Pontoon boat anchors?

[Hextall]

I'm buying a used pontoon boat tonight (YES!), and an anchor is not included...

I've searching around, and I found a few kinds of styles:

1. One is a pyramid, in 5 or 12 lbs. (sold at Cabelas, made/distributed by Outcast, I believe)
2. A fix tined anchor (looks sort like a cylinder sea mine)... not sure weights... seen these on drift boats a lot.
3. a normal style anchor with folding tines (I have one of these for my kayak). The one I have is 3 lbs.

I'm not sure which to buy. I'll mostly be using this in rivers, probably not to anchor in some really raging water, so I would think the 12 pound pyramid one should be more than enough to hold me... but really I don't know. the 12lb pyramid one is $60... and that is just expensive enough that I'd rather search out opinions before buying.

I'm about 170, and the boat is a dave scadden skykomish sunrise (10.5 feet long).

Thanks for any suggestions/help.

[DarrinG]

If the rivers you fish most are very rocky-bottomed (large rocks) and have ledges in them, a river and mushroom type anchor will get hung up some. I've had to cut more than one anchor rope to free myself using those types of anchors. However they do and will work in the correct conditions. I use a drag chain(s). I've found that they work mucho better for the rivers I fish. I use 3/8" chain, 12-15" sections, wrapped well in duct tape (individually) to keep them quiet. I loop each section to a large linkable chain section for the connection point to hook to a clasp that's tied off to my anchor rope. Depending on which boat I take and how much current the river has, I can add or delete a section of chain. With a chain, you can let just enough rope out so the chains will touch bottom enough to slow down your drift, or you can let enough rope out the allow the chains to lay all the way down and stop you completely. And the drag chain is simple and easy to replace if you loose it.

Remember to never try to anchor in heavy current or rapids! A recipe for a real disaster!! When I was a rookie tooner, I dropped anchor in too fast of a current once. Within seconds the rear of the tubes of my 9ft toon were digging into the current and going under. In another second my boat was doing a great wheelie, straight up in the air, until I finally freed the anchor in a panic'd hurry! Learned my lesson really fast about where not to drop anchor! Good rule of thumb is, if the water is too swift for you to wade safely, then it's too fast to anchor in also.

Good luck and enjoy the Skykomish! They are good boats, I used to own one myself.

[kglissmeyer]

The mine sweeper style seems to be popular. I learned my lesson not too long ago as I did just what DarrinG did and, on top of that, I couldn't get it undone. But the problem solved itself as my knot came undone and the lower Henry's Fork claimed another offering

Kelly.

[WarrenP]

I can only respond to what I am using on my NuCanoe and that is the pyramid style. I have one mounted on the rear and one on the front of my NuCanoe and they work great. They both weigh 5 pounds and work well. I would assume that a 5 pound pyramid style would work for you on your pontoon. One thing to watch out for is not to get one that has any length to it because if it is too long, even when raised all the way up, it will still be in the water behind you and will get caught in any grass, debris, etc.

[Max]

Hope you enjoy your new pontoon and it enhances your fly fishing.
Now the Anchors:
Your No. 1 is a good anchor. I suggest you need the 12 lb. model. They can be eaten by some types of river bottoms as describd by DarrinG.
Your No. 2 is actually a Spike Anchor. These are a little more cumbersome off the water, but do not get hung up like the Pyramids.
I actually have both types and use the one that is appropriate for the stream. Below are some pics of my home made Spike Anchor.
Forget No. 3. It will not hold you.


IMGP0295.jpgIMGP0293.jpg

[bugman]

the folding one that is 3lbs works just fine fer my odc pontoon in rivers...

[CharlaineC]

i use a 3 pount folding on my tube. does that count

[Hextall]

Hope you enjoy your new pontoon and it enhances your fly fishing.
Now the Anchors:
Your No. 1 is a good anchor. I suggest you need the 12 lb. model. They can be eaten by some types of river bottoms as describd by DarrinG.
Your No. 2 is actually a Spike Anchor. These are a little more cumbersome off the water, but do not get hung up like the Pyramids.
I actually have both types and use the one that is appropriate for the stream. Below are some pics of my home made Spike Anchor.
Forget No. 3. It will not hold you.


Attachment 4041Attachment 4040

What do you weight your homemade anchor with?

[hungNtree]

I made my homemade anchor out of a piece of 3 inch PVC and a couple of caps. I drilled a hole in one of the caps put an eye bolt through it and filled it with quickrete. then glued on the other cap. it weighs about 10 pounds and so far works really well for me. I had the pipe, and I got the quickrete from a busted bag on discount so all I had in it was the caps. I think it cost me about $6, but I don't remember for sure. So far it has held me very well. Hope you have fun with your toon.

hNt

[Max]

Hi Hextall

The spike anchor has screw caps so I can ship it around empty with the pontoon on fishing trips. I prefer to use granite pea gravel as it is a dense rock giving me about a 11 lb anchor. Overall anchor length is 14". You can see that it has holes in the side to let water in and get the air buoyancy out. You want it to get down quickly. Actually the holes are my initials; just have it upside down in the pic. The hardware is all stainless steel with the spikes being 5/8" diameter, 4" long carriage bolts with washers and nuts.

Sometimes I can not get the granite at the destination and use something else that makes it lighter and not work as well. The screw caps are also expensive. If I did not want a travel anchor I would just fill it with concrete with some scrap steel in it.