Need some advice on best type of river anchor to use for my boat and what weight. I have an 18 foot smoker craft. I usually fish the wisconsin river and at times get into pretty heavy currents. Rope only? rope and chain? Thanks
Boats & Motors
Best River Achors
I have this system, a buddy makes them for me. This is a spare, the one I have is made of round stock instead of square stock like this one. I have a 16' Mirrocraft and primarily fish Wisconsin River. In 5+ yrs of using it, I have never lost or been unable to retrieve it and it has been snagged often. I just keep a baggy of plastic zip ties and use about 8-10 a year. I use 3/8" rope to the chain. It always holds no matter the current.
lmao catman!!
my Dad had old grandad anchor his Dad made, about 30+ lbs of iron that looked like the bottom half of an old coffee can with a big old eye to tie to.... we would anchor perpendicular to the current during the spring run on the fox and wolf.... I'd drop my anchor on the fron, and he'd slide us down to just above where our honey hole(s) was and lower old grandad .... tied up short... if we moved, it was my anchor, that was a helluva anchor....
right now, I use Richter anchors... work for me, no chain...tried it, didn't really need it
spot lock trolling motors, power poles and $1,300 custom anchor systems, my grandfather would think we're all crazy.
I once got a bag of concrete mix and poured three or four anchors and if one didn't hold i'd tie a second one on, if you got hung up and had to cut you were out about a $1.Took my wife fishing and she looked in the boat and asked why do I have so many anchors? I told her don't worry about it just get in.
Fishing mississippi river lacrosse i use to us a 30 lb river anchor for wing dams and other spots found. It held my 17ft deep v most of the time but heavy if you constantly move or lose position found a remedy I pilot works every time and is easy move and reset position even in heavy current.
I'm in the process of setting up another 16 foot jet boat and this time purchased a power anchor system from Tracy's. I made my own chain anchor using about 28 lbs of chain cut into 16" sections. These are then simply threaded onto a 6" U clamp. You will probably want to drill a hole in the top of the straight section and insert an eye bolt. I later decided I didn't want a pile of chain messing up the boat interior when traveling so I will likely go with a 25 lb. pyramid anchor. These are readily available for around $70 on Amazon or Ebay. Or; if you want a really nice river anchor check our tornado anchors. Heavy but compact and clean. Around $165 plus shipping. Unless you are trying to anchor in white water you should be fine with 25 to 30 lbs and reasonable scope on the anchor line. Good Luck
Do you want a “good” river anchor or the “best” river anchor? I have what I consider the best anchor system. The anchor is 55 lbs of chain links raised and lowered via a davit and electric winch. This anchor will absolutely nail your boat to the bottom in very fast current, won’t get hung up on the bottom and doesn’t require nearly as much line out as a normal anchor to grab. This type is only offered by two places I know of in the Midwest. One is Tracy’s Custom Riverboats in Newaygo MI. And the other is called River Larry also in Newaygo MI mine cost about $1,300.
Richter anchor never let me down. Plus you can pull backward in case hooked up on rock or snag. I've always used heavy rope and replace every year, but after losing 2nd one in 20 years I'll be going chain and than rope. I believe zebra mussels are doing fast damage cutting away on rope.