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mutz	04/13/2020 12:57PM   Savage Voyageur: "Another thing I forgot to mention is it is against the law to drag an anchor. A dragging anchor rips up the bottom, not good. Use anchors that hold. " I don’t believe if your anchor drags in the wind occasionally while you are anchored is breaking the law. In Minnesota dragging an anchor with a motor boat to clear vegetation is illegal.
Chuckles	04/14/2020 10:05AM   Thanks. Once we stop our string of record lows, I've now got a project to work on. Hopefully will get to test it in June, but if not, another time.
Moonman	04/13/2020 08:30PM   Chuckles: "Moonman, Thanks for the reply. I found more detail on the fly fishing website you posted here: Here Fly fishing canoe anchor info You obviously made some improvements of his original design. One question about the cleat you suggested, does the rope run through a hole/tube in the cleat and then through the teeth, or just through the teeth. The hole.tube is in the bottom left of the cleat in the picture you posted. Thanks again. " Hey Chuckles great find re the original article. Yes, the rope does run through the tube end of the cleat first. That way the rope is still retained by the cleat when you lift it up out of the jaws. The cleats I bought were $5-7 each but if you are looking online you will see all kinds of cam cleats for 200-300 each! Granted fancier and more heavy duty than what I use but still it’s crazy what people will pay for sailing gear! Moonman.
PointMe2Polaris	04/12/2020 05:27PM   This year will be my first time using an anchor out of the canoe. Was curious if it makes sense to use an anchor along with a drift sock. My thought is with an anchor in somewhat windy conditions, the canoe will just get pushed around while anchored. Would a drift sock along with the anchor help give any control in this situation? Looking for a little advice from some experienced fisherman. Thank you, Darin
walllee	04/12/2020 08:44PM   Best tip I can give is when pulling up your anchor, keep your upper body inside the gunwales. I’ve seen people have some close calls when they aren’t used to anchoring a canoe.
Chuckles	04/13/2020 03:48PM   Moonman, Thanks for the reply. I found more detail on the fly fishing website you posted here: Here Fly fishing canoe anchor info You obviously made some improvements of his original design. One question about the cleat you suggested, does the rope run through a hole/tube in the cleat and then through the teeth, or just through the teeth. The hole.tube is in the bottom left of the cleat in the picture you posted. Thanks again.
Wables	04/12/2020 06:43PM   I hardly ever anchor, but I use a drift sock all the time. I can’t see using it with an anchor though.
PointMe2Polaris	04/12/2020 06:44PM   Thanks for the advice. I'm looking forward to not having to troll over spots over and over again, just don't have the experience with the anchor or sock. Your input is certainly helpful.
AmarilloJim	04/13/2020 12:32PM   If you use a nonfloating rope it is kind of a pain to get to the anchor line if run through the bow when lifting the anchor. I use a small float in the line.
Moonman	04/12/2020 09:43PM   I would also agree that the anchor would be all you need for stationary fishing. Use a drift sock for just slowing your drift, etc. with two anchors being best if you don’t want to move around. I think I posted this a number of years ago, but will mention my anchor system again since it works so well. I run my anchor line from my stern paddling position along the inside of my canoe along the hull using fairleads under my seats to thread the line through, then it exits the canoe at the very tip of the bow through a small brass tube. I drilled a hole through my stems, just under the front deck, and epoxied the tube in. I peened over the outer edge of the tube so the anchor rope doesn’t wear. The beauty of the system is that the rope is held tight using a cam cleat, which is a small device that can lock your rope instantly just by lowering the angle of the rope below the cleat, but instantly releases the rope just by raising the rope up. I got both the fairleads and the cam cleat at a sailing shop. For an anchor, I use a small old nylon stuff sack which I fill with sand and small pebbles from shore. That way it does not damage the front of my canoe like rocks would. I can easily lower and raise my anchor whenever I want, instantly locking it in place or releasing it to let out more line, etc., and lock again in seconds. When traveling or trolling, the anchor just sits there raised tight against the bow, ready for use anytime. Once in camp, I just release a few feet of line and toss the bag of sand on the ground and flip the boat. So easy. I don’t empty the stuff sack unless we are portaging. I got the idea from an article I read on the Global Fly Fisher site. In the article, he used an anchor at both bow and stern to eliminate his boat swinging. I keep wanting to do that, but just haven’t gotten around to doing it yet. Moonman
Moonman	04/13/2020 11:42AM   I don't think I posted pics in the older post but I do have some closeups somewhere, might be hard to find but will take a look. In the meantime you can see some of the components in this pic if you enlarge it. If you look at the rear thwart, at the very right edge beside my finder, you will see the rope exiting the cam cleat. The cleat is about 1.5" long, maybe 3/8" wide, with a tube opening on the end facing the bow, and it has ridged jaws on the stern facing end. You can get different sizes to fit your rope diameter. So just raise to pull up out of jaws to release, lower back down and it will lock. Moving forward in the pic, under the right side of the yoke, you can see one of the fairleads. They are tiny, but do a great job of guiding the rope where you want it. I use 75' of 3/16" rope, plenty strong, but light. It came on a light plastic coil, and when packing up, I just wind it in and store it in the stuff sack so the whole thing is very light and portable. If I find more pics I will post them. Moonman.
trailchief	04/12/2020 06:02PM   For me it’s one or the other. If the anchor isn’t holding then have some more rocks on hand to throw in it. Also letting out more line so the anchor line has less steep of an angle on it.That will also help it hold better. Plus anchoring in windy conditions can be dangerous if you’re not careful. Last thing I would want to be doing is trying to pull in a drift sock if it got hairy.
lundojam	04/13/2020 05:41AM   I use both, but not at the same time. I like to vertically jig as the canoe swings around at anchor. you can cover some water but stay on structure. If you wanna stay put, use two anchors.
Chuckles	04/13/2020 10:36AM   Moonman, I love your anchor system. I looked back to your older posts and can't see too many pictures of what you're discussing. Can you post some additional pics? Also, how much extra rope to you have, it seems anchor rope is always flopping around for me. Happy to take this to another thread, if necessary. Thanks, Chris
Savage Voyageur	04/12/2020 08:42PM   We use two anchors when fishing. This is so we don’t drift around in a circle with only one anchor. Put two out and you will stay put and the canoe will face the way you can fish and area. I have been in the canoe with only one anchor and the canoe is blown around and now I’m fishing in deep water where there are no fish.
Savage Voyageur	04/12/2020 08:45PM   Another thing I forgot to mention is it is against the law to drag an anchor. A dragging anchor rips up the bottom, not good. Use anchors that hold.
Jackfish	04/18/2020 11:08AM   My son and I always bring two basketball nets for anchoring purposes. We tie off the bottom, then put a decent size rock in the net, thread our anchor ropes through the top loops and tie a good knot. Works like a charm. I’ve never tried a drift sock.
lyontyl	04/18/2020 08:19AM   Wables: " I hardly ever anchor, but I use a drift sock all the time. I can’t see using it with an anchor though. " I'm the complete opposite, I hardly ever use a drift sock and always use an anchor. I find that the drift sock is just to bit of a pain to use. It just seems like I get more annoyed with a drift sock as I never quite have it where I want it on the canoe and just the process of pulling it in and canoeing back to the starting spot and then once you drift past your spot doing that over and over again when I can just drop and anchor over the side and be within a couple feet of where I need to be. Completely open to ideas how to better use my drift sock though.
Moonman	04/13/2020 12:04PM   Found a pic online of of the type of cleat I'm using and a fairlead...