anchor not holding in river current

[Chevyls6]

Hello everyone ive got a problem with my anchor setup holding in river currents.

Its a light fluke style galvanized anchor with about 4 feet of galvanized chain hooked to a 75 foot rope.

Depth of water is around 10-20 feet.

seems that no matter how much line i let out i cant get it to reliably set in the river bottom in anything but the lightest currents.

The boat is a 15ft trihull.

Do i need a different achor? Heavier/longer chain?

Id be interested to know what y'all run in rivers.

 

[alldodge]

Without seeing the anchor, probably just need a larger one

 

[Chevyls6]

https://www.amazon.com/SEACHOICE-Ut...ywords=seachoice+anchor&qid=1590611116&sr=8-3

its this one

 

[alldodge]

The anchor would hold only if it caught something, which then would be hard to get back up. The anchor needs more weight to dig down into the mud. I have a 12 or 15 pound 3 fluke mushroom on my 23 ft rinker and it holds pretty good in the Ohio river.

Like this one
https://www.iboats.com/shop/seasense...r-anchors.html

Oh and I don't have any chain on my rode

 

[Scott Danforth]

what river? different requirements for different rivers

current speed? some rivers move at 1mph, some at 30mph or more, especially with spring run-off or heavy rains.


if you are in 10 feet of water and all your line is out, your scope is only 7.5:1. you may need to increase your rode.

if you are in 20 feet of water and all your line is out, your scope is only 3.75:1, you really do need to increase your rode

for heavy current, you should be between 6-10:1 for a scope. so in 20 feet of water you may need 200' of line in your rode or more.

If you are in a smooth and hard-bottom section of the river, you may not be able to grab with that anchor.

 

[Chevyls6]

yes thats true i got it to hold by catching a submerged barge line 2 days ago. It just skates otherwise.

Im not sure what the current speed is as i was up on the bow not looking at the gps on the fish finder.

I was right near the Emsworth lock on the ohio river while trying to anchor and the bottom appeared to be flat on my depth finder. The current was pretty darn strong since some of the floodgates were open.

Before that i was up the Allegheny just down stream of lock 3 in similar conditions with a rocky feeling bottom. At least it felt that way on my jig i was fishing.

the heavier anchor sounds promising since the one ive got is probably 6-7lbs max

The longer rope can also be arranged.

Is there a technique to dropping an anchor ? ive been throwing it off the bow then paying out rope as i drift backwards.

 

[alldodge]

Is there a technique to dropping an anchor ? ive been throwing it off the bow then paying out rope as i drift backwards.

No technique in a river, drop it straight down and wait unit you get a nice angle on the line, or toss out and wait less time. Just looking for it to get the angle to hold, then a bit more to make sure.

Spent years on the Ohio (From Louisville) and the river gets to running pretty quick. When it gets real swift I wouldn't even try. Could be doing great one minute then a log or chunk of something grabs your line and your in trouble real quick

 

[Chevyls6]

That's something i hadnt really considered since im new to river boating. I do hear floating junk hitting the bottom of the boat from time to time tho.

I wouldnt wanna be out there after a big rain storm in such a small boat thats for sure.

 

[Tassie 1]

There is a different technique for " setting " a anchor in saltwater
but in freshwater rivers and lakes that dosen't apply,

I'd consider adding another section of chain so you have around a boat length,

Just something about anchoring with traditional fluke anchors in rivers and lakes,
They can get fouled badly in tree roots, stumps and old logs,
yrs ago that happened to me...one up,
No matter what angle l tried l could not free that anchor,

Starting to get dark l gave up and threw the anchor rope over the side and went home,

Someone probably found it when that lake dried up in a drought later on.

Used an old bucket full of concrete when boating on lakes/rivers after that,

Just sayin'

 

[crazy charlie]

https://www.amazon.com/SEACHOICE-Ut...ywords=seachoice+anchor&qid=1590611116&sr=8-3

its this one

get a different anchor .A Danforth fluke style.the one you have is same as a hooker anchor and is a total turdbox.I have thrown away 2 of them.THEY DONT SET OR HOLD. when you get a different anchor a little more chain or heavier chain will help.Charlie

 

[JASinIL2006]

In the Mississippi, with a 2-3 mph current in about 10-15’ water, I have had the best luck with a rubber coated 20 lb Navy anchor. I have about 18’ of heavy chain and up to 100 feet of rode. It will set on the first attempt about 4/5 of the time.

 

[Captain Caveman]

You need to spend more than $16.55 on an anchor. That little thing has very little surface area to dig into the mud. As others have pointed out, you need:
- better/heavier duty anchor
- possibly more chain if anchoring in swift current
- definitely more rode/rope for anchoring in that much water

Look up online how to set an anchor. There are some good visuals that help you understand the amount of rope needed for different situations.

 

[Chevyls6]

There is a different technique for " setting " a anchor in saltwater
but in freshwater rivers and lakes that dosen't apply,

I'd consider adding another section of chain so you have around a boat length,

Just something about anchoring with traditional fluke anchors in rivers and lakes,
They can get fouled badly in tree roots, stumps and old logs,
yrs ago that happened to me...one up,
No matter what angle l tried l could not free that anchor,

Starting to get dark l gave up and threw the anchor rope over the side and went home,

Someone probably found it when that lake dried up in a drought later on.

Used an old bucket full of concrete when boating on lakes/rivers after that,

Just sayin'

I have considered filling a paint can full of concrete with an I bolt in the top lol. My day wouldnt be ruined if i lost that.

 

[Chevyls6]

I ended up ordering a 20lb cast iron navy anchor from bass pro shops and a new 150ft anchor line.

 

[cptbill]

Add more chain(get the thing to lay on the bottom so it can dig in) and like Scott said your a little short on the anchor rode

 

[alldodge]

I ended up ordering a 20lb cast iron navy anchor from bass pro shops and a new 150ft anchor line.

Should be good

 

[Captain Caveman]

I ended up ordering a 20lb cast iron navy anchor from bass pro shops and a new 150ft anchor line.

Congrats. Let us know how it works once you get it all in the water. I'm with cptbill though. If that setup still struggles, add another couple feet of chain.

 

[jebby]

a 10# dansforth anchor with 10 ft of chain and 150 ft of rope held my 20.5 cuddy in the Detroit river yesterday. severely wind whipped and fast flowing Detroit river. clay bottom. was fun getting it back up though lol.

 

[QBhoy]

Hi. Nowhere near enough chain. The chain is as important as the anchor...or more so. There is a general rule on length of chain to length of boat and depth of water...but I won’t bore you with it.
but I will say that I’d bet that if you got a 5kg Bruce anchor and about 20ft of chain, then rope after that...if you lay all that chain and anchor down on the bottom...it will hold you rock steady in most rivers easily.

 

[achris]

Had a similar problem years ago when trying to anchor at a place north (Exmouth). Didn't matter what I did, couldn't hold bottom. Ended up joining 2 lengths of chain together (had 2 anchors each with their own chain)... Solved the problem very nicely.

I currently run 5 metres of close link 10mm stainless chain, and the only problem is pulling that sucker up! It's HEAVY!

Chris....