Anchor Pullin

[new boat]

After a poor experience pulling the hook the other day (sucked about 50' of line into my pump intake), I have a question of you other jet boat drivers? Do you run up on the ball and tie the line off on a back cleat to pull or do you just take off and pull off the bow? I see it done both ways and we had our troubles tying off the back, or lack thereof I should say. Had an unexperienced person with me, he missed the line in the water a couple times with the hook and under the boat the line went and you know the rest. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. images/icons/frown.gif images/icons/confused.gif

[Pete]

Never, ever tie off on the back! If you lose power or suck a rope while the hook is still set, your boat could enjoy the rest of it's life securely fastened to the bottom of the river.

I leave enough distance to the ball that I pass by the side of it before I have tension on it. Then I pull straight up stream until the anchor is all the way up.

[Salmonator]

Isn't it amazing how much rope can wrap around an impeller shaft in a few seconds? Not that I'VE ever done it before! images/icons/rolleyes.gif You should tie off to the bow and angle upstream and slightly away from the side of the boat that the anchor rope is on. This keeps it from going directly under the boat. I usually get the anchor up to the ball and in the case of crowded conditions motor until i'm in a position to where I have lots of room to free drift downstream while i'm pulling in rope. With two people you can just bring up the anchor then point the boat downstream to line up with the rope then feather the controls to keep the line straight with a little pressure on it (no loose rope to get sucked up the impeller) while your buddy takes in the line.
As far as tieing off to the stern... I did this ONCE. If my cleat hadn't ripped out of the fiberglass as my boat was getting pulled under, my old Silverline would have been at the bottom of the Willamette near the mouth of the Santiam. I never had anyone tell me not to do it, had to find out for myself the hard way... Joe

[KarenLee]

Ditto on these comments. and again emphasize DO NOT TIE OF TO THE REAR CLEAT.

If trouble happens the boat will get spun around with the current and then your flanks are exposed and the water comes in quick.


Many boats go under quickly that way. Myself and Pilar had an experiance in the frog at bonneville about 9 years ago that stills makes me appreciate his quick thinking and fast movement as he pulled the rope from the rear cleat just in time to get the rope succed from his hand. Almost took him in with it. Guess we didn't have enough ancor rope that day. Whew. short day but we didn't get wet.

[new boat]

Thanks for your advice guys! Anyone else? images/icons/smile.gif

[Pitch Pocket]

Nothing more to say. Never tie to the stern or you will go down in fast current. Techniques above are exactly correct.

[rags]

Thanks for the info on anchor pulling. I am a new sledder and this is the one thing that scares me. I haven't anchored in water deeper than 30ft yet and no problems so far. I do think if you have a person with you that is new to this it is a good idea to get into some shallow water and show them how to pull the anchor before you go out. It only takes a few minutes and could save you some grief.

[brshooter]

I have not yet anchored up below Bonniville. The wife and have only had our boat (19' North River) for a month and a half. We wanted to get familiar with the anchor process before we headed up there. I have heard some of the horror stories and want to avoid those mistakes. We got our practice fishing for chinook near Washougal and sturgeon at Kelley Point. This is how we pull anchor. I will head upstream until the ball has lifted the anchor. I then turn 180 degrees until the bow is pointed at the ball. I hop out on the bow and my wife will hold the boat in position while I pull the ball to the boat. I alway wear my pfd when dropping or pulling anchor. I also have a knife on my belt just in case I go over with the rope and had to cut loose. This seems to work for us. If I am doing something wrong, please speak up.

[Gregotis98]

If your anchor is really stuck on the bottom when trying to pull, leave the rope tied to the bow but let it all back out and try from a slightly different angle.

[Jeffhead]

One way to try to make sure that your anchor doesn't get stuck is to attach the chain to a hard loop on the rocker end of the anchor, run the chain up the anchor shaft and attach it to the top end of the shaft with a small electrical tie. That way when the anchor gets hung up the electrical tie will braek loose and the anchor will be pulled out backwards.
good luck and tight lines, Jeff images/icons/grin.gif images/icons/grin.gif

[Deleted User]

Here is something I got in the practice of doing in a friends boat. (and will do when I get a boat).
Before running upriver to pull the hook, I always pull the boat forward by the anchor line, or slowly motor foward in heavy current, then tie the anchor rope off to one of the foward cleats (about 4" back from the bow)on ether side, still leaving it tied off to the bow.
This puts the boat at a slight angle to the current. Motor past your anchor bouy on that side. this puts the rope out to the side of your boat and you won't run over it.
It also puts less stran on your bow cleat. If you are hooked hard to the bottom you will pull from this side, and not risk pulling your bow under.
And like in the other post- never NEVER ever tie off to the stearn!!
Be safe so that I can someday meet you on the water. images/icons/smile.gif

[Pete]

Another thing to keep in mind ... if your anchor is stuck, when you are pulling you put a lot of tension on the rope. If you cut the power abruptly, the rope will snap the boat back very quickly. If you do stick your anchor, reduce the trottle gradually. Then, give the rope a swift tug with the boat to break away the break away tie.

[DF]

I have had a bad experiance with an anchor. My friend and I were anchored in a hogline. we were even with everyone else. There as about a boats width of space between us and the person next to us. Pretty soom here comes this guy in a little sea swirl. Instead of anchoring next to us. He anchors above and to the right about 10 feet. Thus making is really really really hard to pull anchor without running into him. Well we go to pull anchor.... and its stuck. we pull and pull with the rope tied to the bow. When we do this the harder we pull the boat starts moving to the right. Towards the guy next to us.
So being new boaters we tie the rope to the back in an attempt to go straight...BAD IDEA We give it gas and we go forward and stop still giving it throttle the anchor dosent move. My friend lets off the throttle. The boat gose rocketting backwards pulling the stern down images/icons/shocked.gif at this time we were pretty much praying to god that we didnt sink. After bailing the water out we said forget it and left 11 yards of rope and a 60 dollar anchor at the bottom of the river images/icons/mad.gif images/icons/tongue.gif

[Fishbone]

How many zip-ties do ya'll usually use to secure the chain to the top of the anchor? It seems like I usually use two of the size that is approximately 3/16" in width. I can't recall ever needing to break the zip-ties in an urgent situation, but I would hate to struggle doing so. Any opinions? Thank you.

[WaterDog]

I use 2 - 75lb test zip ties. Seems to work well for me. I usually find 100 packs for $8 or so at the local hardware store.

[Jeffhead]

I use one tie of the size you describe, even if you bust it every time (I haven't busted one yet, but then I haven't had a stuck anchor since I've been using this method) is a lot cheaper (and safer) than a new anchor and rope.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff images/icons/grin.gif images/icons/grin.gif

[Bait O' Eggs]

I have a buddy who just took delivery of his first boat a couple weeks ago.

When he brought the new boat home for the first time he had his first encounter. After bending the heck out of the new Bentleys top he decided it was best to put the top down before backing into the garage. images/icons/shocked.gif images/icons/shocked.gif

He calls me last night and had just gotten back from his first fishing trip for shad. He gets out in the river (3rd launching) and drops the new $80 anchor with some fancy stainless clevis he found for too much money. Almost immediately the knot comes untied images/icons/rolleyes.gif and he leaves the anchor on the bottom of the river. images/icons/rolleyes.gif A quick trip over to Fishermans for a new anchor he managed to salvalge the evening and return to the river to catch his first shad. He now has blood on the boat, hopefully things will improve for him.

I dont have the color yet for everybody to look out for. But it is a new Hewescraft searunner, 20 ft, with a top. It might be best to give this guy some room for while.
images/icons/wink.gif

He invited me on last nights trip, I declined, it appears it might be a good idea I not go with him for a while. He is headed to the ocean this weekend for some bottom fishing. I hope Darwin doesnt get him images/icons/shocked.gif he is nice guy, but has some skills to learn yet.

[FishinMission]

If I'm in a "tight" hogline....I won't even use my buoy. I'll just fire up the kicker..and drive up while pulling the anchor line until I'm on top of my anchor...then pull it straight up all the while holding the boat in position. Keeps me from pulling someone elses anchor along with mine...and saves me the embarrasment of getting tangled with someone elses anchor. All of the above are good points. Be safe out there!!

[boater]

[ 05-29-2001: Message edited by: boater ]

[Ed]

I hear ya boater regarding your concern about getting your anchor rope sucked into the pump. Here is a little trick I use and kids, don't try this without parental supervision: I always pull (from the front)the so the bouy is on my right side. This way I can better see where the rope is. I am not shy with the power either. Tension will help prevent the rope from getting sucked-up. If for some reason the bouy gets behind and to the left, thus the rope starts to go under the boat, I will sharply turn to the right, throw'er in reverse, keeping tension on the rope, spin around throw'er in forward and pull with the bouy/rope on the left side. The idea is to maintain "forward" momentum thus keeping tension on the rope through the whole maneuver. A jet boat can do this really quickly especially with single lever controls.

Where I get in to trouble is when a strong wind blows me up onto my anchor. This happened to me about two months ago on the big C. I was anchored in about 60' with the drift socks out. There was a slight west wind. Well, a huge west wind quiclky came up and before I knew it, I was being blown up river over my anchor. My boat spun around so my drift socks and anchor rope were right under my grate. What a pain in the butt that was! Surviving times like that make a person a better boater. Good Luck.

[HOGTIDE]

A problem frequently occurs in the fall with hoglines that are too close together in the main channel. Boaters often have so much rope out (which is needed) that when they 'pull' they literally run upstream into the other hogline or have to troll their anchor sideways , over other ropes, to get clear.

To get away from this problem, I try to make '2' pulls. I'll run upstream about 150', idle the boat and gather that portion of the line, tie off, and then make another pull of 150'. This also reduces your 'rope gathering time' if you are alone and drifting back down into your original hogline.

Whenever anchoring in swift current,I keep a sharp knife available. A $75 anchor is a cheap donation, given an ugly situation.

[Deleted User]

Do what my dad did, and get your kid to pull it images/icons/rolleyes.gif

[hustlerrjim]

marry a stout woman with a good strong back they can do wonders with a bit of coaching

[Pitch Pocket]

Hogtide,
I've anchored in the Columbia with most of the 300' out and had people anchor up right over my hook. I've used as many as 4 pulls in this situation. The last pull allows a few pointed barbs at their technique as I motor past them pulling my buoy.

[HOGTIDE]

On this topic.....Have you seen the new anchor pulling device at Englund Marine in Astoria? It is a stainless pretzel shaped piece, that takes the place of your EZ puller. It attaches to your buoy. It too only allows the line to slide through going one direction. But the advantage is that this can be easily attached and detached from your anchor line. No more stripping the line back through the pulley gizmo, readying for a clean drop next time out. Just detach the puller. Attach it at the other end when needed. Its only about $13. The down side is that you must buy the model that fits your rope diameter,exactly, (i.e) 5/8 or 3/8, etc.

[ 05-28-2001: Message edited by: HOGTIDE ]

[HOGTIDE]

SjP. I can relate to your 'closeup' anchoring experiences. I spent a couple seasons off the mouth of the Sandy, where every doughball with a Bayliner and a 3lb sand anchor tried to fish off of my bow. The only way they could hold is when they finally tangled into my rope. We had dufus heads literally slide down over my marker ball when we would drop out with a fish. The first several trips I laughed...after a few dangerous experiences I became an angry fishin' man. Since my goal is to be happy and to relax while fishing...I now stay away from that area.

[FishinMission]

Hog...been there done that mouth of the Sandy stuff....quit it about 2 years ago. Bet I saw you out there!! Remember the "Wet Dream" boat??

[LAYthe5]

Never tie off on the rear cleat, this is how people die on the Columbia. I stay tied off of the bow, run the rope through the front bow rail, tie to the front cleat, and take off up stream swinging really wide of the rope and buoy. I always pull for a long time also as this assures the anchor is really off the bottom. Remember never tie off on the rear cleat, people get into trouble when the motor dies or if you get in a tangle with someone elses line. Also make sure your kicker starts fast or is warmed up, so if your motor dies you can get out of your pickle. Inboard jet owners are usually in good shape if tied off the front and your motor kicks on you. Outboard owners have to remember to trim up as they swing back around in a motor failure as the rope can wrap the shaft of the motor and this will suck your stern down. If your tied off the front when pulling your anchor, you will swing back into the position you were just in. It's the safest way I know to pull anchor. Be safe out there.

LTF images/icons/grin.gif

[Pilar]

KarenLee, how did we ever survive the 'Frog'?

Great advice here. Lets Review


NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER

tie the rope to the back of the boat. Darwin will win this one most of the time. The breakaway on the anchor is a real smart thing to do. Wire ties work as does electrical tape wrapped 20 times and baling wire wrapped 2 or 3 times and not twisted. A chain is an essential part of an anchor. 10 feet of 1" chain will keep the shank parallel to the bottom and help it to hold on loose rock or in fast water. Secure the chain to the rocker or bottom of the anchor. I weld mine on. Tape or wire tie a link to the top of the shank. There is usually a ring there. If you get hung the link will part from the shank and the pulling force moves to the bottom of the anchor.

This almost always saves the day. Keep thinking and stay out of the river!

[Tinman]

What do you do with extra anchor line when fishing shallow water? My line is 300 feet, with an EZ-Puller and ball, which is fine for big water. But what do I do with the extra line when the water is only 15 feet deep and/or very slow? What happens to the extra line when I need to drop off to follow a fish?

[boater]

[ 05-29-2001: Message edited by: boater ]

[Fish Hawk Adventures]

Use a different rope. Keep a 100' rope for situations like that and change your rope. If you can afford a boat and gas you can afford a spare piece of rope. You never know when you might need it any way for other situations, like towing another boater for example. I can't tell you haw many times I have grabbed an extra piece of rope and thrown it to a distressed boated in a time of need only to pull his boat off the jetty or a reef seconds before disaster.
The most it will cost you is about a tank of gas and it is worth it for every penny.