18 foot bowrider- Best type of anchor

[poconojoe]

Hi all, lost my anchor yesterday! The line broke while pulling it up. My bad for not keeping an eye on the condition of the line. It was a mushroom type and I had the line tied directly to the anchor without any chain. The lake we run on (Lake Wallenpaupack in Northeastern PA) is man made and I think the bottom is mostly filled with natural debris. On occasion I've picked up a muddy anchor.
I do own another anchor of the "navy" type which I'm afraid would get too attached down there considering the amount of underwater debris.
So, before I buy a new one, what type of anchor should I be using and should I be using a chain? From reading posts, I think my anchor line should be 3/8".
The boat weighs about 2300 pounds empty. So, add fuel, equipment and people. So, a high estimate of 3000 pounds? It does get a bit windy and there is usually a lot of boat traffic. So, basically it's a bit of a rough lake most of the time.

 

[UtahBoating]

I use a fluke style anchor. And yes you should be using some chain with this type of anchor, it keeps the anchor seated on the bottom in waves - hope I described that correctly. We have a 20 ft bowrider approx 3200 lbs loaded with fuel, gear, and people and this anchor set up works well for us.

 

[H20Rat]

Did your mushroom hold you? Just get another then! Given your bottom type, it might be the best choice.

 

[poconojoe]

Did your mushroom hold you? Just get another then! Given your bottom type, it might be the best choice.

I figured I would check here first before I bought a new one. But, yes, the mushroom held 99% of the time. It was 15 pounds. I guess I'll get the same thing since it did serve me well. Thanks......

 

[joeanna]

there is alot of "stuff" on the bottom of that lake, also some nice fish. they use to have ice races when it froze over.

 

[oldjeep]

Box anchor hold better than just about anything in muck, sand, weeds and small gravel. Doesn't work at all in big rock. For an 18ft runabout a baby box is big enough, I run a small with my 20ft fairly heavy tow boat. No chain and a 2-1 scope make them really nice to use.
https://www.slideanchor.com/Hlm_Shop...1-c5e749bb8688

 

[diungerich]

Yeah. I use a fluke style with some chain lead on it too.

 

[poconojoe]

Oldjeep, that box anchor looks cool!

 

[Newbie@boats]

Ive tried the anchor that's the standard anchor in my opinion that comes with boats when you buy them, I couldn't get that anchor to catch for the life of me, and it was so frustrating because the wind kept blowing us around so I packed up and left. I recently bought this type http://www.sportsmansguide.com/prod...--rp6sOczzKHTUyHu10WW3IfZw4MMY95ZgaAs8Y8P8HAQ and it catches literally almost instantly....by far my favorite anchor so far

 

[tlombard]

I also boat on a man made lake. We only anchor in a cove which is a no wake zone and my boat came with a mushroom style anchor which has held my boat great (18ft ski boat, 2500 pound dry weight). Of course there isn't really any current or wave action in the cove. No chain or anything either. I would go with something different should I take the boat to a river or maybe different lake but for where I'm at, the mushroom works so I'm not going to worry about it or spend any money on a new one at this point. I literally just toss it in when we get to the cove and that is that. Each time I find a good reference point and check periodically to make sure we're stationary and haven't had a problem yet!

 

[slag]

Oldjeep, that box anchor looks cool!

Yeah, but they are way too entirely proud of that anchor. That is a ridiculous price for an anchor.

 

[oldjeep]

Yeah, but they are way too entirely proud of that anchor. That is a ridiculous price for an anchor.

Worth every penny to me. Considering I paid about $60 for a Danforth and chain that didn't work worth a crap, $120 was fine for something that does. Less than a tank of fuel