how to anchor your boat

[mikeratface]

I was on lake Simcoe Friday fishing in 18fow and I lost count how many boats could not anchor.I don't know if im right but you should have 50ft of line on your anchor by law put it all in. 18 fow and 30ft of rope you better not be drifting into me. Ill be one sorry ass screaming at you

[skeeter]

if i remember right i think it is

the depth of the water plus 2 times the lenght of your boat..

[boatman]

There is no hard and fast rule. You use different lengths for different circumstances or rode type. 3:1 rope to depth is minimum for holding in quiet conditions. 5:1 or more for normal conditions. A chain rode needs less length.

[Muskieman]

????????????????.................Wind, depth, wight of boat vs anchor, should all be a factor..

 

I don't get what ya mean sometimes you're in 10 feet of water and only use 12 feet of rope... and other times you're in 15 feet of water and 50' feet of rope on a 25lb anchor and it isn't enough.

 

RFS

[Garnet]

Anchoring is not rocket science. There are whole books for high end walleye anglers that talk about nothing but anchoring technique.

 

So just generally never cut a rope if it's 300 ft you might need it someday if it's 15 ft throw it away and get a real rope.

 

A piece of chain to almost any anchor will change every thing for the better and that 300ft rope tied to the chain. Some times you need 3ft of chain then you need 12ft.

 

Most boaters will never need anything more than just standard. Big hunk of anchor something you can lift easy but not throw and 100 or2 of rope.

 

Garnet

[FSNmachine]

I have 3 feet of a very heavy chain and it works great for me. Before that it would not bite sometimes no mater how much rope was out on a windy day or high current

[bigfish1965]

It depends on the wind, current and bottom. The softer the bottom, the lower angle and more rope you need. Certain anchors, like the navy anchor, needs a ton of rope out in sand. Wave height also increass the rope need so you are not lifting the anchor.

3X to 4X the depth gives you a 45 degree angle...which is usually what I like. If I am in current, yeah i am going to swing around. Sorry...but i will say hi and share drinks and bait when the boats come together. Fishing some areas of the French we kinda make a floatilla once we get hooked..help stabilize the group.

[Garnet]

Back when I like taking nice tournament bass anglers hard earned cash with nothing more the 1 to 5 anchors and the rules wrote just right and with very little effort control and 1000 ft square and fish every square inch....................I'm tired it's not rocket science and it's like throwing a Mars bar in Kindergarten class some body will pick it up.

 

Garnet

[danbouck]

Back when I like taking nice tournament bass anglers hard earned cash with nothing more the 1 to 5 anchors and the rules wrote just right and with very little effort control and 1000 ft square and fish every square inch....................I'm tired it's not rocket science and it's like throwing a Mars bar in Kindergarten class some body will pick it up.

 

Garnet

 

???

[OhioFisherman]

Never hurts to carry an extra 50 foot coil of rope, it doesn`t take up much room in the boat. Most of your smaller boats are fine with 5/16th diameter, like mentioned a piece of chain on the end will improve anchoring. A piece of heavy chain on a rope can be used to slow a drift in a current or a cast iron window counter weight on a piece of rope, if your fishing an area of smaller broken rock the counter weight dragging also disturbs the rocks and sends crayfish scattering and can attract smallies following your drift.

 

Fished a tournament with my buddy one time, a small gravel medium stone ramp, every time a boat would launch we would get a smallie fishing the ramp.

 

Tough job anchoring on rock bottom with any style of anchor, you need weight and can`t carry enough, one of the reasons for the paint can or coffee can cement anchors up there, take people that don`t fish often or have much of an idea about it and they lose anchors in rocks to snags. Cheaper to lose the can.

[Bernie]

When fishing a reef for pickerel I try to anchor well up wind. This accomplishes a few things. I use a relatively light anchor and a long rope. Makes it easy to lift if I am moving frequently. The long rope allows a decreased angle which allows the anchor to grab the bottom better. But the best reason is I can move my boat around the reef without pulling anchor. By snubbing the anchor rope on different points on the boat in a wind you can move a surprisingly long distance covering both sides of a reef. Also you can let out even more rope to increase the coverage. I have at least 200 ft of rope and rarely fish any deeper than 35 ft.

Edited April 21, 2009 by Bernie

[Mike the Pike]

When fishing a reef for pickerel I try to anchor well up wind. This accomplishes a few things. I use a relatively light anchor and a long rope. Makes it easy to lift if I am moving frequently. The long rope allows a decreased angle which allows the anchor to grab the bottom better. But the best reason is I can move my boat around the reef without pulling anchor. By snubbing the anchor rope on different points on the boat in a wind you can move a surprisingly long distance covering both sides of a reef. Also you can let out even more rope to increase the coverage. I have at least 200 ft of rope and rarely fish any deeper than 35 ft.

 

No wonder you upgraded the motor you have 600lbs of extra rope on board .Do you tie Gerritt up with it?

[Garnet]

Dan your little smily looks like rocket science confuseseses him.

 

Garnet

[Whitespinnerbait]

No wonder you upgraded the motor you have 600lbs of extra rope on board .

 

 

 

[BITEME]

7 to 10 times the depth of water for a proper hold

 

oh yeah and about 3-5 feet of chain on a swivel

Edited April 21, 2009 by BITEME.Esq

[Garnet]

Don't be cheap buy galvanized chain or you will be here to get rust off our carpet.

 

Garnet

[Bernie]

It isn't the weight of your anchor that holds the boat in a wind. It's the way the tines of the anchor grip the bottom. The more rope you use it decreases the angle allowing better hold. Why would you want a heavy anchor unless you need the exercise?

[muskymatt]

Not like this!! Good answers though.

Edited April 21, 2009 by muskymatt

[Garnet]

Bern bern bern it's the cross direction calaus of the law off Ash wed. divide the gravitation Obama factor X length of the Star Trek chain who cares throw a rock tied to a rope and if don't work get Mars Bar and RELAX.

 

Garnet

[Bernie]

Bern bern bern it's the cross direction calaus of the law off Ash wed. divide the gravitation Obama factor X length of the Star Trek chain who cares throw a rock tied to a rope and if don't work get Mars Bar and RELAX.

 

Garnet

 

Huh?

[Cast-Away]

I use a bungie anchor rope as shown in the link below with 6 feet of 3/8" chain and fluke style anchor. It holds my boat off shore even in large waves from boats passing near by. I've never had it break loose.

 

Anchor Buddy

[Radnine]

Anchoring is not rocket science.

 

So just generally never cut a rope if it's 300 ft you might need it someday if it's 15 ft throw it away and get a real rope.

 

A piece of chain to almost any anchor will change every thing for the better and that 300ft rope tied to the chain. Some times you need 3ft of chain then you need 12ft.

 

Most boaters will never need anything more than just standard. Big hunk of anchor something you can lift easy but not throw and 100 or2 of rope.

 

Garnet

 

HUH? Anchoring might not be rocket science but your post is. I have read it three times and still am not sure what you are trying to say.

[Garnet]

So I guess you understand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Anchoring can be challenging back in the day I prayed for 75 mph wind tournament days. Those big ego pros would run to some corner and hide, to uppity anchor.

 

They payed me and payed me well.

 

Go back 5 posts and I mentioned 5 anchors at 1 time it was wild on the lake nobody in the right mind would go out. It took 5 anchors because I could only cast strait behind the boat change my cast was change my anchors. My most important equipment that days bilge and life jackets.

 

The truth is for safety learn the basics and skip the rest . Ever thing you need to is this thread.

 

Garnet

[Rizzo]

7 to 10 times the depth of water for a proper hold

 

I guess I can never anchor in 8 feet of water because I only have a 50 foot rope!

[Sinker]

I would consider a 50ft rope useless.

 

Mine is 150ft, and I have another 75fter if I need it..........and I've used it several times.

 

You don't need a heavy anchor, you just need one that will hold onto the type of bottom your on.

 

The chain will make a huge difference.

 

Sinker