Anchors

I think one of the most important tools you can have on a catfishing boat is your anchor, especially if you are fishing in heavy current, here is my anchor, I got the idea from Cactus Bob,, it is a piece of 2 inch pipe with 3/8 rebar welded to the end of it, with 4 feet of 3/8 chain to help lay it down at an angle,, it is light weight and will hold in very fast current and if it gets hung up, you can crank your motor up and pull forward and the rebar bends easily and the anchor will come loose,but the current itself wont bend the rebar. And for the anchor rope, I use 1/4 inch braided rope, the braided rope wont tangle as bad as the twisted rope. The rule of thumb is to use 3 times the length of rope to the depth of water you are anchoring in,
Example: if you are anchoring in 25 feet of water then you use 75 feet of rope,, but it doesnt hurt to use more,because I have found it easier to use more rope to position the boat over the hole I am going to fish,, it is easier to anchor farther up river from the hole and let out rope to get down to the hole you are targeting.

Here are a few pics of my anchor

Yep, you gotta love those light anchors, I've pulled anchor for Cactus Bob more times than I can count, and he had and still has a heavy one for sandy bottoms. That dude is a pain. Word of caution on that crankin up the boat and pullin the anchor, Just be careful always have your eye on the rope angle, when you feel it let go then go to pullin like hell to get it in before it hangs again. I still get very nervouse when pulling anchor, Those that know me or where there that day know what I am talking about. a water filled boat is no fun!!!!!!!! Just be careful my friends. Redbeard.

You can't beat a good 'ole wreck anchor!

For those that don't have the resources to weld or have an anchor welded up, the Richter anchor is fantasic. It really sticks and holds with a lot less scope in the line than traditional anchors.

Once again I must compliment you folks for bringing such a great idea to the forefront. This pilgram really appreciates knowing about such basic ideas as proper anchoring, especially in a river system (where I most often fish). I will try and find one of these kinds of anchors (my grandson is a welding trainee, so that makes it doable) for my 21&1/2-foot Key West Bay boat (but I imagine it will have to be a rather large one?). Any other advice on anchors sure would be welcomed as I only have the Danforth type right now (that is probably not a good choice) and was considering buying a 3-prong type "river" anchor soon!

the little anchors we make are more for snagging something on the bottom and holding rather than being heavy to hold the boat ...........the misipy river where we use these anchors has a lot of structure on the bottom so the light anchors work good .................. 4 lbs is easy to pull up !!!

cactus bob wrote:

the little anchors we make are more for snagging something on the bottom and holding rather than being heavy to hold the boat ...........the misipy river where we use these anchors has a lot of structure on the bottom so the light anchors work good .................. 4 lbs is easy to pull up !!!

Thanks, cactus bob, but I still think one of those type anchors would work on my big boat as the stuff I fish around on the Flint River areas (Lake Seminole) have plenty of "structure" (snags) - rocks, stumps, logs, etc. And I did read redbeards warning about using the boat to pull up a stuck anchor - don't need to sink the ship out there in "gator country"!

Capt Reggie wrote:

Thanks, cactus bob, but I still think one of those type anchors would work on my big boat as the stuff I fish around on the Flint River areas (Lake Seminole) have plenty of "structure" (snags) - rocks, stumps, logs, etc. And I did read redbeards warning about using the boat to pull up a stuck anchor - don't need to sink the ship out there in "gator country"!

Capt Reggie: those small anchors will be more than enough to hold your bay boat. The bay boat really ain't much different in hull than Cactus Bob's boat (18 ft mod v john, more or less). The bay is 3 or so feet longer, and a tad deeper, but these anchors hold REALLY well, especially if there is some current to help it dig in. If you're anchoring on a bottom with no structure, such as a sand or mud bottom, you may want to have flat bar rather than re-bar, but be warned! You gotta get the flat bar just the right size... too thin, and it bends too easily; too thick, and it ain't coming back! If the river ever gets to about -6.0 on the Greenville gauge (not likely), I'll be looking for one just above the mouth of Lake Ferguson!!
I've never weighed one of mine, but I'd venture to guess they all weigh 5 to 8 lbs, maybe? I work offshore with a 22 ft fiberglass FRC that is probably similar to a bay boat, and a 25 foot fiberglass Workboat that has a much deeper hull than the FRC, and I would feel no qualms about anchoring either of those with my fishing anchor, which by the way, is mostly just like the one pictured above!

Good advice, Sir! I will endeavor to get one made and try it as I always am in need of a good river anchor system - especially when I'm in the training stages of catfishing these waters here in north Florida and south Georgia! Any other advice, please pass it on as I have the rest of the summer to perfect my catfishing techniques until the October times really kick in the good catfish bites.

This anchor will definitely hold a big bay boat,, I fish with a 15 footer and last summer a friend of mine went fishing with me but he was in his boat(a 17 footer) and I anchored my boat and he tied up to my boat and the anchor held both boats in 16 oz current,,,,and lets not forget about cam cleats and anchor floats in case you hook a big boy!!