Question About Anchors?

in the process of creating an anchor for my pontoon. Thinking of using a cement cylinder with an eye bolt.

how heavy should my anchor be to keep me from drifting? Don't wanna make the anchor heavier than it needs to be.

be using the anchor in lakes.

flyfishingfool wrote:in the process of creating an anchor for my pontoon. Thinking of using a cement cylinder with an eye bolt.

how heavy should my anchor be to keep me from drifting? Don't wanna make the anchor heavier than it needs to be.

be using the anchor in lakes.

Not sure how much pontoons drift? I can imagine the wind might affect them more, since they are more high profile on the water? Don't know.. I'd guess 3-4 lbs. Amazon has grapnel 3lb anchors for about $30. You could also just tie rope to a 3-4 ft length of heavy galvanized link chain. That's what I use for the float tube, out on the salt. Got that idea from Mr. Waxon

Just go to Walmart and pick up some 5lb and 2 1/2lb dumbell weights, get a six inch eyebolt and a couple of nuts and washers.

Docrunner wrote:


Not sure how much pontoons drift? I can imagine the wind might affect them more, since they are more high profile on the water? Don't know.. I'd guess 3-4 lbs. Amazon has grapnel 3lb anchors for about $30. You could also just tie rope to a 3-4 ft length of heavy galvanized link chain. That's what I use for the float tube, out on the salt. Got that idea from Mr. Waxon

was thinking of using a grapnel style anchor. the concern i have with this type of anchor is having it get wedged between some rocks and not being able to remove it.

fishslayer wrote:Just go to Walmart and pick up some 5lb and 2 1/2lb dumbell weights, get a six inch eyebolt and a couple of nuts and washers.

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here's the cement cylinder i'm thinking of using. I've have to cut it down to make it lighter and anchor an eye bolt to it.

think 10lbs should be enough?

Hey Guys,
Hmmm,.... anchors,.. one of my least favorite toon accessories. I have used a number of different anchor systems in the past with limited results. The tried and true cement cylinder (a' la every rental boat in the universe), is the simplest and cheapest.

Advantages:
1) cheap

Disadvantages:
1) bulky,... take up a lot of room and are not always easy to deploy, because of their size
2) doesn't hold well,... there is a whole list of reasons why, like,.. the cylindrical shape, the relative low density of concrete, the lack of flukes,... etc., etc.,....

By the way 10lbs. is probably sufficient, if you can make the sucker stick! Besides you probably don't want to carry much more weight than that.

The next issues are
where to tie the thing off
managing the line
hauling

Most of the pontoon manufacturers have add on accessories for anchoring their boats. Check out the sites and you can get a good idea of what you might want. The best anchor I used was an 8lb galvanized unit that resembled a plow share. Sank very fast, usually stuck fast with little effort, and for the sand, gravel and small rock bottom we were fishing, worked really well. Another good one was the bell, (inverted mushroom) and/or the scalloped bell. Again 8-10lbs.

as far as anchoring in the rocks?,... well it's risky no matter what the anchor.

For the most part I have so rarely need or wanted an anchor I no longer have one. But I usually fish still water. If I start bay fishing I may rethink this.

hope this helps

bodfish

great info bodfish. thanks for the help.

the pontoon i'm using has pulleys for an anchor a something to tie down the line but doesn't have a place to store the line. Gonna have to come up with something for the line.

yeah i don't really want to use an anchor but it might come in handy when those eastern sierra winds start blowing.

I replaced the mesh bag anchor that came with my Colorado XT with a 10lb mushroom anchor and plenty of line, that works like a charm with no drift and a very easy retrieve.  When moving from car to shore and back I store the anchor in the wire rack so it doesn't hang and swing.