Yet another anchoring question ( sorry )

[RiverBoy]

While i have hali fished on the hook before, it was always on others boats so i didn’t pay nearly enough attention as i should have to certain details.....now i’ve put together an anchoring system based on your typical HC or Trotac setup for my own boat.

My question is this: typical WCVI rollers i find usually are coming in from a NW direction, would it not be wicked dangerous to anchor on an outgoing (ebb ) tide? with your typical bow-to - stern rope setup would the boat not swing to stern into the waves? maybe i’m over thinking it?

Aaaand i’ve put this in reports. sorry. Admin can you please move to the salt forum

 

[wolf]

You have the bow to mid ship tag line so you can cut or untie in case of emergency, being on anchor is one of the most dangerous things if you do not know what your doing . I suggest go somewhere with forgiving ground where there isnt alot of current etc and sand or even mud look on your GPS see what way your drift is , wind ,current etc WATCH then set even if it takes you 10 mins to decide take your time. and NEVER ever set up wind let boat do the work for you last thing you want is to set anchor and gets caught into your wheel. I can tell you after doing this for over 30 years setting the anchor is still the thing that im always most careful of ive seen many a disaster unfold.
Learn first before you tackle west coast in swells and wind...

 

[ryanb]

Ebb tide is going to stack up the swell. Whether it's dangerous really depends on the strength of the tide and the size of the swell. You would of course be stern to the waves, which is not ideal even in good conditions.

 

[michael_reiber]

In my experiences off ucluelet most of the time the current isn’t strong enough to push your stern into the swell, I’ve only encountered it a handful of times and most of the time it’s becsuse the wind is also opposing the swell, in most case you end up nose into the swell and your lines are going abit forward vs going out the back as usual, and in some cases you’ll be side ways in the swell. Everyday is different you just gotta access the day and the situation and use your judgement whether it’s safe or not. Hope that helps. If you got anymore questions feel free to pm, I’m sure there’s guys on here then me but I’ve spent a fair amount of time on the pick on the west coast, particularly the ucluelet area.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[RiverBoy]

You have the bow to mid ship tag line so you can cut or untie in case of emergency, being on anchor is one of the most dangerous things if you do not know what your doing . I suggest go somewhere with forgiving ground where there isnt alot of current etc and sand or even mud look on your GPS see what way your drift is , wind ,current etc WATCH then set even if it takes you 10 mins to decide take your time. and NEVER ever set up wind let boat do the work for you last thing you want is to set anchor and gets caught into your wheel. I can tell you after doing this for over 30 years setting the anchor is still the thing that im always most careful of ive seen many a disaster unfold.
Learn first before you tackle west coast in swells and wind...

yes i have the bow to stern line with a quick disconnect pin. one quick jerk and i’m disconnected from the whole setup. i will take your advice and play around here in my more forgiving local waters and watch the direction of drift on my gps first.

 

[scott craven]

watch the direction of drift on my gps first.

Important !!
always check your drift speed first

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Disconnect pins, latches, snaps etc are good but also have several very sharp knives around your fish deck, bow, etc to cut yourself free in case of emergency. Let your guests/passengers know where they are during your safety chat before departing/fishing/anchoring.

Get yourself a proper tide/chart book that shows info for the specific area you are going to be fishing in/anchoring in. Electronic charts will not have this info in as a specific area as the book does.

If you see a system front approaching or are fishing in rough conditions err on the side of caution. In bad weather things happen much faster than you think and things go sideways very quickly and most folks panic and stress during these times which can put added pressure on decision making. Don't let yourself and your crew get into those situations in the first place. No fish is worth yours or your guests lives.

Watch for stacking waves that can break over your stern. They can catch you off guard quickly and it doesn't take much to swamp a smaller boat.

 

[advTHXance]

While i have hali fished on the hook before, it was always on others boats so i didn’t pay nearly enough attention as i should have to certain details.....now i’ve put together an anchoring system based on your typical HC or Trotac setup for my own boat.

My question is this: typical WCVI rollers i find usually are coming in from a NW direction, would it not be wicked dangerous to anchor on an outgoing (ebb ) tide? with your typical bow-to - stern rope setup would the boat not swing to stern into the waves? maybe i’m over thinking it?

Aaaand i’ve put this in reports. sorry. Admin can you please move to the salt forum

Generally speaking your boat will swing depending on the direction of the wind and swells. The current will dictate the direction of the lines. The bow will almost always face into the wind and swells, if there are wind and swells.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Something that I don't see stressed enough is that it isn't just drowning that you should be concerned about in our waters or any frigid waters. Even if you and your crew all have life jackets that doesn't mean squat in very cold waters if you are going to be in the water for a period of time. You will eventually die even if you are floating around in a life jacket waiting for help to arrive. Yes of course we all should have them and wear them but what most don't realize is that it is the temperature of the water that will kill you. You will get hypothermia, your muscles will not function, your organs will fail and you will die from this not from drowning. When I go out in any boat my first concern is that I don't want to do anything that puts me or guests in harms way where we will be forced to be in this frigid water.

IMO we should all have to take safety/life saving courses just to be out operating any water vessel even if it's for recreation. If we do things safely then it's the best place to spend our free time though!

 

[wolf]

If you see a system front approaching or are fishing in rough conditions err on the side of caution. In bad weather things happen much faster than you think and things go sideways very quickly and most folks panic and stress during these times which can put added pressure on decision making. Don't let yourself and your crew get into those situations in the first place. No fish is worth yours or your guests lives.

Cant emphasize this enough It always amazes me when Im coming in from seeing a system coming and I see guys WAITING for that "next fish" then see them at dock boat beat up **** everywhere ...I say why didnt you come when i did ??? or we wanted to see if we get a fish!!!! WTF their is and always be another day to fish trust me if you havent got anything in 5 or 6 hours another 15 mins isnt going to matter lives are NOT worth it.

I strongly suggest if you didnt pay attention on your buddies boat to ask to go again if that so called person has done it alot id say over a 100 times and really watch or even ask if you can set it with his help... its ok to ask for help...

 

[tyeeking]

I used to fish for sturgeon not far below Bonneville Dam on anchor in very heavy current. I went with several experienced people before ever attempting it myself. Fishing was awesome but the potential for quick disaster was always present. One person in the boat was always assigned anchor watch (dragging, logs riding up anchor line, nearby boats potentially fouling anchor line, change in current, etc). Everyone in the boat wore a knife and had permission to cut the anchor line at the first sign of trouble.

While I haven't anchored off shore to fish halibut I have fished it enough to relate it the anchoring I did on the Columbia. Never understimate how quickly things can go wrong and always err on the side of quickly ditching the anchor if things begin to turn ugly.

For those reading this thread and thinking about it please spend some time with someone experienced at doing it. And no matter how experienced never be afraid to ask more questions.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

I used to fish for sturgeon not far below Bonneville Dam on anchor in very heavy current. I went with several experienced people before ever attempting it myself. Fishing was awesome but the potential for quick disaster was always present. One person in the boat was always assigned anchor watch (dragging, logs riding up anchor line, nearby boats potentially fouling anchor line, change in current, etc). Everyone in the boat wore a knife and had permission to cut the anchor line at the first sign of trouble.

While I haven't anchored off shore to fish halibut I have fished it enough to relate it the anchoring I did on the Columbia. Never understimate how quickly things can go wrong and always err on the side of quickly ditching the anchor if things begin to turn ugly.

For those reading this thread and thinking about it please spend some time with someone experienced at doing it. And no matter how experienced never be afraid to ask more questions.

Have had a tree ride up my anchor line while anchored in heavy current on the Fraser River in my jet boat. I was with two other friends fishing sturgeon. It started pushing the bow down and got hung up under the boat, in the anchor line with some of it getting forced down and the other end of it sticking up about 5 feet out of the water. Totally caught us off guard cause this wasn't during the freshet and there was not very much drift coming down the river at all that day. It was a very big tree. Thankfully our anchor came free off of the bottom as we were anchored in a pretty sandy area. If we had been anchored in a rocky area I'd hate to guess what could have happened if the anchor didn't come free like it did. Boat could have been forced down and under by the force of the tree and current on the anchor rode. Scary stuff can happen so fast when you're least expecting it.

 

[gunnerlove]

Similar is getting hit by a kelp island.