Lost anchor system

[Fish'n'Chips]

While fishing for oversized sturgeon just up river of the fishery Tuesday in very fast water.
We released anchor to chase a fish. Much to our dismay the ball and float of our anchor system went under and never came back up we searched for hours but it never popped back up. So if anyone happens across it please email me . It is a foldable anchor with black zip locks on the chain , 300 ft of black and white rope , a orange #3 ball and a orange crab float .

[ProCastinator]

You may want to check with Surething. He mentioned in a post yesterday that he came across several anchor buoys under water. Check here

Maybe some help for anyone to avoid this in the future and still catch fish up there. Hope you get it all back. Has happend to a bunch of us over time. :depressed:

This scenario is also dangerous when the water drops a bit and everything is just barely under water for someone blasting through the area and not knowing the hazard(s) is/are there, until someone's prop seizes up with it all wraped up in it. :shocked:

Heads up!

Look Here

[Gus Orviston]

I would think it would be easy to find the float with a a fish finder? Now getting it back up is another trick,,,,use another anchor to catch the rope/ball?

gus

[Pete]

I know some folks will return to the area where they were and troll for their anchor line. Potentially dangerous stuff to get it up and cleated off again, but it's possible if you have a well coordinated team.

All this underscores the importance of being well equipped and ready for the conditions. Please be prepared and safe - the Gorge is a dangerous place!

[hookem]

I can understand the big ball going under, but what about the small bouy floot ball at the end of the tag line? Will that get sucked under too?
And will they come up with the tide change? Evertime I go up near bonnavile the power of the water there make me very nevious. :shocked:

[bait boy]

as one of the few apparently that have gone trolling for anchor line it is not easy by any means.
Let me start it with the whole story.

SO we did the shad thing in the AM and were ready to hit the bigguns... set anchor here. guy on the bow (not me) says not much rope left want i should throw the bouy now? Yeah throw it and see if we stick. by the time the bouy is thrown and the tag end should be on the cleat the fella has not enough rope to do anything with so I say " just let go and we'll swing around and grab it"

as we back off I watch my ball and tagline go under and not come back up. Brand new anchor and puller with borrowed line...

I had a very good idea where we set so I decided to set up the largest pole with the largest weight on board and hooks, big hooks. started upriver of the afore mentioned last known spot and trolled down and sideways with the current to do my best to keep the weight at mid water and hopefully not grab the rope too close to the anchor. took about 2 hours for the whole recovery effort to pan out but in the end we hit success. It does take lots of teamwork and strong backs and arms and someone very skilled in handling their boat in the current..

[Miss B Haven]

I've pulled up at least 5 complete anchor systems at Bonne over the years (not yours- haven't fished there in bout 7 years). Some were caught in our anchor and one I believe we hooked with a line. The others "popped" up when the dam slacked and/or the tide changed and an eddie/swirl went away or formed.
In every case the anchor had a small (like 10-12") ball on it. [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img] I have never lost one but have always run a large 20" ball as the main and put a small 12" on the end for the "throw and pickup" ball. :smile:
No doubt about it, big balls are a good thing to have at the dam! :grin:

Kinda like THIS Pilar's Mate? :grin:

[STGRule]

Try these bouys: LD series Polyform

They are smaller than the A-series and they work well. We use them for setting our longlines. We first used them in the free-flowing are of Hanford reach and have used them ever since because they work so well.

[Miss B Haven]

Pilar -you can get a small bike tire pump (one of the little hand held jobs) and a needle and deflate those balls for storage. Re-inflating is good exercise for TUNA season! One pump, two pump, three pump, four!

[Surething]

fish'n'chip

I was out on monday and found 5 systems in the river.we were on the river at 4:45 so I sure that
they were left from days previous to monday most of them were just above the fishery and 2 others that we passed were just below the deadline by beacon rock. the water is droping and just like every year at this time it is like an easter egg hunt.every few days a few more pop up. Yes one was
orange and it was just up from the fishery. hope you are able to get it back.

[Pete]

STG, the potential issue I see with the LD buoys is they may not provide enough drag when it's time to use the retreiver. Most anchor systems have a one-way clincher attached to the ball and it's drag on the water that pulls the rope and anchor up from the bottom.

[BrionLutz]

STGRule,

Try these bouys: LD series Polyform

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Whoa! That is too cool. Gotta have one...who sells them.

Brion

[ 06-04-2003, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: BrionLutz ]

[Surething]

you can get them at england marine in astoria

[Stratocaster]

Great post! This maybe a given and most will probably roll eyes but just dont forget to write on your buoy your name and number and address, because most people are honest and will return it to you. Just a thought.

[STGRule]

Pete: I think they would work fine for a puller. There is still mass to pull against. Just a warning though. They are better than the A series but are not unsinkable.

[Mr. Carp]

If you get a good anchor and enough rope, you don't need to use chain usually from what I have found. We have 350ft of rope and no chain and have always been able to anchor up fine. Just my opinion.

[bait boy]

I thought I had a big ball . no thats not right I had an A3 bouy and thought that would be good as thats what most folks run. my tag bouy was not attached yet as we were on our first set of the day... some lessons are learned hard

[Tilla]

I got the big ball, and it has never come close to getting pulled under up there.

[Miss B Haven]

The "other" reason to have a big ball..... The weight of a good river anchor and 10-12 feet of chain. My 20 incher would only be about 1/3 of the way out of the water when the weight of all that iron was suspended under it. I can't imagine 1 12" ball floating 35 or so lbs of anchor and chain.

Of course- most folks up there are also running to small of anchor and chain to really get any consistent hook up. I guess floating an undersize anchor wouldn't be a problem on a small ball. :whazzup:

[ 06-04-2003, 12:27 PM: Message edited by: Miss B Haven ]

[Pete]

I've got the big (A4) ball and 350 feet of rope. Last Thursday, the river was running 338,000 cfs and my ball was on the verge of submerging. There was at least one ball just under the surface just up from the Fishery - a big blue one. The river is down a little, only 316,000 cfs yesterday. Don't take things for granted, the river is raging and that leaves very little margin for error.

[Miss B Haven]

Hmmm... always had 500 feet of 3/8 (full spool at the hardware store). Barely fits in a 5 gallon bucket. That was for my little 15 foot Starcraft. :shocked:

Pete- I might be convinced to give up that rope. Hasn't been out of the bucket/garage since I bought the AFB (1995). :depressed:

[Pilar]

The A-4 ball is the only way to go. I hate the thing because it is so in the way in the boat. But if you want to play in the fast water, you need the biggest balls they make.

The other thing is line. 300 ft is not enough to anchor in the fast water. 500 ft is usually enough but 600 to 700 is always enough. You can tell if your line is too short when the current speeds up while you are anchored, the ball goes down and the front of your boat starts to dip down.

The spring melt will subside in a few weeks. Until then be careful. Many who are not careful or not well informed have come to grief trying to anchor in the fast water below the dam. Some have died.

[OceanBlue]

Originally posted by Pilar:
But if you want to play in the fast water, you need the biggest balls they make.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">:grin:

In more ways than one, eh Pilar?

[Fishplay]

Mel,
I'd be very interested in that rope.

Pilar,
I keep my big ball out the way. The open bow of the sled sure is nice for anchor fishin.

Someone needs to remove those hazards quick while the flow is down!!!

[greenbuttskunk]

I like to attach another crab pot bouy about 5 feet fro the main bouy, helps alot. Letting out plenty of anchor rope before setting helps too. In this fast spring water I also just try to avoid it and fish on the esdge. I've just just fine on the oversize and avoid alot of the headaches that deep fast water come with.

[Lives_to_fish]

Once caught a complete set up above Chinook landing, but we think this one may have been connected to a boat. The water was about 80 ft. deep, but not that fast. We hooked somewhere in the middle of the line and got to the point where we couldn’t get any more rope to come up, so three of us started pulling real hard and something finely gave. Then the buoy came up, about 75 ft. down stream from us and we were able to recover a large buoy, rope and anchor. The next day, it occurred to me that it might have come from a boat. As if it was attached when the boat went down. I called the sheriff that works that area and he said that he knew of at least two sport type boats to go down in that area in the past year.

Without discussing physics, which I can't anyway.

Do use 6 to 8 feet of nice plastic coated anchor chain between the anchor and anchor rope.
(or plain ole' anchor chain)

No, you may not need it, but it sure don't hurt with more consistantly staying hooked and not slipping all day. Also helps to keep the shank of the river pick down, instead of always being picked up in the current, resulting in coming unhooked more often in heavy current.

Anyone who's done the anchor drill all day, knows I speak the truth, that's it not fun,
or is pinballing into boats safe up there.

Plastic chain lasts better than I ever thought and keeps your boat nice too. Cheap too.

[HOGGEMIN]

Ues caution, lots of rope, a heavy anchor like 40lbs to 50lbs and at least 10feet of chain. I have been hit by 4 boats that couldn't hold in the swift current during high water.


HOGGEM'IN

[HOGGEMIN]

Another good idea is to have a small holdz it tool holder mounted on your anchor nest with a sturdy sharp knife, for just such a emergency!!!!

[DriftR]

Just another note of caution. My buddy and I have hooked old anchor lines while oversize fishing. Just be extremely careful when handling that sunken, out of sight line. You'd be amazed at the hooks that were embedded in the anchor rope. Those hooks could do serious damage to your hands.

[Tilla]

One feature on your custom aluminum boat I got lucky with is to have the front hatch made large enough to store the big ball. Mine is a tad deflated, but it stows under the raised floor along with anchor rope etc.