Switching to an Anchor Ring from Anchor Lift

Good question. . .wish I had a picture. So I pay out the 200 ft from the bag, tie a quick loop knot in the rode, pop on a carabiner into the loop, which then clips onto a 5" st/st ring (the ring slides on the side bridle). I let the ring wander up the bridle to the bow and let the anchor set, then leave the other 400 ft of line in the bag (it has an integrated cleat, and you cleat hitch it). So when something happens (good or bad!), pop the emergency clip, chuck the bag overboard, side bridle runs out the side and off the bow, 5" ring, clip and bag are all attached to the ball. Float away to deal with good or bad. Lately I've added a small scotchman to the bag, just to make retrieval even easier, but that's a luxury. Hopefully that makes sense. For me the bag is key:
http://www.chinookoutdoorgear.com/products/AnchorRopeBag.php

But some of these other guys have been doing it a lot longer than me, so they're probably onto something too.

fb


Thx FB
I'll like the bag idea for sure with the small float . The loop knot makes sense now. When pulling the anchor you must take the loop knot
Out of the rode so not sinch the knot too tight that you can't undo once anchor is pulled?
 
Thx FB
I'll like the bag idea for sure with the small float . The loop knot makes sense now. When pulling the anchor you must take the loop knot
Out of the rode so not sinch the knot too tight that you can't undo once anchor is pulled?
An overhand loop is hard to undo after it's been under load, so use an alpine butterfly loop knot instead.

fb
 
That looks interesting halimark.So you've never had one of those stainless rods damage or puncture the ball when running through?
Sorry missed your question. No not in 30 years, stainless rod slides thru, then hooks when tension comes of, wire/rod always points down away from ball. A5 don't last that long, seams after about 8-10 years they get these "pits" I think from sun and salt water. As soon as I see pits I replace, just a matter of time before they leak.

HM
 
I switched to the locking / one way puller simply because I had a couple times where the anchor slipped out of the ring and back down after it was up. More chain and a anchor with longer shaft may have remedied this though.

I only anchored maybe a dozen times and I've had the anchor drop back down 3 or 4 times. Not sure what I did wrong at those times as the retrieval process looked the same to me. Also it seems that the ring struggles to go over the chain to get to the anchor. Maybe I need to go faster. What's consider an appropriate speed? I have the Trotac made system.
 
If Trotac set you up you are not dragging your anchor long enough. I usually start off slow and after a bit of a pull speed up and start dragging the ball under. It will pop up and a bit more speed and you will see the ball dig in good and the anchor should be hanging off the ball
 
I run mine a bit different than above but the theory is the same I run my scotsman/ring through the single mainline then I have a second ring I tie back on itself 30 feet from the boat this keep a nice teather of 30 ft to the scotsman in addition if I ever need to cut away in an emergency or just to come back later I have no worry of losing my anchor and rode. Another feature it this second ring can be doubled back on itself very easily so if I anchor in 100 or 300 FOW I only use a reasonable amount of rode.
 
Yes definitely more than one way to skin a cat. Personally I never liked the permanent hanging down bow to stern rope myself or the hand retrieval from the stern. Seen some stressful things go on with that set up and have had friends tell me about some very dicey things happen when set up like that especially in quicker currents and not so friendly weather changes.

I made up a custom set up for my boat. I have a decent sized cuddy so I can fit a lot of chain and rode (have 750') down in there and I have a cuddy hatch to access my bow, and I have two sets of controls for my windless; one on the helm and one up on the bow by the windless. So I always anchor from my bow with my windless but the custom rigging I did is that I do still use two rings so I don't lose my set up if I have to set my boat free from my anchor. I have C links on my chain and rode in several different spots (so I can anchor at lot's of different depths and unattach from the windless like 300', 450', 600') where I unhook from my windless after setting my anchor, then snap on to a separate rope that has the Scotchman and a ring on it ( that now goes from my bow down the side of my boat to my stern fish deck. (pressure is always at the very bow of the boat this way) That rope has a quick snap on it with another ring on that stern end of the rope. The rope is now going up through the center bow railings down to my fish deck. It is now one continuous rode/rope with two rings on it. If I have to unhook from the whole set up all I do is unsnap from my fish deck and the whole line travels up and out the bow of my boat. There is no side pressure to the boat at all and no permanent rope going down the side of my boat hanging down. The rope can also be cut in an emergency because there is always that stern end ring on it which will save the whole set up.
When I want to pull up my anchor with my windless all I do is go up to the bow from the safe cuddy, pop my head through the hatch, clip my anchor rode back to my windless and pull it in. That bow to stern line with the scotchman on it is just hand pulled back on board. If I ever just want to leave my anchor/scotchman to drift off fight a fish, go to shore for a bit etc etc I just unhook it from my fish deck, let that line go up and out the bow and drive off leaving it floating there cause that stern end ring is on the line. When I come back after being free from it I just have to use my hook pole to grab that ring that slid to the scotchman and bring it back on board to my bow. The ring is far enough up that line where there is no tension on it when I go to grab it to bring it back on board. Then just hook back up to my windless. Love the set up.
I've anchored all different ways now with other buddies and on my boat with my set up and I wouldn't change it for the world. Very safe, very quick with the windless and never have to worry about losing my set up.
In stead of using zap straps on the anchor I welded a slide bar on my anchor (like the ones we use on fraser river jet boats) so that if it gets stuck all I do is let some slack out with my windless and move my boat to the other side of the anchor and pull it out from that side. With the slide bar it allows the chain link to slide over to the other side of the anchor where it will pull out easily.
Only thing I am going to change soon is my anchor chain/rode chute angle cause when bringing in a **** load of rode/chain it can pile up sometimes on the chute down into the cuddy where I have to help it along the way once and awhile. Just too shallow of an angle on the chute I had made right now.
I'll get some pics of it if anyone is interested in seeing what I mean how I set it all up.
 
I made up a custom set up for my boat. I have a decent sized cuddy so I can fit a lot of chain and rode (have 750') down in there and I have a cuddy hatch to access my bow, and I have two sets of controls for my windless; one on the helm and one up on the bow by the windless. So I always anchor from my bow with my windless but the custom rigging I did is that I do still use two rings so I don't lose my set up if I have to set my boat free from my anchor. I have C links on my chain and rode in several different spots (so I can anchor at lot's of different depths and unattach from the windless like 300', 450', 600') where I unhook from my windless after setting my anchor, then snap on to a separate rope that has the Scotchman and a ring on it ( that now goes from my bow down the side of my boat to my stern fish deck. (pressure is always at the very bow of the boat this way) That rope has a quick snap on it with another ring on that stern end of the rope. The rope is now going up through the center bow railings down to my fish deck. It is now one continuous rode/rope with two rings on it. If I have to unhook from the whole set up all I do is unsnap from my fish deck and the whole line travels up and out the bow of my boat. There is no side pressure to the boat at all and no permanent rope going down the side of my boat hanging down. The rope can also be cut in an emergency because there is always that stern end ring on it which will save the whole set up.
In stead of using zap straps on the anchor I welded a slide bar on my anchor (like the ones we use on fraser river jet boats) so that if it gets stuck all I do is let some slack out with my windless and move my boat to the other side of the anchor and pull it out from that side. With the slide bar it allows the chain link to slide over to the other side of the anchor where it will pull out easily.
I'll get some pics of it if anyone is interested in seeing what I mean how I set it all up.

I'm curious to see a diagram or pictures of your setup. Does the rope rub much running from the stern to the bow with your setup? I'm also not familiar with the anchor slide bars. Do you have a picture of how that works?
 
I have a 2 ring system from trotac. Have 600ft of rope and have always anchored in about 200ft of water. I want to fish shallower but am not sure how to do it without letting all the rope out? Is anyone able to shed some light on how I can do this in say 50ft of water? Do I let all 600ft out ? Can I tie a butterfly knot and clip it off on the scotsman ring?
 
I've come across this method of anchor setup before and found it intriguing. Now has anyone tried a similar method for prawn/crab traps? I don't see why it wouldn't work and if it did that would be a much cheaper setup than spending hundreds of dollars on a puller! :D
 
@Mike1266 Yes I have some buddies that use an anchor pulling setup on their prawn traps, both traps slide to the end of the line usually. I've always been intrigued, but fear knocking off the traps at some point.
 
I've come across this method of anchor setup before and found it intriguing. Now has anyone tried a similar method for prawn/crab traps? I don't see why it wouldn't work and if it did that would be a much cheaper setup than spending hundreds of dollars on a puller! :D
I would not try that if my traps were in an area where others have set their gear as well. I would for sure be wishing I had bought a puller the first time I snag some other guys gear, I bet they would be wishing the same thing! If you have ever hand bombed your own gear to the boat just think how much fun that would be after you have 2 sets to pull together.
Also the chain attached to my anchor comes through the ring and hangs down, keeping the anchor at the ball. What would stop the traps from sliding down the second you stop pulling?
Could berried females survive being pulled up like that?
 
I've come across this method of anchor setup before and found it intriguing. Now has anyone tried a similar method for prawn/crab traps? I don't see why it wouldn't work and if it did that would be a much cheaper setup than spending hundreds of dollars on a puller! :D
I use exact same method to pull my prawn traps, never lost any gear yet, sometimes takes a good slow pull to get gear upward, I have had traps hang up and arrive with prawns and "folded" but that's from bottom not pull. Do exact same as anchor, pull against current and towards deeper water if possible. I use shackles instead of rings, cheaper and stronger. My anchor setup is posted on this thread earlier. For prawn setup I just use smaller A2 Scotchman's and shackles. Same setup for all bottom gear retrieval and no need for additional electric puller. Prawns do not know what's taking them to surface for possible feast.

HM
 
I would not try that if my traps were in an area where others have set their gear as well. I would for sure be wishing I had bought a puller the first time I snag some other guys gear, I bet they would be wishing the same thing! If you have ever hand bombed your own gear to the boat just think how much fun that would be after you have 2 sets to pull together.
Also the chain attached to my anchor comes through the ring and hangs down, keeping the anchor at the ball. What would stop the traps from sliding down the second you stop pulling?
Could berried females survive being pulled up like that?
Not sure about berried prawns surviving. Trip to surface is no different than with a puller. I do not pull my anchor or traps fast. My wire hooks stop traps, anchor from falling back to bottom after full pull. (Pics in thread)) Never caught or snagged anyone else's traps or gear with my method, your saying you would rather your puller be snagged on bottom sideways to pull over anchor method? The A2 or 3 stays directly over traps after they leave bottom, only boat moves away, drive in a safe direction. I may state that I have NEVER been in a prawn fishing "group" as I have anchored on Constance for hali. I do tend to go off away from crowds and set traps for prawns. Never had anchor retrieval issues with other boats and some fools have got real close.

HM
 
Not sure about berried prawns surviving. Trip to surface is no different than with a puller. I do not pull my anchor or traps fast. My wire hooks stop traps, anchor from falling back to bottom after full pull. (Pics in thread)) Never caught or snagged anyone else's traps or gear with my method, your saying you would rather your puller be snagged on bottom sideways to pull over anchor method? The A2 or 3 stays directly over traps after they leave bottom, only boat moves away, drive in a safe direction. I may state that I have NEVER been in a prawn fishing "group" as I have anchored on Constance for hali. I do tend to go off away from crowds and set traps for prawns. Never had anchor retrieval issues with other boats and some fools have got real close.



HM
Just looked back at pics of your set up. Never seen that type before, more than one way to skin a cat for sure. That would stop traps from falling down again no problem. I cant say I've never been in a prawn fishing group as sometimes when I set them there was no crowd only to come back to pull them the next day and now I'm in that group you were talking about. I guess in the end I like using the puller more as it seems to me like I have a bit more control over things and if it gets hung up I might notice it sooner? I dunno I'm no expert for sure.
 
I have used this set up for 35 years, only change is A5 now, used to use 5 gl gas tank?? Back when Benny showed me there were no pullers, ring set ups and fancy pre made sets. True many different ways to achieve same results, all work, only thing I like to see is all being safe. That certainly is the case today, been along time since I seen a boat anchored or tied to a marker buoy by the stern.

My prawn hunting trips accompany my bear hunting trips, usually I am only boat for many miles, cant say same for hali anchoring.

HM
 
Back
Top