I'm going to feel this tomorrow.

Tough conditions out on the river tonight. Strong south winds made boat control very tough. And then I managed to get my Water Spike anchor really stuck next to a wingdam. 25 minutes of pulling this way and that way and I finally got it loose. I’m hurting bad already, tomorrow should be fun. Ouch.

Water temp was 41, as I said earlier there was a lot of wind, and I didn’t have any action until sunset. Then I found a few like the one in the picture. I just love the feel of those big fat Pool 2 Walleyes slamming a jig!

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Nice going Steve! We fished P-4 since Monday…did very well…water temp yesterday was 46.5.

Tom a little early aren’t ya???

Mark

Steve, I don’t feel sorry for you one bit.

You should have taken your daughter along and you wouldn’t be sore at all! <devil>

She’s sitting in a tree today acquiring venison for her old man!

One of the techniques I use when an anchor is being fussy about letting loose is to tie it off to a cleat near the back of the boat so the rope is at about 45 degree angle.
Then slowly drive in a circle.
emphasis on “slowly” as it is possible to pull the entire boat under
or
drive over the rope and cut it.

I do the opposite, I tie to the front cleat and pull in reverse. This way if I have it pull back on the line stretch my bow can handle it and not wash out my back well.. Also when it gets really bad I can pull as tight as possible and bounce the boat. Keep tightening as you bounce down and lift the silly rock that you are stuck on. If its is not moving its time to go for a swim or donate.

eyekatcher wrote:

One of the techniques I use when an anchor is being fussy about letting loose is to tie it off to a cleat near the back of the boat so the rope is at about 45 degree angle.
Then slowly drive in a circle.
emphasis on “slowly” as it is possible to pull the entire boat under
or
drive over the rope and cut it.

First time i tried that i was about 3 seconds from sinking the entire boat. Cut the rope and saved the boat.
I would not recommend that unless you are in little to NO current.
I was in a fast stretch of the MN River. Exciting few seconds.

Steve Root wrote:

She’s sitting in a tree today acquiring venison for her old man!

Well I was trying anyway! It wasn’t a very fruitful deer season for our small group. Luckily Billy’s uncle stuck a doe on Friday and is giving us the meat! It was bittersweet when he called – both Billy and I were looking on the bright side of not having to cut up and package much deer this year… that didn’t last long. Gotta love generous hunters!

You do have to be careful when doing this.
But,
I must be good at it as
I have so far found and recovered 5 anchors from rivers and lakes,
including the two I now use on my boat.
.

My record is at donate three and catch one. Two hung up beyond retrieving them. One tossed over with out rope attached. Still scratching my head about that. Also still wondering about the one I retrieved on 10# test. Hooked the rope, puled rope in and water spike came right up. Plenty of jigs hooked in the rope. She is on the jon boat now.

Me and a buddy had to rescue two guys that threw the anchor off the back in the strong main channel current.I guess as soon as the anchor hooked up water washed over the transom filled the boat,and flipped it over.Lucky for them We were very close by and hadnt anchored yet or theyd have been downstream quick.The anchor never came un stuck and the boat just did barrel rolls in the current,we cut the rope and somehow flipped it upside down and balanced it on one of the gunnwales and got back to shore

Eyecatcher, luck is on your side if river fishing!
Even in lakes it can be a surprise waiting to happen.
A preacher friend of my nearly lost everything when he anchored from the back of his boat (it was easier then to go up front). When a storm came up the wind acted like a current and water rushed over the transom.

Be careful out there!

I’ve lost two anchors. One was a rental boat’s cement anchor. Although I can’t say where I was anchored, the location wouldn’t allow me to use the boat to pull it out. (lesson learned). The second spike was stuck and I held on to the rope thinking I would motor upstream of it and pull it out with the boat. Well the current caught me and I quickly came to the end of my rope. < LOL! A guy would THINK he could snag a rope on the bottom of the river. Seldom happens.

I did however want to buy an anchor just like the one that came with my Lund. It was 16 pounds and covered with plastic. Not rubber, but plastic. I looked around for a couple years at all the big box stores. Just couldn’t seem to find one.

Then one night a customer started to pull in my anchor wanting to be helpful. He was struggling to pull in my water spike. Sure as heck, along with my anchor he pulled in an anchor exactly what I was looking for!

Since then I believe the number is 6 anchors we’ve brought to the boat. In 2013 I had my personal best of a Richter.

The river never ceases to amaze me.

Just to be clear,
I only tie off at the back of the boat to remove a stuck anchor.
Including some of the 5 I found.
Normally when using an anchor, I tie off to the front cleat
I installed on the TM mounting pad and then I have
a quick clip I can fasten over the rope to the eye in real tough conditions.
Or I have a rope bungee I can use as well.

But since Spot Lock was installed I can’t remember the last time I set an anchor. I have an alternator intelligent charger installed that can recharge my TM batteries on the water.
Spot lock for a week up on Kab without having to plug in.