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[Robbie]

Can somebody please give me some info on anchoring out there?  What kind of anchor, how much rope and so forth.  Where should I attach it on my boat?  Thanks for any replies.

[Zpg]

Hey Robbie

There have been a few posts regarding this. You might want to do a search and read through some of the replies for some more information.

Your boat size and where in the river you want to fish has a lot to do with your anchor of choice.

My advice is not so much about your anchor, but how you can release it quickly.

You should always cleat it to the bow of your boat, and I would suggest a quick release type of cleat. You might need to quickly release your anchor if a large tree gets snagged or as in my case recently an a**hole tug came right at me towing 2 huge gravel barges. (and I was well out of the main current). So that you don't lose your anchor, rope and chain, buy a decent size buoy so you can go back and retrieve it.

As for your rope/chain question, I use 100' of rope and rule of thumb is the chain should be the length of your boat. As for anchors, you will find many opinions but which ever one you finally decide on, make sure you attach the end of the anchor chain to the BOTTOM of the anchor and connect the top of the anchor to the chain with a zap strap. That way when you get stuck you can easily pop the zap and pull your anchor out by the bottom.

[firstlight]

Generally below Mission use a danforth anchor and above in the gravelly bottom use a river anchor.

[stinkytroutboy]

Yah thats what my uncle linus does, he says it works good for him

[Robbie]

Yah, I've got a 15' Smokercraft and I was pretty much only planning on using it in the upper river ,at least until I get in Sturgeon fishing.  One of my concerns is retrieving the anchor from the bottom.  Do I move the boat forward slowly until it comes unhooked or is it just brute force and pull like hell?  Where would I get one of these buoys?  Thanks for the replies btw

[Zpg]

Yah, I've got a 15' Smokercraft and I was pretty much only planning on using it in the upper river ,at least until I get in Sturgeon fishing.  One of my concerns is retrieving the anchor from the bottom.  Do I move the boat forward slowly until it comes unhooked or is it just brute force and pull like hell?  Where would I get one of these buoys?  Thanks for the replies btw

You can get a buoy at any marine supply, like Steveston. One thing I forgot to mention is that the buoy is great for salmon fishing when you have to chase the fish. You can release, go get your fish and then go back to your spot.

As for releasing the anchor, what I do is slowly boat forward, pulling the excess rope in as I go and when I'm over top of the anchor just lift. Usually this does the trick. If the anchor is stuck, I tie the rope off at the back of the boat and use the motor to pull it out. I start out slowly, as the extra pulling strength of the boat is usually enough but if it is really stuck, I hammer the throttle and that will pop the zap strap and pull the anchor out from the bottom. One word of caution: when tying to the back of the boat, I use a quick slip knot in case the anchor doesn't release and this allows me to quickly release the rope so I'm not in a dangerous position of having the boat backwards in the current. Alternatively, you can tie to the front of the boat and pull that way, either backwards or forwards. I don't do this because I don't want to catch the rope in the prop.

Just use common sense as the river can be extremely dangerous even though it looks calm enough. I know a lot of guys who don't wear life jackets while anchored. I don't either because it is just too uncomfortable and hot but I do put mine on if the anchor is a bit stuck, just in case.

Happy fishing!