5# anchor which works well for the water that I fish. On occasion I'll use a drift chute if I want to slowly drift instead of anchoring.

[Bankc]

On 7/11/2023 at 8:45 AM, Crow Horse said:

This! It works a treat and is so simple to do.

That's what I've heard from many, many people.  And it makes sense, which is why I passed it on.

I, myself, don't do that.  Everywhere I fish it's either muddy or sandy.  The only thing to get caught up on is submerged timber, and that's usually decayed enough that you can still break free if you need to.  It might come back to haunt me one day, and it only costs a zip tie to try (which I have plenty of), but I'm just too lazy to solve problems I haven't yet encountered.  I'll be sure to do it on my second anchor though!   

[biggin]

4 hours ago, Crow Horse said:

drift chute

Works like a drag car parachute, pretty cool !

 

and what’s the black bungee for on the other side of the anchor line ?

[Crow Horse]

The black bungee cord just keeps the collar under tension and in position. It prevents the arms from folding in on itself when you don't want them to and conversely, it'll keep it folded up.

 

My drift chute is similar to this one. I added a float and a line to reverse empty it (if that makes sense). The opening has small floats on the top and weights on the bottom. It works really well.

 

[biggin]

1 hour ago, Crow Horse said:

keeps the collar under tension and in position

I thought so too. It’s made with loose tolerances