Safely pulling anchor

[Pasco_steelhdr]

Please share your tips/methods for safely retrieving an anchor with a ball and pulley setup on "can sink or kill ya" rivers like the Columbia.

Thanks

[Wood Shampoo]

Always pull from the bow not the stern!

Ty

[steelheadslayer]

The best lesson you're going to get with visual aids is the new video from Amato Productions called Anchor Fishing for Salmon and Steelhead with guide Eric Linde and Carmen McDonald. It really spells it out and walks you through the entire process even on which type of anchor and ball for different bottoms. A must see for the newbie to anchor fishing. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

Oh Yeah, ALWAYS pull from the bow!!!!!!

[ 02-08-2004, 07:23 PM: Message edited by: steelheadslayer ]

[No Wishin Just Fishin]

Must have scared you and Tod on Friday, huh, Ty

[Mrdorkfish]

99% of the time i pull my anchor by hand..because i can, the ball is attached by a dog chain kind of thingy...so i remove it before i pull the rest of the line and anchor up. If i pull it under power...i make sure my line is secured to the bow...i slowly drive up...around my ball....and head upstream. Remember where you dropped anchor by looking at some landmark or something so you know when that ball/puller is supposed to start working for you, as you get further from the ball and it's over the anchor...the ball might go under for a sec..then pop up (that means it's lifting the anchor) when you feel you are at a good distance away from any other boats that were anchored next to you ...quickly turn the boat toward the ball and anchor so you are headed downstream...have yourself or a helper pull in the anchor rope..ball...then anchor as you drift down river. I anchor in shallow water most of the time so only do it manually. The best advice is to go out now when nobody is out... and PRACTICE !! Be safe :smile:

MrDorkfish [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

Some guy named Louis

[Chromaflage]

What dork said - also, you might consider taking someone with who has anchoring experience to help out. :grin: Pick me, pick me!!!

ORS

[Waterfish]

I've been anchoring about a year now, and have learned the basics, at least for slower current parts of the river (Chinook landing, west to Kelly Point). I am still avoiding the Fishery and area near Bonneville until I learn more. I am pretty confident in pulling the anchor up, and since I added a Big Water Marine anchor roller, it is much easier. My question (fear) about anchoring in fast water is with dropping the anchor. I know the anchor and rope can go back under the boat and get caught in the prop. So, when you're anchoring in fast current, should you stop the rope when the anchor hits the bottom, then slowly let out rope so it can't go out too fast and drift under the boat? Also, when you drop the anchor, should you start backing up so that you are outrunning the drift of the anchor and rope?

[Chromaflage]

Waterfish, when possible, I will drop the anchor as I start to back down to prevent outrunning the rope. Most of the time, at least from what I've seen, the anchor-around-the-prop problem occurs when pulling the anchor. When you run up to the anchor, you have to keep veering slightly away from the ball and rope to prevent this from happening.

One more tip - always keep the sharpest knife handy when dropping or pulling anchor. I had to cut once - if I didn't have my knife, boat would have been sunk. A story for another day.

My .02

ORS

[ 02-08-2004, 09:11 PM: Message edited by: OregonRedside ]

[Pasco_steelhdr]

Sometimes its necessary to untie (like when battling an oversize sturgeon) from the anchor. How do you manage to float the free end of your anchor rope? How much rope do you usually have free above the ball? How do you pick the free end back up without risk of it getting under the boat and around the motor? I nearly had a disaster getting back on anchor last year.

[ 02-08-2004, 09:50 PM: Message edited by: Paco_steelhdr ]

[Chromaflage]

Paco - I've dealt with this two ways:

1. coil the excess rope and secure with a bungee cord.
2. coil the excess rope and put it in a potato sack or other bag with a draw string.

Either way, I also have about 20 feet of floating rope attached to the end of the anchor rope. On the end of the floating rope, I attached a float like one that would be used for a crab pot. The floating rope and float hang out of the bundle or sack.

When you have to drop off line, throw the whole works over. When hooking back up, idle along side the rope and use a rope hook to grab it.

ORS

[Ray S.]

Paco, most of the folks I know have 300 ft. or more of anchor line. I coil the excess line up and tie it up with the line from the running end. Some guys use a separate bungy or line to tie the extra and others use a mesh bag to stuff the line in. When you want to leave the anchor just let go of the line [the ball should already be in] and the current should slide the boat down river. When returning to your anchor ball nose up to the ball and line slowly and have your helper pick it from the bow. Try to keep the bow headed into the current and you will have more control of your boat. Practice your anchor techniques in an area with mild current until you feel confident. Then gradually move into faster water. Take it slow and be safe.
Tight lines...
Ray

[Ty]

wtbarrong,

Nice name,my name is Ty too!

Oh yeah, always pull from the bow, incase some thing happens.....

[Elwix]

If you don’t always wear your PFD when in the boat (you should), do yourself a favor and put it on before you go up front to pull the anchor. Keeping a razor sharp knife handy is a great idea too. Even if you've done it a thousand times, something could still go wrong. So be safe out there, and be careful. That water is cold, and the current is strong – especially this time of year.

[Tilla]

Biggest beginner error is to not pull the anchor float assembly away from other boats before you try to take in your ball. They don't take into account the current speed taking you downstream into anchored boats when you are retrieving the assembly.
Practice away from others (or near ******!)

[greenbuttskunk]

yep, the amato video gets my vote, and pay close attention to the cool illustrations in the video
that I did. (shameless self-promotion) :grin: They
will give you a good understanding of how to and not to anchor and what can happen. :shocked:
seriously, it's a great video, very imformative
and a good way to really learn the mechanics of anchoring. Also make sure to keep a good sharp knife handy just in case.
Good to know you want to learn and be responsible, some of the anchoring lcals can be dangerous if not handled properly.
good luck and be safe!
GBS

[Kevin Newell]

Practice anchoring in the water your going to be fishing in, before you go out there on a fishing trip.

Showing up at Bonneville during Springer season with a ton of boats around and trying to anchor up for the first time in that fast water can be very humbling.

Carmen and Eric's video is good. Money well spent.

[ 02-24-2004, 08:03 PM: Message edited by: ****** ]

[nitrobass]

Keep a sharp knife up front too, just in case. Especially if you are below Bonneville in heavy water.

[Waterfish]

Some very good advice on this thread! Although I have stayed in the lower river so far, I can imagine how little room for error there would be up in the Gorge in fast current. For you guys with experience, how about describing the worst case sceneros? For example, what do you do different when you are anchored in fast current, and then the wind picks up too, and you have to pull the anchor up in big whitecaps? Does this present differnet hazards with an east wind compared to a west wind? Also, in some boats it would be next to impossible to reach the prop to cut the rope. If you get the rope in your prop and can't reach the rope to cut it, I suppose that means you can say goodby to your boat? Anymore tips on dropping the anchor and ways to keep the rope from going back under the boat? Where can I pick up a copy of the Amato video?

[steelheadslayer]

Waterfish, just buy a copy of Salmon Trout Steelheader mag. and you will see it in their book and video section. As far as your other questions, when you watch the video, they will be answered.

[ampersat]

One day on the BigC just a few years ago I saw the good, the bad and the ugly of anchor retreival all in one trip.

The ugly: On retreival he tried the "curve away from the rope" method. Ended up getting his anchor line caught up in the prop and was lucky it shredded instead of tangling up his motor. One of his sons was hanging over the bow grabbing the anchor side of the shredded rope to retrieve the anchor. Very lucky indeed.

The bad: the fella running the boat I was in decided to tie off to the transom prior to pulling up the anchor. Thankfully we were at Gov't Island in slow current otherwise it would have been "bye bye boat". To this day he doesn't recall having done it. I'll never forget it.

The good: 15' smoker type boat with three guys. The guy on the motor pulls forward and one of the passengers collects some of the anchor line as slack is generated then returns to his seat holding the line against the outside gunnel of the boat, preventing it from slipping under the hull to the motor. They motor directly forward until the ball is at the anchor, collect the rope and head in for the day. Never saw such a calm anchor retrieval in my life.

Last summer a buddy and I were fishing further downstream on the BigC in 30'+ of water and used this same method. We were newbie's to the anchoring routine and it went off flawlessly. Folks watching us would've thought we knew what we were doing. It's a downright boring way to get your anchor in the boat (the way all anchor retrievals should be). I don't know if it would work in heavy current but I don't see why not.

[bait-n-wait]

ok I am new to boating. I have a 14' aluminum gregor. I use an anchor lift ball but I am curious... even on this small of a boat, should I be pulling from the bow? I have a cleat at the stern that I tie off to and pull the anchor up. I would think with a light boat tying to the bow could be potentially dangerous. why is tying to the stern or transom more dangerous? I have been doing it this way for several months in the Columbia in the St Helens area with no problems.

[Jennie@ifish]

What a great thread! Just when you think it's all been said...
This is a keeper!

Jen

[WaterDog]

Bait-n-wait, can't say it enough times. NEVER pull off the stern.

What happens when your anchor gets hung up and your pulling off the stern and the current is hard enough, it will pull your transom under in a heartbeat. Heck it doesnt even have to be a strong current. When pulling off the bow ,if hung up, your bow will spin around and you know to get out of the throttle. It's less likely that your going to pull the bow under the water. Think about the way the power of the motor and the pull of the rope acts on the boat. Maybe you;ve never had a stuck anchor. If you have, you'd know what it does. I've spun my bow around so fast it's like an amusment ride. Always have a break away anchor chain.

[ampersat]

Tieing off to the stern on the boat is a recipe for a quick swamping if something goes wrong. Say you fire up the motor, pull up some line and tie off as usual, then the motor dies. Very quickly your bow is pointing downstream and the force of the current on your stern increases the pressure on the anchor line and pulls the stern down. As soon as water starts dumping in the boat, you're pretty well done for.

Your Gregor should be well built enough to pull the anchor from the bow. In fact, if a boat isn't strong enough to do this it probably shouldn't be in any kind of strong current. A quick wrap around a cleat at the back end of the boat (while still tied off to the bow) would be enough to keep the line out of the motor but still allow you to quickly remove it should something happen.

[5-Cents]

Some very good advice here. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

Some of the descriptions of tying off to the stern and going down make my stomach turn when I read them. If you are just getting your first boat make sure you follow all the advice here.

[Mrdorkfish]

Wow...lots of great advice, but again, go out and practice. Try different spots..different currents....bring someone with you of course...It's way easier than you think...Try it under power...and try it BY HAND I used to fish in a 14ft Klamath...i could pull anchor very easy and not have trouble... i can do the same thing in my 16ft Hewescraft now BY HAND because it's a heavier boat and will not travel downstream as fast like my old "tin cup". Just think of the mechanics of anchor pulling... It's all the same..but stronger currents means shorter time to react. PRACTICE !!

MrDorkfish [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

Some guy named Louis

[bait-n-wait]

thanks for the advice and not being too harsh on me.. I will modify my technique and just use the cleat at the stern as a guide to keep the rope out of the motor. I have to add that, in the past, I never unhooked the rope from the bow and only used a single wrap around the cleat to tie off to the stern. thanks again.

[zipper]

Had the rope around the prop thing happen once in my old boat, very unnerving - fortunately the anchor was off the bottom at the time... drifting with the current, not under power with an anchor dragging somewhere off the bottom while you lean out and over the transom to unwind or cut an anchor rope is humbling at best and scary for sure! I was not an inexperienced operater - it can happen and happen quickly. I tend to avoid crowds when possible and dislike hoglines so spacing usually isn't an issue... What I do everytime now (when I'm by myself)is untie the rope to a single loop around the bow cleat, walk with rope in hand (that way if something goes wrong I'm not tied to the boat)back to my seat - remain standing, back off the ball a good 20 feet or so - that way I know the angle the rope takes into the water then motor at a pretty wide angle to bring the rope around to my side so I can see it - continue motoring out and away from everyone else usually toward the channel where nobody anchors - once the ball starts to push water you know the anchor's all the way up, swing the bow around toward the anchor, kill the motor, and pull everything in. I also wear my pfd when in the bow of the boat. All the advise about practice is sage advise. So is the "never tie off to the back of the boat". Having a buddy along helps but if your like me and fish with young children or alone, you'll need to figure out how to do it safely without assistance. Safety first! Fishing is not worth ending up as fish food! zip

[King Fisher]

Also, WATCH OUT FOR SLACK LINE UNDER THE BOAT WITH A PUMP. IT CAN AND WILL SUCK IT UP. Then you have no power! I don't know the cure, but I saw it happen.

[hawgcatcher]

this is good info. I personnally had the dickens scared out of me by a friend, who felt that power was the only answer to a stuck anchor.

We were up on the Columbia near Dodson and had fished without results most of the day. Time to go. The anchor was caught in the rocks. Try as we could, it would not come loose. He did not have a float, so he put the line over the back of the boat and took off upstream, full bore. The line pulled the rear of the boat under and all the time I am screaming at him to back off. No way was he going to loose that expensive anchor he bought. After three heart screaming attempts, I dug out my knife and cut it off. I told him I would buy him a new one.

He was mad and wouldn't speak to me all the way home. No loss. I never went out with him again, even though he asked me. I always had a reason and felt that no fish is worth my life. Yes I got him another anchor and was not even thanked for it. I left it on his porch and left.

Since then I have gone out with Fishin Mission and watched him do it with a flair. Now that I have a boat, I am going to learn to do it correctly and will try to get that video from STS.

[timinthegorge]

Excellent thread folks! [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

I'll add (to the chorus) that making sure there's a sharp knife on the bow is absolutely necessary! I put a strip of velcro on the bow plate next to my Big Water Anchor mount, and the other side of the velcro strip on a good knife (in sheath) with a serrated edge, so when I'm going to be anchorin', it's right there if needed.... I'd rather lose my anchor than lose my boat or my life..... or the lives of my passengers!

Practice makes perfect.....

I think I need to go practice again tomorrow... :grin:

[ampersat]

I just wanted to add as a drift boater that little, if any, of this applies to drift boats on anchor. DBs generally lack the power and speed to pull anchor this way. DBs should in almost all circumstances pull anchor by hand.

If the above is untrue, please educate me. This will be my first year in the drift with my motor and I want to make sure I've got the drill down.

[Wood N' Fish]

I've had my share if anchor "mis-adventures", below Bonneville. One thing that has developed over the years, is the break-away chain on a rocking chair anchor. I would NEVER USE anything but a break-away rocking chair type, (sized for your vessel) in any fast current, whether boulder stewn or sandy.

[timinthegorge]

Yup, couldn't agree more with Ampersat.... This is a big swift water kinda thing, not so much a drift boat kinda thing.....

And Wood N' Fish is exactly Right too... The breakaway anchor is a Must! If you're fishin' fast water, and anchorin', you've gotta have it! Regardless of the type of bottom of the river.....

[RiverRogue]

I saw one mention of down side of floating (poly) rope. They float. Whether running a prop or jet, if there is excess rope around your boat laying on top of the water, it is a potential hazard. Jet pumps can become almost useless if the rope is sucked into the intake. Better hope you have a good kicker motor to get back on. Most likely you'l have to retrailer your boat to extract it. I will not use poly rope for that reason,And don't forget, the Coast Guard recommends 7:1 ratio for length of rope to river depth. It is always a good idea to have an anchor that will break away, so that when a retainer is broke from the top of the anchor shaft, the chain then pulls the anchor up by its bottom. This usually will free it, but not always.

[Fish Tales]

Pulling anchor is at least a two person job
What we always do is release the anchor rope and let out a little line so I can get a good look at the ball then judging by the ball position and the other boats around me I'll know which side of the boat I'm going to pull from Then as we pull around the ball my partner in the rear uses a long rod with a hook on the end to grab the rope before it gets close to the boat and pulls the rope up to help clear the rear of the boat Then he'll watch the ball and yell when the anchor is up Then I'll put the boat in neutral turn the steering as the boat turns around I get in the bow to handle the rope and my partner jumps in the driver seat and guides the boat bank to the ball I pull the rope and anchor in and we go.

[Boatdog]

I highly respect the Coast Guard. But, I question the 7:1 ratio. If I am anchored in 30-feet of water, I need to have 210-feet of anchor rope out.? I have heard of the 3:1 and 5:1 ratio's. These seem realistic.
7:1 seems to cover all of the built-in safety factors and beyond.

[Pasco_steelhdr]

Did a quick net search and came up dry. Does anyone have a link where I can find a breakaway anchor clip or retainer?

[RiverRogue]

I agree that 7:1 seems a bit much. But that is their recommendation. As previously mentioned, most are using up to 300 feet, but in fast current and 80 to 100 feet depth, that isnt much safety factor. My anchor line is 600 feet and I have used it all a few times. Found that, especially with 4-6 people on board, it made a difference of whether I would hold or not. I do really feel that during the spring runoff, (high water-swift current), 300 is not enough.

[WaterDog]

Originally posted by Paco_steelhdr:
Did a quick net search and came up dry. Does anyone have a link where I can find a breakaway anchor clip or retainer?

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Most use "zip ties" or a few wraps of Dacron.

[Silver Hilton]

Paco, I use 1/8 inch nylon rope or a large zip tie. The zip ties can be a little brittle in the winter.

[dogrobber]

Ah, the big Columbia, unforgiving as she can be!!! One additional tip.
I know of some folks that anchor/sleep after getting off work. This in my opinion is not a safe practice. Have you seen the size of some of the junk, rootballs floating by?
Keep a SHARP knife handy so you can cut your anchor line if your bow starts to go under as the debris pulls the anchor line under.

[Larry@BigWater]

The Anchor Assist puller in the Amato video on Eric Linde's Boat is a customized unit designed to allow the buoy retrieval mechanism to be pulled through the cradle and continue tracking the rope/chain until the anchor comes to rest. It provides a solid and safe means of pulling from the bow.

[ 02-14-2004, 08:46 PM: Message edited by: Pete ]

[5-Cents]

I just got one of those Big Water anchor doohickies and they are the cats meow Much easier to pull it up and the whole ball and chain slide right in and secure with a pin... very nice [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[Fish Tales]

I just mounted mine today Bought it at the sportsman show Can't wait to try it out.

[steelheadslayer]

The one thing I haven't seen yet mentioned is the two piece plastic breakaway device used when on anchor. It basically is tied to your boat and then tied to a loop in your anchor rope and then will break apart if something pushes your front end down. You pop free of the anchor and then all you gotta do is motor back up and reattach the two sections. A lot better than trying to swim for it with heavy clothes on. I can't remember what it's called but most of the sporting goods stores who carry anchoring equipment should have them. It's a great safety device. It will not work when you try and pull the anchor, you'll have to tie off to the bow directly then.

[Born to Fish]

SS - I saw that device in the Sportsman's Warehouse here in Boise and was wondering about it - whether it was just another gimmic to get your money, or if alot of folks are using them because they work well. I noticed where you can set 3-4 different degrees of resistance in it but was wondering how often these things pop loose at the most inopportune times....sort of like the drownrigger release that keeps false releasing for any number of reasons.

I'd be interested in hearing some feedback on it since I'll be rigging up my Weldcraft for anchoring on the Columbia.

The safety aspect of this device is appealing.

Dean

[dampainter]

I have a 14ft. "monarch" deep vee, with a 15 hp.(three bench seat aluminum) have not really anchored and have been wondering about doing so, seems that if I were to pull anchor with the boat and had it tied to the bow that if the anchor were stuck that I can see the hole boat doing a "endo" or spinning so fast that it would flip it. I also see a problem with pulling from the transom....seems to me at this point that the safest is just pulling up anchor by hand? which is what I do. does the video by amato have small boats like what I have???

[Smj]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned.

These "anchor pullers" should all have a warning to not be used with smaller/lower horspower boats. What I'v seen happening is the smaller boat going to pull their anchors and it sticks. The less power and weight the boat has doesn't allow it to pop the anchor loose. Iv'e seen these kind of boats spin around so fast and hook the rope in the prop they really didn't have time to react. Always pull your anchor by hand if your running a motor with 15hp or less on a boat that's 12' or 13' or less.

The other thing I've seen that scared the crap outta' me. A boater using to little rope, anchor is slipping, boater thinks "It'll hook up eventually", finally it does hook and hold. Now, when the boater goes to pull his anchor it's hooked all right, stuck sollid and almost straight down. At this point you loose the advantage of a break away, if your trying to pull straight up on the anchor. If you don't have enough rope to pull at a fairly shallow angle you're going to loose it all, many times the ball will even be pulled under after trying to pull the anchor too straight up.

Some times a little slipping happens and I don't worry about it but, there's been times I've watched people let their anchor slip 50 or a 100 feet, that's a bad bad thing.

Smj

[steelheadslayer]

BTF, the only time we've had the breakaway device pop free at an inopportune time is waves from a tug or ship. Setting the resistance is a piece of cake. Then when you hook a fish you don't have to worry about unzipping the top and taking all that time to unhook. You just put your kicker in gear and motor up a couple of feet and then hit reverse at full throttle and it pops free. Then you have more time to get everything in order after the important work is done, netting the fish.