Northwest Fishing Reports

Hello,
I'm getting ready to make the run from Chief Joe up to the pens very soon. I've seen that the new owners of the pens do not want any boats tying off to the pens or pen buoys. So, I'm getting ready to purchase a new anchor for my 18' Lund and I'm looking for suggestions. I've heard that the river can run very fast in the area of the pens so I'm unsure if the standard three fluked river anchors will hold. I’ve been looking at this style of anchor in 18 lbs. pictured below.
Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

well, I'm no expert but that seems about right, with some chain on it (say 6 ft). Have you looked at the EZMarine video on his anchor release system? I've seen it in use and I'll tell you what it really is a cool anchor system to have for rivers. Definately a mandatory safety item for big rivers, IMO. Check out his video on WL.com videos.

Unless you're planning on anchoring in fast moving water (river), that looks a bit heavy to me. That 50# will make a 100# line pretty long. For lakes I'd probably go with a more traditional anchor or maybe a bruce.

Mike & Bodofish,

Mike, thanks for the info. The anchor system from EZMarine looks like the ticket. I just don't know if I want to get into it that deep. "No pun intended" I was told that the water I would be anchoring in is anywhere from 60' to 90' deep and that means I would have to use upwards of 400' of anchor line to get a good hold. That's a lot of line to be carrying in the bow of an 18' Lund.

Bodofish, thanks for the info. You are very correct. I was going to be anchoring in the river (Rufus Woods) but as I stated above: The water in the area I was planning on dropping anchor in is 60' to 90' deep. From everything I've been reading in the last couple of days, it looks like I would have to put out over 400' of anchor line to get a good hold.

I received a nice email from blufin loui yesterday explaining about the water depth in that area and how he uses his bow mount trolling motor to stay in the area he wants to fish. To save a little money and a lot of hassle I'm going to try the bow mount the first time I head up to the pens.

Anyone else have an opinion? I'm all ears.

I would say this - if you plan on anchoring that deep you might as well spring for the right set up - before you know it you'll be going to the Columbia and catching those 10 ft long sturgeons!

I don't remember how much line Louie used, it didn't seem like an excessive amount to deal with. You could always e-mail him from his web site, I'm sure he'd be happy to offer his opinion.

Take a look at a "columbia river anchor", considerably lighter (and the lifting system) and designed for anchoring in deep water. For what it's worth I have 100 feet of line on my rocket launcher and I anchor Rufus. Inside the pens is 40 to 60 feet and outside......., I'm not pulling it up that far. A straight up Fluke anchor should be fine for anywhere at Rufus. The water just doesn't move that fast. The only place you want to use a Rocket Launcher Anchor is in shallow fast moving water. like on the Wenachee, Methow or rivers on the west side.
Hope that helps. =)
M

The coolest feature of that EZ Marine product is you don't manually pull up the anchor. You just drive the boat forward and the anchor comes up with the boat. It really is a cool tool.

I wish I could run it with a rocket launcher. =(

i know it is not the classified section but i have a river mushroom anchor 35lb with bouy and lift if anyone wants it.

I'll bet it would hold an 18' lund just about anywhere. ;4)

Big D, I have the same richter anchor for my 19 foot lund and it holds well at the roof! I have 150 ft of anchor line in the boat and 6 feet of 3/8 chain. Like said I would rather use the electric or the kicker at rufus.