Why can't I hold

fatfish · 05-08-2002, 06:44 PM

I have a 4 claw anchor that weighs around 55 lbs. with 350' of rope. I only have a 17 foot boat and for the life of me, can not hook up in the hog lines at Bonneville. I have honestly spent 3 - 4 hours of fishing time trying to anchor my boat. Help, do I need a new anchor, or what is wrong with me. To be honest I have an easier time hanging a hot kwickfish up then my boat.

Grits · 05-08-2002, 06:59 PM

I didn't hear mention of a chain. If you don't have a chain around 10 foot the boat is pulling your anchor up. When you put on a chain it makes the anchor pull along the bottom,which makes you hold better.

Your anchor should go: Anchor, chain, rope

You may need more rope depending on where you are anchored.

[ 05-08-2002, 08:03 PM: Message edited by: Grits ]

spinnermaker · 05-08-2002, 06:59 PM

How much rope are you letting out. I now up there it takes alot of rope out to hold.

Thumper · 05-08-2002, 07:54 PM

Everything is relative. Just returned from Sitka where we fished in 150 feet of water in a heavy wind. It took 550 feet of line and 50 ft. of 3/8th chain. We took wind waves over the pilot house. Ugly, miserable conditions. Oh, and the fishing sucked.

David Johnson · 05-08-2002, 08:50 PM

I think some chain will help you.

Also, try and anchor in less current.

Silver Hilton · 05-08-2002, 08:58 PM

FF,

This is possibly a silly question, but how are you hooking the anchor to the rope? When the anchor is set, the rope should be pulling straight along the main axis of the anchor, pulling the claws down into the gravel.

Also, when you say that the anchor is a 4 claw anchor, do you mean that it is a rocking chair style of anchor, where there are two curved flukes of roughly 1 1/2 inch x 1/4 inch steel, curved in the shape of a rocker, with pointed ends? If not, go to GI Joes or Fisherman's Marine, and get one. Joe's will have one that is 38 lbs, that should be adequate for most boats. I use one for my 19 ft sled at Bonneville. I have 4 feet of one inch chain connected to it, and I think the chain might even be unnecessary.

Are the tines flat strap steel? If not see previous paragraph.

Chain is important when you are anchoring in really deep water, because of the upward angle of lift from the rope. In shallow, fast water, it's not as important as the anchor design. What you need at Bonny is wide, flat tines, combined with a rigging setup that will dig in.

If you use chain, most of these anchors are designed to have you connect the chain to a ring at the bootom of the anchor. There is another ring at the top of the anchor, and the game plan is to connect that ring to a link of the chain with a piece of cord, so that it the anchor gets stuck, you can break the cord and have the anchor pivot free. Not real important for most salmon fishing, but I've used that feature sturgeon fishing a time or two.

If you are anchoring at Bonneville, in 15 feet of water, you shouldn't need more than 120-150 feet of rope (8 to 10 times water depth). I usually use about 2/3 of that, and hold fine. There is something wrong with your anchor itself, or how you are connected with it.

Bait O' Eggs · 05-09-2002, 07:18 AM

There have been some good recommendations here, if you are not using chain, get some, it will make a world of difference.

You state you are using a 4 prong anchor. I would assume that is 4 prongs on each side of the center cross bar. I have had problem getting a grip on the bottom with a 4 prong anchor in rock. The 4 prong anchors hold a lot better in sand and small gravel, a 2 prong anchor will hold better in my opinion in rock. When you have 4 prongs it will rattle down the rocks until it finds a spot that all 4 tines can get down between the rocks at the same time and get a grip. When one tine wants to drop between a couple rocks and the one next to it is holding it back from dropping into that crack you end up not sticking.

The other thing is not all anchors are made equal. The angle on the tines, The length of the tine in relation to the size of the anchor, the shape of the tip of the tine etc..etc.... all affect how well any particular anchor will hold.

Fatfish - Buying and trying several anchors can get expensive, if you are interested I will loan you a 2 prong anchor to try that only weighs about 29 pounds that I think will have no problem holding your 17 ft. boat. All you have to do is pick it up in Milwaukie. Email me and we can set up a time if you are interested.

fishbait · 05-09-2002, 08:41 AM

Once again, BOE proves just what a nice guy he is.......... Roy may not be able to catch fish and is as ugly as sin, but such a nice guy............

By the way, as usual he is right about the 2 vs 4 prong anchor

Fish Hawk Adventures · 05-09-2002, 09:52 AM

Also keep in mind that there are some good spots up there that even the baddest anchor (4 prong 80# 20' of logging chain, 450' of rope) will not hold.... I can even have that anchor slip especially if i put out a sea anchor...... If you do not know you do not need to put the sea anchors out in that fast water,,it will only pull you loose...

Pitch Pocket · 05-09-2002, 10:21 AM

You might consider too, that the reason no one is in that spot when you get there is because there is nothing to anchor to at that spot. There are places where a flat table of basalt may be present and unless you throw down a v-8 block, you won't hold no matter what type of anchor you have.

Of course, if you don't have a length of chain attached to the anchor that is at least 1/2 the length of your boat, you can only anchor in a lake.