Anchoring technique to prevent loosing an anchor

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Hey Guys:
I have left $500 worth of anchors on the bottom of the reef line north of Molasses Reef in the Florida Keys in the past few years while night fishing for Yellow tail snapper. I am planning for the upcoming trip this summer and night fishing for yellowtail. What is the technique called when you put a bouy and a line attached to the anchor along with the rode? I need to research this and figure out what I need to buy so I can recover a hung up anchor, because with my luck it is going to get hung up again.

Thanks...

 

[ahill]

I use a grapnel anchor,chain to front of anchor secure chain to eye with zip tie. If it hangs up the zip tie breaks and you pull the anchor up tynes first. Works with any anchor. I used butcher string before zipties.

 

[Cocoliso VI]

Hey Smoky

I fish the keys every summer and use the following method with success. When anchoring I use a rock anchor with the rode attached to the front of the anchor then I attach the rode to the shank of the anchor with an electrical Ty-Rap. If the anchor gets fouled I give a hard pull and the the Ty-Rap will break releasing the rode. This will then let you pull the anchor by the nose to break free from the reef. The trick to this is not to use too heavy a Ty-Rap or it won't break and if its too small the anchor keeps breaking lose, usually just when the bite is real good.
The method you describe is used by many of the guys who fish the reef. I seen it described on the internet just do a search on "using a float bouy to retrive anchor and you'll get some hits on it.
Both methods work well. Good luck and get some FLAGS.

 

[lgusto]

Smoky, to answer your question directly, you need an anchor ring. They can be found in many marine stores including West Marine. We use ours frequently in the Gulf of Maine on lots of rocky bottoms to a depth of 300'. I've never encountered a problem or failure to retrieve the anchor. Google can lead you to lots of "how to" sites. And I'll be happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

Larry

 

[journeyman]

I've talked to people who have used this as described by Igusto and Cocoliso and they say it works well. Put the ring around your line, toss it over and drive at an angle past the stuck anchor at a good clip (At least 5 - 8 Knots I think). The ball should be forced down the anchor line until the ring connects with the anchor and lifts it to the surface.

I've been fowled so bad on two occasions that I coiled the entire line and attached it to a fender and left it over night, came back with scuba gear to dive and get it. No way anything would have gotten them up! A big loss to just cut and leave behind for sure!

 

[Strikezone]

I've talked to people who have used this as described by Igusto and Cocoliso and they say it works well. Put the ring around your line, toss it over and drive at an angle past the stuck anchor at a good clip (At least 5 - 8 Knots I think). The ball should be forced down the anchor line until the ring connects with the anchor and lifts it to the surface.

I've been fowled so bad on two occasions that I coiled the entire line and attached it to a fender and left it over night, came back with scuba gear to dive and get it. No way anything would have gotten them up! A big loss to just cut and leave behind for sure!

Smoky,
I have a setup just like this for anchor retrieval. You can see on my signature picture the ball stowed near the bow. I've never used it as mentioned to retrieve a stuck anchor but rather to back an anchor to the surface when I'm by myself. Someone may be able to explain how it could be used to loosen an anchor but I just don't think that it can. Maybe I'm wrong however. :?

What I use when anchoring on an artificial reef, especially one that contains a lot of scrap metal (rebar, ship rails, etc) is a grapnel type anchor that I made myself. The design is like the commercially available Might Mite anchor. I also have it configured as the other posters with a zip tie that can be broken to lift the anchor from the bottom first. On the anchor I fabricated, I used ½" aluminum rods which bend easily and can be re-bent into shape once retrieved.

 

[gulfcart]

This works well.. Haven't lost one on my 33 since. I use a Delta 22lb. Can do the same with heavy ties.

http://www.anchorsaver.com/Home.html

 

[sfc2113]

grapnels are easy and cheap to make out of some pcv pipe, quick dry cement and some rebar. I make about 10 for the year and if it gets lost stuck, oh well, it only about 5$ worth of material.

 

[journeyman]

Someone may be able to explain how it could be used to loosen an anchor but I just don't think that it can. Maybe I'm wrong however. :?

I kinda had trouble with this concept and have never seen it work but know 2 people who (recently) swear by it. Neither has a windlass and use it on a regular basis to save their backs.

I did some web surfing last night and found lots of ads for this product but not to many descriptive or interactive ads. But I understand it works like this:

Let's say your at anchor with a normal "by the book" scope of 7:1. You deploy this system before starting any retrieval of rode. After the ball is in the water, start your motor and drive forward but at an angle away from the set/stuck anchor. I guess 20 derees or so. You must move fast enough so that drag is induced from the water on the ball and it is forced under water sliding on the rode toward the anchor. Keep driving towards/past the anchor and you will create a V in the rode, forcing the ball deeper the further you go. The ring will eventually contact the anchor and slide up the shank lifting the anchor free as if the chain were connected to the top just like the guys who use the Zip Ties. The anchor floats to the surface for easy retrieval.

I think it's a pretty slick Idea. ESPECIALLY if you don't have a windlass! I will say again that both times I fowled, nothing would have worked. My only problem with the Zip Tie method is what happens if you really need the holding powerbeyond the strenght of the Ties.

First fowl - chain really wedged between rocks.

Second fowl - dropped anchor right smack in the middle of some storm damaged, balled up lobster traps. That took a while!

 

[Strikezone]

Someone may be able to explain how it could be used to loosen an anchor but I just don't think that it can. Maybe I'm wrong however. :?

Let's say your at anchor with a normal "by the book" scope of 7:1. You deploy this system before starting any retrieval of rode. After the ball is in the water, start your motor and drive forward but at an angle away from the set/stuck anchor. I guess 20 derees or so. You must move fast enough so that drag is induced from the water on the ball and it is forced under water sliding on the rode toward the anchor. Keep driving towards/past the anchor and you will create a V in the rode, forcing the ball deeper the further you go. The ring will eventually contact the anchor and slide up the shank lifting the anchor free as if the chain were connected to the top just like the guys who use the Zip Ties. The anchor floats to the surface for easy retrieval.

I'm still puzzled how the ball is forced all the way to the bottom. With the ring loose on the rode it seems it would just float along if nothing is pulling it under.??

I think it's a pretty slick Idea. ESPECIALLY if you don't have a windlass! I will say again that both times I fowled, nothing would have worked. My only problem with the Zip Tie method is what happens if you really need the holding powerbeyond the strenght of the Ties.

This is how I use the ball -- just to float the anchor to the surface and save my back. Just to clarify, I don't use the zip tie on my regular anchor, only my grapnel (which I don't use the anchor ball with). The ball stays at the surface and allows the rode to easily pass and it lifts the anchor to the surface where is catches in the ring and allows you to place it into the boat.

I never use my fortress anchor on reefs. There's too many things to snag it on. A homemade grapnel with the zip tie is a far better way to anchor on the reef. Even if lost you're only out about 10 dollars.

 

[lgusto]

Jim, nice description and some neat photos. Your post is perfect in terms of how we retrieve our anchor without a windlass.

 

[ahill]

Whenever I anchor over a reef to fish, esp off Cat Cay, I use a Danforth and an anchor ball. Works great. I used to use my grapnel there but sometimes it wouldn't get a good hold in the bottom due to a lot of sand & ledges.

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Anchor ball really works wonders, i use it all the time when black fishing in a very rocky terrain. The next best thing is an aluminum grapnel type anchor. If it gets stuck, back up with your boat and the leg of the anchor that is stuck gets bent and free, when lift the anchor just shape that leg by hand back to normal(those are called "wreck" anchors)

 

[georgemjr]

Did you get any lobsters while there?

 

[journeyman]

Did you get any lobsters while there?

 

[jekyl]

The bouy retreival system can work really well especially with lighter reef (picks) anchors.
However as has already been stated no system is foolproof and some times it is not possible to retreive the anchor without diving gear or a mini sub.

We have only lost one anchor like this and it was a reef pick with flexible tines but during the night the boat had drifted and we had our rode wrapped around a bombie in 70 ft of water. Continuing to apply pressure was only going to break something ie our pulpit. So we cut our losses, and our line, leaving the pick and 70ft of rode out there.

 

[wahoo33417]

Jekyl, whatsa "bombie"?

Rob

 

[jekyl]

G'day....bombie is short for Bombora which is a reef oucrop separate from the main reef and usually the some of the best places to start fishing. They can be from several feet round to hundreds of feet in circumference and in depths from 10 feet to hundreds of feet.