DIY anchor!

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overboard

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Hopefully this will work! I fabricated a "Columbia River anchor" to use in a local river where I sometime have a problem holding anchor at a few spots I like to fish. I don't normally use a fluked anchor because of getting it hung up, but this one has a breakaway feature that may make it easier to free up if snagged.
Never saw one around here on a boat, now I just need to get out and test it!
Anyone else use this type of anchor?
DSCN0200.JPG
 
Looks very well made, nice job!

Any details on the breakaway system? I'm new to this so not sure if that is a normal thing. Does it help free the anchor? Or just save the chain?
 
You can't see it in the pic., but there's a 75lb rated cable tie that attaches the chain to the loop on the top of the anchor. You can see where the chain is attached at the bottom, the design behind that is if the anchor does get hung up you can break the cable tie and pull the anchor in the opposite direction to free it, then just put a new cable tie on it and back to fishing. Some other production anchors also have this feature, if I wanted to make a different design anchor with some type of flukes I would use the same principle, otherwise I would be donating a lot of anchors to the river.
I may need to go to a heavier rated cable tie, but I don't know that until I try it.
 
we use those up here on the fraser river when we fish sturgeon.it's the only type that will hold the boat when you hook into anything over 8 ft.
 
I was hoping for something to hold the boat when I hook into something over 8 inches! :lol: When I saw this design the Fraser and a few other rivers were also mentioned where guys use them.
I normally use a pyramid shaped anchor that works fairly well, the round fluked river anchor also works for the most part, but when I get into areas where the bottom is mainly rounded river rocks, and there is current, they tend not to hold very well. I either can't anchor at all or the anchor keeps slipping little by little until I'm well below the spot where I want to be.
QUESTION: what pound cable tie do you use for the breakaway function, I put a 75lb rated one on and am wondering if that's enough or if I should go heavier.
 
for me it depends on the flow and what section of river i'm fishing.late spring after freshet it's still ripping pretty fast. the lower fraser has more bottom junk and a slow flow and is also tidal,the upper sections have more sand and rock and faster flow.i use more cable ties on the rode depending on the particular piece of river i'm fishing.
 
bcbouy said:
we use those up here on the fraser river when we fish sturgeon.it's the only type that will hold the boat when you hook into anything over 8 ft.

Definitely on the bucket list now.
 
bcbouy said:
for me it depends on the flow and what section of river i'm fishing.late spring after freshet it's still ripping pretty fast. the lower fraser has more bottom junk and a slow flow and is also tidal,the upper sections have more sand and rock and faster flow.i use more cable ties on the rode depending on the particular piece of river i'm fishing.

Ok, thanks! I bought a supply of them, if needed I will just add a second one and go from there.
 
GREAT job!

FWIW, I have a fluked Danforth anchor rigged in a similar manner, where the chain connects to the rectangular pad (crown) but is ‘zip tied’ to the regular or usual hole way out on the shank. If it gets stuck, apply throttle and go!

For me, it is only a ‘day anchor’, no overnights on it, haha!
 
Nice fabrication job. I also carry a Danforth style anchor. I lost one once that got hopelessly tangled in some underwater timber. Having that break-away set-up might have saved my anchor.
 
onthewater102 said:
bcbouy said:
we use those up here on the fraser river when we fish sturgeon.it's the only type that will hold the boat when you hook into anything over 8 ft.

Definitely on the bucket list now.
it's pretty cool when the big ones jump.you wouldn't think something that big would breach like they do.there's probably some youtube videos of them in action.
 
LDUBS said:
Nice fabrication job. I also carry a Danforth style anchor. I lost one once that got hopelessly tangled in some underwater timber. Having that break-away set-up might have saved my anchor.

Thanks
That's why I wanted to try some type of anchor that I could maybe retrieve if hung up. I may try a different style anchor at some point, but it will need to have a way to be able to pull it backwards if snagged.
I never used a fluked anchor in the river I fish, it's known to eat anchors and probably has claimed hundreds of them, maybe even thousands, over the years. Because of that, quite a few guys just make simple anchors out of just heavy rebar or cans filled with cement with rebar, that way when they lose them it's no big deal.
Awhile back we lost an anchor to the river, we were anchored and all of a sudden we were heading down stream. It turned out we had dropped the anchor behind a shale ledge and it sawed the rope off as the boat moved back and forth in the current. That was the end of our fishing for the day, may be a good idea to carry 2 anchors!
I did get that anchor back when the river receded, plus found another one, we weren't too far off shore and it wasn't too deep, an inner tube and goggles can be your friends when looking for lost anchors in the river! :lol:
 
those cement/rebar anchors work ok for the budget minded.i used them for years.i had a d ring on the end of my anchor line and just clipped it to the rebar,add extra anchors as needed.super cheap,i used to get everything from work, cost me $0.00.
 
Typically one adds chain to the anchor of a length at least as long as the boat. The weight also helps the anchor set and stay set by its ‘catenary action’.

Disregard the ‘chum’ bucket deployed of the rode ... it was the only picture I had handy.

However, when flounder fishing from an anchored boat, I do zip-tie a can of cheap tuna cat food to the anchor chain and poke a few holes in it using an old fashioned can opener. That makes a ‘chum slick’ that trails below the boat.
 

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DaleH said:
However, when flounder fishing from an anchored boat, I do zip-tie a can of cheap tuna cat food to the anchor chain and poke a few holes in it using an old fashioned can opener. That makes a ‘chum slick’ that trails below the boat.

I like it! Might have to try this myself.
 
jethro said:
DaleH said:
However, when flounder fishing from an anchored boat, I do zip-tie a can of cheap tuna cat food to the anchor chain and poke a few holes in it using an old fashioned can opener. That makes a ‘chum slick’ that trails below the boat.

I like it! Might have to try this myself.
BONUS - By zip-tying it in ‘mid-chain’, any wave action shakes the can up to keep your chum slick going!
 
All the rage in the PNW. All the cool kids have them with special mounts on the bow. Commercial ones can cost a lot. Nice job.
 
Thanks, I was looking at those special mounts, thinking about fabricating something similar just to nest the anchor in it.
 

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