Kayak anchor options

[feha]

I am looking for a kayak anchor for my 10 foot sit on top kayak.  I chose the Scotty arm anchor mechanism that I'll mount on the back.  While researching it seemed simpler than an anchor trolley.  Im wondering what size/shape anchor will nail you to the floor?  This is mostly for lakes.  When I river fish in normally just drift.  The internet has people talking about ocean tides and rivers and massive lakes.  So, I'll ask you all.  What works for you best on MN water? Do you have the chain too with a release mechanism?  Obviously, less weight the better since it will off center.  Thanks.

 

[eyeguy 54]

personally i like the trolley. i can run my anchor to the front and then drop my extra over at my side. Any breeze and its a must for me. i use a thin parachute rope and a hunk of steel that RickG gave me. Just an old sledge hammer head for the extra. A cleat comes in handy by my left hand to tie stuff off. I gotta get another put on for the extra anchor on my right. I think its better to not be nailed to the floor, dont want to flip bringing it up  

[AlwaysFishing23]

The trolly is a must. You can get by with a 1.5 pound claw anchor I've used that for many years a few years ago I got another 1.5 pounder because you get in some bigger waves and a 1.5 pound dosent cut it I would go with a 3 pound claw folding.

[Naturboy]

The trolley system is a must but an idea I got somewhere was to get a $10 retractable clothesline reel.  Replace the clothesline that comes with it with paracord and paint the reel and your anchor rope will not get tangled around anything. 

   When replacing the clothes line, I pulled it all out and clamped it to leave 10" of clothesline on the reel. Cut it off there and tie your paracord ( it will hold 40' ) to the 10" you left on the reel   Works great. I painted mine brown. 

[rundrave]

@Naturboy what do you use for the actual anchor that sits on the bottom of the lake?

[Wanderer]

Both of those set ups look good!  I might look at that Scotty too.  Right now I just clip my anchor to the cord that runs around the perimeter of my yak.

 

I use the folding claw anchor now, the 1.5 pound model.  So far it's worked fine for me but I'm not usually out in rough water with it.

 

Since it's the typical commercial model it has the heavier nylon rope so it doubles as a tow rope behind my little motor boat.  I just clip it to the nose of the yak and drop the anchor inside the boat.  It hooks on the transom and stays put.  I do this on smaller lakes in the fall when I'm exploring for the day.  

 

[feha]

10 hours ago, Naturboy said:

The trolley system is a must but an idea I got somewhere was to get a $10 retractable clothesline reel.  Replace the clothesline that comes with it with paracord and paint the reel and your anchor rope will not get tangled around anything. 

   When replacing the clothes line, I pulled it all out and clamped it to leave 10" of clothesline on the reel. Cut it off there and tie your paracord ( it will hold 40' ) to the 10" you left on the reel   Works great. I painted mine brown. 

 

This is a great idea!  I tried the retractable dog leash but they don't go have as much line and cost twice as much!

[Naturboy]

The clothesline reels pulls just enough to pull the line in you'll still need to lift the anchor up then it will take the line from there. 

I have two anchors made with lead. One I poured into a Pepsi can about 1/2 full, it weighs about 5 lbs, the other was poured into a smaller RedBull can 1/2 full and it weighs about 2 1/2 lbs. 

[JeremyCampbell]

Fancy anchor Paul