anchor question...>>>

Question... for a small jon boat on a reservoir (I'm in Maryland, and I
fish on Liberty Reservoir, for those of you familiar with this area), what
type of anchor would be best? I presently have a small "mushroom" anchor (8
lbs, I think) but it doesn't hold the boat in place -- I tend to drift. Any
suggestions? I think the bottom is mostly mud but I'm not exactly sure.

--
Marty S.
Baltimore, MD USA

On Sun, 6 Jun 2004 19:55:08 -0400, "Marty S." wrote:

Question... for a small jon boat on a reservoir (I'm in Maryland, and I
fish on Liberty Reservoir, for those of you familiar with this area), what
type of anchor would be best? I presently have a small "mushroom" anchor (8
lbs, I think) but it doesn't hold the boat in place -- I tend to drift. Any
suggestions? I think the bottom is mostly mud but I'm not exactly sure.

A small Danforth would probably work well. I use a small one for beach
anchoring. It will dig in when the boat starts to drift.

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

Marty S. wrote:
Question... for a small jon boat on a reservoir (I'm in Maryland, and I
fish on Liberty Reservoir, for those of you familiar with this area), what
type of anchor would be best? I presently have a small "mushroom" anchor (8
lbs, I think) but it doesn't hold the boat in place -- I tend to drift. Any
suggestions? I think the bottom is mostly mud but I'm not exactly sure.


Before trying another anchor,, try an anchor chain two to three feet
long, this will help that mushroom fall over and dig in.

Mushroom anchors are notorious about standing straight up, unless you
let out a lot of anchor line, drifting away from it, then giving it a
quick pull to flip it over on it's side

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

Mushroom anchors are useful to keep the back of your boat from swinging
around, but your main anchor attached to your bow should be a type intended
to grip mud, rocks, or gravel bottom. I also use a Danforth anchor, but my
old partner made his own "gripper" anchors from lengths of iron pipe (mine
were house jack sections) filled with concrete and two 18-inch pieces of
rebar inserted through it at right angles. If I were to make my own today,
I'd probably use a piece of aluminum downspout and long steel bolts to
minimize corrosion.

For the main anchor, use a long, braided nylon anchor rope and let out
plenty of line -- 3 times the depth of the water is about right. Letting out
plenty of rope also ensures the anchor rope stretches out away from where
you intend to fish, providing plenty of room to play a fish. Then, drop your
mushroom anchor straight down from the stern , playing out just enough line
so that the weight settles firmly on the bottom.

If you decide on a Danforth-style anchor, be sure to add about five feet of
anchor chain, which ensures the anchor lies horizontally so dragging it
causes the flukes to point downward and get purchase on the mud or rocks.
Consider plastic coated chain links to minimize noise at your fishing spot
whey you let out the anchor. As long as this wind doesn't get up too high
and the flukes can sink in or catch the bottom, you'll stay put

Joe Haubenreich
www.secretweaponlures.com
First real spinnerbait change in 50 years!
_______________________
"John H" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 6 Jun 2004 19:55:08 -0400, "Marty S." wrote:

Question... for a small jon boat on a reservoir (I'm in Maryland, and I
fish on Liberty Reservoir, for those of you familiar with this area), what
type of anchor would be best? I presently have a small "mushroom" anchor
(8
lbs, I think) but it doesn't hold the boat in place -- I tend to drift.
Any
suggestions? I think the bottom is mostly mud but I'm not exactly sure.

A small Danforth would probably work well. I use a small one for beach
anchoring. It will dig in when the boat starts to drift.

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

I use a Dan Forth anchor. It works great.

--
Public Fishing & Boating Forums
Fishing & Boating Link Index
www.YumaBassMan.com


"Joe Haubenreich" rofbmail (at) secretweaponlures (dot) com wrote in
message ...
Mushroom anchors are useful to keep the back of your boat from swinging
around, but your main anchor attached to your bow should be a type
intended
to grip mud, rocks, or gravel bottom. I also use a Danforth anchor, but my
old partner made his own "gripper" anchors from lengths of iron pipe (mine
were house jack sections) filled with concrete and two 18-inch pieces of
rebar inserted through it at right angles. If I were to make my own today,
I'd probably use a piece of aluminum downspout and long steel bolts to
minimize corrosion.

For the main anchor, use a long, braided nylon anchor rope and let out
plenty of line -- 3 times the depth of the water is about right. Letting
out
plenty of rope also ensures the anchor rope stretches out away from where
you intend to fish, providing plenty of room to play a fish. Then, drop
your
mushroom anchor straight down from the stern , playing out just enough
line
so that the weight settles firmly on the bottom.

If you decide on a Danforth-style anchor, be sure to add about five feet
of
anchor chain, which ensures the anchor lies horizontally so dragging it
causes the flukes to point downward and get purchase on the mud or rocks.
Consider plastic coated chain links to minimize noise at your fishing spot
whey you let out the anchor. As long as this wind doesn't get up too high
and the flukes can sink in or catch the bottom, you'll stay put

Joe Haubenreich
www.secretweaponlures.com
First real spinnerbait change in 50 years!
_______________________
"John H" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 6 Jun 2004 19:55:08 -0400, "Marty S." wrote:

Question... for a small jon boat on a reservoir (I'm in Maryland, and I
fish on Liberty Reservoir, for those of you familiar with this area),
what
type of anchor would be best? I presently have a small "mushroom" anchor
(8
lbs, I think) but it doesn't hold the boat in place -- I tend to drift.
Any
suggestions? I think the bottom is mostly mud but I'm not exactly sure.

A small Danforth would probably work well. I use a small one for beach
anchoring. It will dig in when the boat starts to drift.

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Marty S." wrote in message
...
Question... for a small jon boat on a reservoir (I'm in Maryland, and I
fish on Liberty Reservoir, for those of you familiar with this area), what
type of anchor would be best? I presently have a small "mushroom" anchor
(8
lbs, I think) but it doesn't hold the boat in place -- I tend to drift.
Any
suggestions? I think the bottom is mostly mud but I'm not exactly sure.

Marty,

If you're having a problem with the mushroom anchor, try something like a
River Anchor. A 12 or 15 pound model with 3 feet of chain will hold your
boat very well.

A model like this will suffice.

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catal...arget=bro wse
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

Suggest you get a heavier one of course!
"Marty S." wrote in message
...
Question... for a small jon boat on a reservoir (I'm in Maryland, and I
fish on Liberty Reservoir, for those of you familiar with this area), what
type of anchor would be best? I presently have a small "mushroom" anchor
(8
lbs, I think) but it doesn't hold the boat in place -- I tend to drift.
Any
suggestions? I think the bottom is mostly mud but I'm not exactly sure.

--
Marty S.
Baltimore, MD USA

Steve.... you recommend this type (the river anchor) over the grapneling
hook or the "Navy" style?

--
Marty S.
Baltimore, MD USA


"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in
message ...

"Marty S." wrote in message
...
Question... for a small jon boat on a reservoir (I'm in Maryland, and
I
fish on Liberty Reservoir, for those of you familiar with this area),
what
type of anchor would be best? I presently have a small "mushroom"
anchor
(8
lbs, I think) but it doesn't hold the boat in place -- I tend to drift.
Any
suggestions? I think the bottom is mostly mud but I'm not exactly sure.

Marty,

If you're having a problem with the mushroom anchor, try something like a
River Anchor. A 12 or 15 pound model with 3 feet of chain will hold your
boat very well.

A model like this will suffice.


http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catal...arget=bro wse
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

"Marty S." wrote in message
...
Steve.... you recommend this type (the river anchor) over the grapneling
hook or the "Navy" style?

You've got what? A 12-14 (maybe 16 foot) aluminum boat??? Unless you're
fishing in some serious current and/or wind, a 12-15 pound River anchor will
give all the hold you're going to need. I was using this same style of
anchor (the 15 pound model) to hold a 17 foot glass boat and it worked well
in all but the hardest wind.

The thing to remember is to get the anchor tipped on it's side and to let
out enough anchor rope. There's more to anchoring a boat than dropping the
thing over the side and expecting it to hold. Figure to let out at least
twice the water depth in anchor rope in order to get it to hold properly.
This will get the anchor on it's side and the flukes dug into the bottom.

Make sure you've got enough quality rope, I use 75 or 100 feet (can't
remember which exactly) and it's good rope, not hemp and not braided nylon
ski rope. This is a 1/2" or 5/8" static kernmantle type rope, easy on the
hands and no stretch.

I don't like the Danforth style anchor because they can REALLY dig in and be
difficult to remove. And, in rocky bottoms, chances are, it'll stay there.
I went through three of them before I went to the River Anchor. Now, I
carry one of those (20 pound model) and a Richter Anchor
http://www.richteranchors.com/ and my boat doesn't move. The Richter is
great, but not readily available, where you should be able to get a River
Anchor at Wal-Mart.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

Joe Haubenreich wrote:

Mushroom anchors are useful to keep the back of your boat from swinging
around, but your main anchor attached to your bow should be a type intended
to grip mud, rocks, or gravel bottom. I also use a Danforth anchor, but my
old partner made his own "gripper" anchors from lengths of iron pipe (mine
were house jack sections) filled with concrete and two 18-inch pieces of
rebar inserted through it at right angles. If I were to make my own today,
I'd probably use a piece of aluminum downspout and long steel bolts to
minimize corrosion.

Joe,
Concrete and Aluminum really don't mix well. There is a reaction between
the two that corrodes the aluminum and weakens the concrete.

pat