anchor

[angler00]

how would you anchor to a artificial reef or a shipwreak??? never tried it would like some info on it..

 

[O-fishal]

Re: anchor

YOU DONT!!! you anchor close to it.

 

[angler00]

Re: anchor

YOU DONT!!! you anchor close to it.

so if I want to fish right on top of it, anchor away from the reef and float over to the top of the reef.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: anchor

All is not lost.

 

[giericd]

Re: anchor

have a several pound weight tied to a long enough string which is tied to a 2 liter bottle (for night you can put a glow stick in the bottle). as you drive over the spot and mark good bottom drop the weight and bottle over the side and keep on going for about100 yards. stop and put the boat in neutral and relax for a few minutes, what you want to see is from where you stopped which direction the current/ wind is pushing your boat by looking at your track on your GPS zoom in it helps. now you can see your bottle sitting directly above the reef and you can see that you atr drifting at lets say a 270 degree heading away from the bottle. what you want to do is position your boat where you can drift close (50-100') might be more depending on water depth and drop anchor but your position when you drom should allow you to drift in a 270 heading that will take you over the reef, play out rope untill the bottle is at your transom in shallow water further back in deeper water. i like to leave the marker in the water untill i leave as the wind and currents shift you can lose orientation to where the reef was but if the bottle is there you know. as you get better at it you will want to anchor in a position where your boat never goes over the spot where you intend to fish that just spooks them and when anchor is set you will not be fishing over the reef /wreck but infront of it. that way your chum can drift back and down to the fish pulling them away from structure and closer to you, you drift your baits back adjusting the amount of weight on your line to water depth and current conditions. a grouper that rises 15' off the bottom and swims 20' waya from the reef to grab your bait has a much smaller chance of getting back to structure and cutting you off than the one that picks up your bait that is on the bottom between sharp rocks! you will never land that fish! you will know you are fishing too close when you feel a good thump on your line, you set the hook, and feel like you are snagged on the bottom, you will sware that as you set the hook you felt something pull, yep, he pulled you right in the rocks.

 

[angler00]

Re: anchor

thats a BIG help thanks giericd, being new at this just want to do the right thing and SAFE
I guess the newby question are stupid question to the more experience ,but oh well thats how you learn and come home safe
thanks again.. you will hear more stupid question from me (I am sure)

 

[giericd]

Re: anchor

no stupid questions man, not long ago i couldn't anchor on a position to save my life. with hundreds of drops, learning from mistakes, and advice from others it's now a snap. soon you will be helping a newby. just remember not to drop anchor into structure! it can be very dangerous. and in some places like the florida keys its against the law! some times when the anchor gets stuck you can "power it out" by keeping the anchor line tight and tieing it off to a cleat then hitting the gas and the boat will dislodge the anchor. i have saved my anchor dozens of times like this but i have also had situations where the anchor didn't pull lose and it pulled the bow down to the point where i almopst took water over the bow, very dangerous. I hope all this helps you the most confusing thing to understand was when i was trying to explain how to drift in to position to the reef to anchor. an easier way to explain it would be once you mark the spot and go past it you need to see how you are drifting. stop the boat and closely watch your nav page on the GPS to establish a drift. so use your rank "seaman apprentice' as an example: you past the spot and your drift is just like the top bar of your rank going at a 45 degree angle, now drive the boat back in a wide arch (hopefully you marked the spot in your GPS it helps) as you start to make your approach from a few hundred yard off adjust the angle of approatch so the track tward the spot is the same angle as your 1st drift (like the bottom bar of your rank, same angle, just shifted a hundred yards shorter than the 1st drift) experiment with how much line to let out for your waters like depth (general rule is anchor line is 3 times the depth, 30' water 90'anchor line) to be honest i dont do that where i fish it's dead calm 30' deep 45'-50' line. good luck and be safe

 

[angler00]

Re: anchor

thanks alot I will use this info coming this spring,

thanks

 

[kahuna123]

Re: anchor

When you anchor up if you miss look at your compass heading once the rope tightens and the boat settles. Say it is 180. Pull anchor and make wide circle back behind the marker. When you are even with it or even a little behind it take that heading on PAST the marker and depending on how deep it is how far you go past it. Neutral and throw the anchor over. Don't back up, don't think turning the wheel is going to matter. The boat will settle right back to 180 again, Which should leave the maker off your stern so you can let out rope to GET ON IT.
We have a man made spot called Pasco 2. Lots of steel and pipes and an old stuff used to make a fish haven. Anytime I need a new anchor I just dive there and take my pick

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: anchor

keep in mind that for every foot of depth using rope you need to pay out seven feet of rope. Most anchors have 3-6 feet of chain attached from the anchor to rope.

So if your depth is 30 feet you need 210 feet of anchor line. This is where boaters make their mistake and only drop enough line to reach bottom and if a wave comes you could sink the boat. This is what happened to three professional athletes off of florida and two drowned.

 

[kahuna123]

Re: anchor

The athletes drowned out of stupidity. Way too small a boat to be that far out. NO EPRIB. Anchored off the stern THEN tried to break the anchor free with the motor and drug the stern under. Full flotation floats the boat upside down and to hear the story there was only room for one on top of the hull. It was reported one just swam off never to be seen again.

NO one fishing the gulf uses a scope of 7 to 1. We move way to often and are normally in less than 50ft. Yea anchor up for the evening I will go with a lot more scope. But in the grounds how many boats have 700-800ft of anchor ?

Get 10-15ft of chain and throw away the plastic covered anchor.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: anchor

The athletes drowned out of stupidity. Way too small a boat to be that far out. NO EPRIB. Anchored off the stern THEN tried to break the anchor free with the motor and drug the stern under. Full flotation floats the boat upside down and to hear the story there was only room for one on top of the hull. It was reported one just swam off never to be seen again.

NO one fishing the gulf uses a scope of 7 to 1. We move way to often and are normally in less than 50ft. Yea anchor up for the evening I will go with a lot more scope. But in the grounds how many boats have 700-800ft of anchor ?

Get 10-15ft of chain and throw away the plastic covered anchor.

Good luck

 

[giericd]

Re: anchor

i have all ways heard the 3/1 rule, 30' deep =90' of rope. it depends on a number of factors, one being aware of whats going on around you. the gulf with in 5-10 miles in the summer ranges from as smooth as your swimming pool to 1 1/2'. 30' of water and 60' of line and you are fine. in the winter 2' is average so more would be needed, but lets be honest you should allways check the weather before a trip and pick your days! if the forcast is 2' in the morning and 3'-5' in the afternoon with a 20knot wind out of the north and you are in a 21' you might want to stick to the bay or go a nother day, be smart. there are times bouncing from spot to spot i'll pull up to an area and drop, as soon as i can get the anchor to catch (which is instantly with my custom anchor) i'll wrap it around the cleat 3 times and stand on the rope with one foot to test the waters for a few minutes to see if any fish are home and in the mood. 3-5 min with no bite i'm off to the next spot. testing the waters in smooth conditions for a few min 1/1 not totaly tied off is ok, fishing for a while in 30' with 1 1/2'= 3/1 is fine, coast guard cutter off the coast of Alaska .............(not aware of weather/ seas at all times, shouldn't even be on the water!)

 

[capt sam]

Re: anchor

some good info here, 7 to 1 is necessary is bigger seas, when it's calm out I use alot less, if the anchor pulls reset with more line. Another trick I use is to run the anchor chain up to the fluke end and tie wrap it off there, that way if it sticks I can swing around 180 degrees and pull it free. I'm old school on anchoring, I also use a marker buoy then let the boat idle and see how hard the tide is running and how much the wind is a player, then I guesstimate and drop anchor, usually pretty close.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: anchor

Let me say this: If you took the captains test and put down any other answer then the 7 to 1 you would fail.

Does not matter how calm or how rough. Length of chain will also make a difference.

One day in 15 ft of water I payed out 200 feet of anchor rope, WHY? A four foot chop and if motor failed could end up on rocks while fishing. That 200 feet was our safety net, maybe. Kept motor idlng while fishing, did not want to take chance of shutting off motor and then maybe not starting when time to leave