How to hook up in serious water
Have you ever thrown out the hook and looked around to see that you were 50 yards downstream from the place you thought you anchored? You’re not fishing where you wanted to. No big deal, you think, but the incorrect employment of an anchor can have you in the drink quicker than a flea can hop out of danger. Here is how to anchor a jet boat or a drift boat to make sure a fishing trip doesn’t turn into an impromptu dunking.Anchoring a Jet Boat
“Anchoring in fast water is one of the most dangerous things we do in the guiding industry.” Ed Iman, a longtime walleye guide and sturgeon fisherman takes anchoring seriously in his home water near Hood River and The Dalles in Oregon. “The bottom constantly changes. You’ve got mud and hard rock and gravel. You want a rocking chair anchor with a breakaway system. If it gets hung up, the breakaway breaks and you can pull the anchor out backward. In a clay bottom you can’t anchor at all, you just can’t get a bite.” To get better hookups in big rivers like the Columbia or the Sacramento, use a rocking chair-style anchor. In fast water, with a rocky bottom, use a hook with narrow sharp points that find crevices in the bottom. In big water with a sandy, silted or muddy bottom, opt for a flapper-style anchor. One good choice is the Breakaway anchor from Fish Fighter Products (www.fishfighterproducts.com). For clay bottoms, add the optional bolt-on anchor spades that act like shovel heads. Whatever anchor you choose, it should lay flat to work most efficiently. Iman uses the EZ Marine system with about eight feet of 3/8-inch chain that provides the weight to hold the anchor bar down on the bottom.Anchoring a Drift Boat
For anchoring a drift boat, Joe Koffler, of Koffler Boats (www.kofflerboats.com), recommends a three-sided lead pyramid or the hook he calls the Animal, a lead-filled pipe with steel prongs that stick in gravel bottoms and dig into rocky ledges. “For 14-, 15-, 16- and 17-foot drift boats, you can run a 30- to 40-pound anchor. In lighter flows and with smaller boats, you can get by with a 20-pounder,” Koffler said. Darren Roe, of Roe Outfitters, in Klamath Falls, prefers pyramid anchors when it comes to locking up a drift boat on the Rogue or holding a raft long enough to fish out a seam on the upper Klamath. “On steeper gradient rivers, you don’t want to try to anchor in fast water. You get that side to side sway and it gets too dangerous,” Roe said. If an anchor sticks too hard, he is not afraid to leave it if he can’t wade in and dislodge it. Roe keeps a second anchor up in the bow. “With the second anchor, you can stabilize the boat and even cant the boat to give both fishermen in the boat a chance to reach the best water.” Joe Koffler often uses an extra anchor to help balance the boat. “You can move the weight around easily to trim the boat without making the passengers uncomfortable. Chris Carson, a fishing guide from Shady Cove, OR, prefers a 30-pound pyramid to hold his driftboat on the Rogue River. “Thirty pounds of anchor is not enough to hold you in the middle of the river, but it is enough to anchor in slow water and the inside corners and that’s where the fish lay.”Anchor Like An Expert
Every year there are new boaters on the water. The best thing a newcomer can do is learn from an expert. Hire a guide and watch how he sets the anchor and how he retrieves it several times during the day.
Another good resource is the 75-minute DVD Anchor Fishing for Salmon and Steelhead from Amato Books. Hosts Eric Linde and Carmen Macdonald demonstrate how to assemble an anchor system then show how to safely set and pull anchor in a variety of situations.
6 Steps for Anchoring a Jet Boat
Pick your spot
Drift with the current or run back under power to avoid catching the anchor line in the prop.
Drop anchor and buoy
Remember, you’re anchoring the buoy, not the boat. Set the buoy at about two boat lengths upstream from the bow. Let the rope feed out with tension on the line through the anchoring mechanism.
Drift into place
Take a half turn around a cleat on the bow, allowing rope to pay out as the boat drifts back. Tie off with turns around a cleat.
Leave the buoy to chase a fish
If there is 25 feet of line out to the buoy, there should be about 25 feet of tag line left in the bow. The rope should float. Tie on a crab float or a duck decoy to make pickup easier.
Retrieve the anchor
Swing 20 feet wide and pull the buoy sideways. Watch the rope go by the boat, not under the boat. Drive at about 10 mph and watch until water starts going over the buoy. With the anchor held in place by the ball, tow it to open water, away from other boats.
Put it away right
Pour the rope hand over hand into a milk crate or bucket so there are no kinks or knots to cause problems on the next anchor drop. Stow the anchor in the bow.
Choosing your Anchor
Anchor Options
Anchors come in myriad shapes, weights and styles and each one is designed to perform in specific conditions. Photo by Gary Lewis
Anchor Animal
The ‘Animal’ is a popular drift boat anchor that is a good choice when fishing rivers with gravel bottoms and ledge habitat. Photo courtesy Joe Koffler.
Anchor Claw
A rigid claw anchor is not the optimum design for weeds and grassy bottoms, but perform well in sandy or gravel bottoms and hold well during tide and wind changes. Photo by Gary Lewis.
Fish Fighter
A popular hook for the Columbia River, the rocking chair-style anchor should be used with a length of chain to lay the shaft down and tip the prongs into bottom structure. Photo by Fish Fighter Products
Anchor Pyramid
A pyramid-style anchor is well-suited for anchoring drift boats in ledge water and in runs with gravel bottoms.
Swivel Fluke
Swivel fluke anchors come in many different designs. In this four-fluke configuration, flukes swivel to find crevices in the bottom.
Jet Boat Anchoring Gear List
- Columbia River-style hook with narrow, sharp point
- 8 feet of 3/8-inch chain
- 250 feet solid braid nylon line
- 50 feet of polypropylene tag line
- Crab float or duck decoy on tag
- Buoy
- Pulley – Stainless steel, marine quality
- Line storage crate
- 2 knives, in sheaths, one mounted in the bow and one at the stern
- Life preservers
- Long-handled boat hook