The Spoonpluggers Forum

John a hillbilly? Why is that thought so funny! Everyone knows a real hillbilly would have put a 5 gallon demijohn full of moonshine liquor in the front of that boat.

I heard tell Kenny has a 35 lb. Chickamauga River anchor in the front of his boat!
Could just be a rumor, never laid eye's on it!

Kenny's anchor will pull your arms out of their sockets, if you are not careful. If you get one, be sure you carry a pair of rawhide gloves for handling the anchor rope. If not, your skin may be on the rope instead of your hands.

Did you know he makes a smaller, lighter version?

I have a 45 pound 3 fluted river anchor from Cabelas. I figure if you don't pee when you pick it up, the anchor is too light.

Might have to look into purchasing one of these mighty anchors you guys describe, my 16lb'ders sound meager in comparison...nothing more frustrating that to be anchored down and have some clowns in a wakeboard boat cruise by and knock you loose. I still think they should outlaw those things.

Andy Jagger

HEY GARY, THAT IS NOT A RUMOR. I DO HAVE A 35LB ANCHOR IN MY BOAT. HOWEVER, THE OLDER I GET, THE LESS I LIKE IT. MAYBE I NEED AN ELECTRIC WINCH. I TOOK A 9 INCH ALUMINUM CAKE PAN AND BUT A BIG STAINLESS EYEBOLT IN THE CENTER. I THEN FILLED IT TO THE TOP WITH MOLTEN LEAD. AFTER COOLING, I PEELED THE CAKE PAN FROM THE LEAD. I THEN RUBBER COATED IT. THIS CAN BECOME A VERY DANGEROUS ONTAKING.

BEFORE GOING TO FISH WITH MY BUDDY JOHN BALES ON LAKE ERIE, I OFFERED TO MAKE HIM ONE OF THESE ANCHORS. JOHN ADVISED ME TO GO AHEAD AND MAKE HIM AN ANCHOR. HE THEN ADVISED ME THAT I WOULD BE THE ANCHOR MAN IN FRONT OF THE BOAT. HE ALWAYS WINS!. REGARDLESS TO SAY, I DIDN'T MAKE HIM AN ANCHOR.

DESPITE THE WEIGHT OF THE ANCHOR, I PERSONALLY THINK LEVERAGE IS ONE OF THE MAIN FACTORS. I GENERALLY LET OUT ENOUGH ROPE TO ALLOW ME PLENTY LEVERAGE. I KNOW JOHN KEEPS 100FT OR MORE OF ANCHOR ROPE IN HIS BOAT. BOAT POSITION IN A CASTING POSITION IS VERY CRUCIAL. MOST OF THE TIME I AM ANCHORING IN CURRENT. I LEAST I HOPE SO. KENNY

P.S. I WILL MAKE YOU AN ANCHOR ANYTIME JOHN, ALSO MY GREAT FRIEND AND FELLOW SPOONPLUGGER WAYMEN COUCH IS THE ONE THAT SHOWED ME HOW TO MAKE THOSE ANCHORS. THANKS WAYMEN

Kenny,

Your wife doesn't throw some icing on that anchor for your Birthday every year does she?
Where did you get all the lead at, lead pipes fom burned down buildings?

The key to anchoring is having enough anchor line to get enough angle to hold. Most people don't put nearly enough line out when eally needed, amen on 100' of line! You can't throw your anchor out and tie it off straight up and down, especially in a lot of current and wind. Problem then is when you have a lot of line out, you tend to swing back and forth, depending on where the line is tied off on your boat. If tied in the center of the bow you stay fairly straight, tied to the side you will swing, mostly in the opposite direction. Your boat is kind of like a sail then.

YOUR RIGHT GARY, AS FOR THE LEAD, FRANK HAMMILL GAVE ME A 55 GALLON DRUM OF LEAD ABOUT 11 YEARS AGO. IT SURE HAS COME IN HANDY. THE LEAD PIECES ARE THE PERFECT SIZE FOR MELTING DOWN.

I have the heavy anchor in the front. if we start swinging I use a smaller anchor at the stern.

I get a kick out of the size and weight of the anchors being used. Sounds like you're trying to anchor aircraft carriers! Normally I use a 16# river anchor, but I use a 5# "slip-ring" Danforth style anchor when there is any kind of wind. Danforths are designed to dig in deeper as the horizontal pressure increases. If you let out the proper scope it ain't gonna drag. Held just fine in the current below the Petenwell dam in WI. With my first boat, a 16' Grumman, I used a 3.5# Danforth. It would hold in a 15 mph breeze and 3' swells. As Fran pointed out, when the boat swings too much, drop a 16# mushroom or river anchor off the stern.

Last year when I got blown off the casting position 3 times (in someone else's boat) because the anchor was too light, I wasn't just mad - I was enraged. We managed to get 12 fish but it should have been more. Like I said, if you don't pee when you pick up the anchor - it's too lite.

Fran, sounds like you mean "if you don't get a hernia when you pick up the anchor - it's too lite". I'll put a 5# Danforth up against your 45# river anchor any time. Ah well, to each his own. See you at the seminar on Saturday.

Well Jim all I can say is there won't be a next time when it comes to getting blown off a spot. As to the hernia, I don't know. I will admit when I first bought it I had trouble lifting it and bought an electric winch. However it didn't take long to get the strength needed to heft the big boy around.

Generally I find the weight of the anchor less an issue for my partners. Most of the time when I take non-spoonpluggers with me, it's the holding of the rod with 250's or greater that makes them whine the most. I start hearing complaints and then I threaten them with 800's on wire and that shuts them up for a few minutes. But it wasn't that long ago that I was new and had to stop every couple hours so I am a little bit (very little if there are fish around) understanding.

That was my first school casting and while it was great, it was really disappointing. we should have caught to many more...NEVER again. Hernia be damned!

See ya saturday.

Aha!! The old electric winch trick! How did this thread go from side-scan sonars to anchors and electric winches

Safe trip down to the seminar. See you at the dinner Friday night?

just to be clear, I used a winch for about 3 trips then put it in the garage. Just too much bs involved. It's arm strong anchor service in my boat.

BTW - if anybody needs the heavy minn kota winch let me know