Which anchor

[T_Herrod]

I am planning a trip to the Mississippi river and don't know which anchor would be best to get. I normally fish small lakes and rivers and actually lost my anchor last weekend so I need another one.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: Which anchor

I boat on the Mississippi and I use either a coated Navy anchor (15 or 20 pound) or a slip-ring fluke anchor (sort of a modified Danforth for easier retrieval). I like the Navy anchor as an all-around anchor; it's pretty heavy and works well in a variety of substrates. If the current is swift, I'd use the fluke anchor; it really has good bite in the soft Mississippi bottom. With both I have about 15-20' of heavy chain shackled to the anchor before the rope.

If you're in calm-ish water (e.g., out of the main current), you could probably get away with a large mushroom anchor, but I mostly see those on fairly light, low profile jon boats.

Hope this helps,
Jim

 

[agallant80]

Re: Which anchor

How big is your boat?

 

[fordmugg]

Re: Which anchor

I use a box anchor, seems to work in all lakes and rivers

 

[Volphin]

Re: Which anchor

x2 on the fluke. I only run 8 ft or so of chain though. Works well on river bottoms and worked really well when I got caught in a big storm off Cape Lookout NC. Buried itself in the sand.

 

[OllieC]

Re: Which anchor

I boat on the Mississippi in Pool 2 and also the St. Croix. I use this and it works great.



Digger Anchor. I use the 15lb for my boat. If it gets stuck, pull forward and give it a yank and the flukes disengage.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: Which anchor

That thing looks wicked!

 

[moosehead]

Re: Which anchor

+1 to the Digger. They are available in varying sizes. Holds well in soft bottoms.

 

[Boobie.Trap]

Re: Which anchor

another vote for the Box Anchor. You cant mess it up, holds every time.

 

[T_Herrod]

Re: Which anchor

How big is your boat?

Boat is 16' 7" long with a 77" beam.

 

[Brian 26]

Re: Which anchor

I like rictor anchors, for their weight they hold very well.

I do not like digger anchors at all. Yes they hold great but they require a lot of line to do it, I believe the minimum recommend is 10:1. 100' of line in 10' of water is way to much play. A similar priced rictor anchor will be heavier but would hold the same with 30-50' of line.

 

[OllieC]

Re: Which anchor

I like rictor anchors, for their weight they hold very well.

I do not like digger anchors at all. Yes they hold great but they require a lot of line to do it, I believe the minimum recommend is 10:1. 100' of line in 10' of water is way to much play. A similar priced rictor anchor will be heavier but would hold the same with 30-50' of line.

The key is to use chain like you would any other anchor. As a matter of practice, I scope 7:1 and never had issues. Digger says you don't need a chain, and maybe that is why your ratio was more like 10:1.

I don't work for Digger BTW.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Which anchor

Fluke with the ring and chain with plenty of scope.....scope is the ratio of the depth of the water to the length of the anchor line. 1 to 3 is a minimum. 1 to 7 sounds like a good number. Know not about the box nor the digger anchors. The digger is like the standard Fluke with the slip ring mentioned by JAS and 2nd or 3rd'd by me. On the chain, never used that length, but the idea is that boat surges have to lift the chain before the anchor feels it aka you don't disturb it's holding power. Obviously the more chain the more tug the boat can have without the anchor knowing it.

Mark