Anchors

[Bookmaker]

I havent been on line in a while (to busy wittling down the honey do lists so I can go fishing this fall) But I need some advise on anchors & anchor hand cranks. What type of anchor do you prefer and how much does it weigh.
Also I need some advise on anchor cranks. I cant afford a electric winch. So I have to use some kind of hand crank, Are there any good ones that will hold up to that kind of weight and abuse.
By the way I have a 16ft smoker craft flat bottom
Thanks alot

[plugger]

If your using your boat for river fishing i would recomend a set up like driftboats use. I have used the anchor mate type of cranks and they are hard to use and slow. The hand system on my drift boat with a jam cleat is pretty good.

[gomer]

i have a 14ft alumacraft flatbottom with a custom made anchor winch and I wouldn't want to fish any other way. I can handle 60lbs of chain pretty easily. I think i have a picture of it somewhere. Ill post it when i find it.

[Erik]

I'm with gomer. I made my own manual "winch" because I couldn't find anything I thought looked heavy duty enough for what I wanted. It took me awhile to make it, but I highly doubt it's going to wear out anytime soon. I am using right around 40lbs or so and thats always been good enough for my 14ft semi vee. I have two 20 pound river anchors that I have chained together, and I can add more if I need to, but so far I haven't needed to.

[Chris@hydeboats.com]

If you add another pulley to your anchor rope it cuts the weight in half. I would post a picture, but I haven't figured that out yet. I could e mail you a picture if you wanted.

[Bookmaker]

Thanks guys for all the feedback, Sounds as if everyone has made their own
winches. If you could send pics that would be great, or I could meet you somewhere just to take a look and get some ideas to get me started.
pm me if your interested in hooking up.
Also are your winches bow mounted or are they back by the motor?

[gomer]

well i couldnt find any pics on hand of my anchor winch, so i had to make the grueling 15 yard walk to my dock to take some pictures of it. LOL

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/1022anchor2-med.jpg

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/1022anchor1-med.jpg

[Bookmaker]

Thanks Gomer
Thats a nice looking job & heavy duty. Is that the same anchor you use for river fishing? Looks like it would really dig in.

[brighteyes]

Gomer
Nice job on your custom made anchor winch thanks for sharing picture. I know I need to come up with something also. As my dad would say the ones in the stores are useless.

[gomer]

thanks but i cant take the credit on the anchor winch, the guy i bought the boat from made it....

Bookmaker,

thats my lake anchor. I have a 40lb wad of chain i use for river fishing. That 18lb thing just goes bouncing downstream.

[Fishndude]

Chain anchors are the way to go. You can pull them out of logs and stumps, and they lay flat to stop your boat quickly. Just make sure you let enough line out when anchoring, if the current is heavy, or you could end up floating with your anchor down.

[Bookmaker]

Thanks Fishndude
I planned on useing chain but I wasnt sure on how much weight.
I have a 16ft flat bottom Smokercraft.
Also I`m looking for a better way of cranking up the anchor, other than hand over hand. I can`t afford a electric winch. What do you suggest?
I fish the mo, and the manitise on a regular basis in the fall & spring. But I also fish inland lakes in the summer.
What I`m trying to avoid is 40ft or more of rope lying in the way, and something faster and easyer to crank up.
Another member stated earlyer that he had a anchor mate and it was hard and slow cranking. I think I`ll stay away from that one.
Is there something else on the market that is worth buying?
Thanks again!

[Fishndude]

I call this an anchor-mate, but I don't think it really is that. Here is a link to what I use, available from Cabelas
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jhtml?id=0018139015702a&navAction=jump&navCount=1&indexId=cat21316&podId=0018139&catalogCode=IE&parentId=cat21316&parentType=index&rid=&cmCat=MainCatcat21276&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml.2_A&_DAV=http%3A%2F%2Fa1460.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1460%2F 1339%2F6h%2Fwww.cabelas.com%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fconte nt%2FPod%2F01%2F81%2F39%2Fp018139ii02.jpg&hasJS=true

I pull my anchor by hand using 1/2 inch cotton rope (freezes in Winter), and use the flush mounted model. It isn't hard to pull and I think I only have 35 pounds of anchor most of the time. I can slide a window sash-weight or two on if the water is higher.
I have also rigged this so my anchor is extended beyond the bow of my boat, so it doesn't bang against the boat when I am under way.

[Bookmaker]

Thanks Fishndude
But I already have the boom, infact I have two, one on each corner of the bow. What I`m looking for is some kind of crank/storage for the rope.
Thank you once again for your responce. (and everyone elses).

[gomer]

In my boat, There is a 2 ft or so gap between the front seat and the platform on the front. I "designate" this area as my rope storage. when i pull in the anchor, I let the coils fall in this area and try to keep everything else out. Works for me, but i am too cheap to by an electric winch, and my boat is only 14ft.

[Mitch]

Hey Gomer, that's a nice looking set-up you have there. Very simalar to the one I'm thinking about building on mine. Just one question, my boat is about the same as yours only the bow platform on my boat is aweful thin and I don't know if it would support the weight of the boom and anchor well. On yours it appears that there's something bolted to the top of it, is that a thicker platform? It's kinda hard to tell from the pic because of the carpet.

Thanks in advance,

Mitch

[TSS Caddis]

When I had my 16' War Eagle, I used about 40lbs of chain or a 40lb pyramid anchor. If there are no log where you fish the pyramid is a better choice for holding power. I made an arm out of 3" wide by 1/4" thick flat stock that we took the torch to and and bent with about 10" at the bottom to mount to the boat, then about a 45 degree bend forward for about 2' and then 45 back down to level it out. On the top of that I had one of these cheap dudes on the far right http://image.basspro.com/images/images2/500-000/m501-160.jpg

It may look like junk, but it is the best alternative to a $1000 winch. The beneift over the drift boat style stop is that once you let go of the rope, this style grabs and holds. I wouldn't like having to dink around and cinch it down in a drift boat style. I liked the drift boat style on my last drift boat since it is 2' from you, but if you are at the back of the boat and drop the anchor, it would be a pain to walk up and put he rope in the stop.

I know you don't want rope all over, but if you are ever trying to lift an anchor by yourself while fighting a fish, it is 10 times easier to walk up to the bow of the boat, grab the rope and walk to the back taking up about 12' of line in 2 seconds then it is to crank it in. I'll try to dig up a picture.

Since I have a bigger boat now, I run anywhere between 70-120lbs of chain on a 24v electric winch, which is almost too fast. If there are no logs around, I still prefer a pyramid for it's stopping power to weight ratio.

[Bookmaker]

Thank you TSS CADIS
I was wondering about the pyramid anchor, I`v seen them on guide boats before and they looked pretty cool.
When I first saw them, I thought HEY I used to use pyramid sinkers when I fished the piers on the big lake. Why would`nt they work in the rivers?
I`ll look into priceing.
The main reason I want a electric/manual winch is my fishing partner is about 60yrs old, and his health isnt the greatest. And he refuses to drive the boat, I`ve offered to sit up front and do the anchor, but as I stated before he refuses! The front of the boat is his spot!
Thanks again!