I caught a show on the White River and one of the guides talked about hanging a piece of chain over the front of a boat to help steady it in the current. Does anyone know anything about this trick? I’m in my 12 footer alone with just a trolling motor and wondered if this would help keep the boat straight? Does this work in stillwater? Does it work if the motor is up front and the chain is on the back? Thanks for any info.
Some use chains, I used to use a bucket in still water to steady me inthe wind
They call it a drag chain. But there are a few things that you should know about it.
You put some chain (some people use several shorter pieces) on the end of a rope. You hang the rope from the front of your boat. The chain will drag and keep you straight in the current.
When a lot of people use them, it scours the bottom of the river. That will cause a loss of plant life…causing a loss of food for the fish. In swifter water, you need to be always mindful of the drag chain. If the chain gets caught, it can pull the bow of your boat down pretty quick and fill your boat with water.
What some people do is to attach the drag chain to the boat with a plastic cable tie. That way, if the chain gets caught, the cable tie breaks away and your bow isn’t pulled under. When using this method, you need to put a big float on your rope chain. This will allow you to retrieve your chain and rope, rather than leaving it on the river bottom. You also need to have the right strength cable tie. You want it to break when the chain gets caught, but not when just hitting chunk rocks.
There’s my 2 cents on the drag chain.
Brian
You put a length of chain on a rope and drag it off the front of the boat. It keeps you drifting parallel to the current. Use instead of an anchor bc an anchor will hang up on the bottom, and in the swift current it will pull the front end of the boat under. Be careful in the spring and fall not to drag over redds. Works on a canoe too where a hung anchor line in fast current will turn you over.
Does the chain need to be dragging bottom in order for this to work? I’m thinking more of using it on lakes.
I agree, with the “using a bucket” method on still water in my own boat.
I take a bleach jug, (well cleaned out) and cut a large, oval, hole on the opposite side of the handle. The jug’s weight, filled with water, acts sort of like a “sea anchor” to keep the boat straight and steady in windy situations.
Raw,
For it to work in river current, it has to drag the bottom. As Brian pointed out, this does disturb the bottom of the river. Whether or not it damages it, I don’t know, but I do know that it releases insects from their bottom dwelling, causing them to drift down AHEAD of your boat (the chain slows the boat some, allowing the stuff you kick up to ‘lead’ the drift). Basically ‘chumming’ the waters as you fish. Don’t know if this is an intended benefit, or just a coincidence. Some places, if you do this while ‘wading’ it’s illegal or at least frowned on. I’ll leave the morality of this to others.
The chain won’t do much in still water unless it’s on the bottom, and even then it won’t be as effective as a drift sock.
You can use a cheap five gallon bucket for a driftsock, or buy them from any of the large marine/sporting goods companies. If you know someone who sews, they are easy to make.
You can move the sock to different positions on the boat and thus control both the attitude (how the boat rides in relation to the wind) and the direction of the drift (the boat’s keel or sides will give some measure of bite, how you angle the boat will cause it to ‘run’ along/across the wind a bit).
A lot of controlling a boat in still water is practice. A bow mounted electric positioning motor is more efficient (it’s easier to pull than to push). If you have a stern mount electric, and are having wind driven control issues, go backwards.
Don’t overlook the power of anchoring. Unless it’s pretty still or you are intentionally trolling, using a good anchor (or two) will let you cover water well without having to worry about the wind. Being able to concentrate on casting accuracy, depth control, and fly action will make you more efficient and get you more fish.
Good Luck!
Buddy
Most good sporting goods stores sell drift drogues and they are quite effective in still waters and also on the saltchuck to control wind drift. I prefer a good anchor set but when the depth is 200 fathoms an anchor is not practical. Your anchor rode should be 3 times the depth of the water and have a short length of chain at the lead. I sometimes motor to the upwind end of the lake, put out the drogue to slow my drift and let the wind and the waves troll my fly down the lake at a slower speed. Wind and waves can impart an enticeing action to your fly.
Dragging anything along the bottom is not legal in BC I don’t know about other locations tho.
People have been fined for “disturbing a spawning ground” in a local creek even though it was not spawning season. The ruling was that a spawning ground can be silted up and damaged at any time of the year. Learning better boat controll is a better solution in My opinion.
The drag chain is allowed on the white river because there isn’t much moss or weeds to disturb. As others have said you need a break-away for heavy water.
The Norfork river dosen’t allow drag chains because of vegatation.
Both rivers are controled by generators in the dams, and it can be dangerous wading or anchoring when the water comes up.
Check the regulations on your river before using a drag chain.
Many people put a piece of heavy bungee cord between rope and the chain. It helps cushion those sudden jars when chain gets stuck.