losing anchors

[Tony_N]

Lost 2 anchors in 3 outings :'( Been reading about using a tripped sand anchor on both reef and sandy bottoms. Some people even use a plough on reefy bottoms. After having twice been cut off just above the (4metres of 10mm) chain, I'm going back to the trusty reef pick. Doing the retrieve according to Hoyle but the reef we have been fishing lately must be particularly sharp.

Anybody else had problems with this technique? At $80 a throw (anchor, chain, d-shackles, thimble etc) its an expensive experiment.

Tony

[saurian]

Tony , only one I've lost is off the bow while travelling.
But i always use oversized reef pick with tines only slightly bent over
so i can get it off the bommies..

[Duyz72]

Mate of mine from Mackay always uses 4m extra of chain and then a plastic tubing along that 4m and also the next 4m of rope to help protect from reef etc after similar losses.

[Tony_N]

Mate of mine from Mackay always uses 4m extra of chain and then a plastic tubing along that 4m and also the next 4m of rope to help protect from reef etc after similar losses.


Interesting you should say that Duyz. We put about 3/4 metre of rigid plastic tube on the last one but didn't think to secure it and it must have slid up the rope :P . For the 4metres does your mate use some sort of flexible plastic? Otherwise it would seem to be hard to handle the anchor at the boat.

Tony

[HarryO]

Hi Troy..

Never been tempted to stray off the 4 prong

reef pick on reef, and the danforth on sand/ mud.

I change anchors when required at the anchor shackle,

while using the same chain/ rope set-up.

I use inner tubes off 27'' bike tyres to protect the rode...

Have done for many years...

Use zip ties to secure...

Harry..

[impulse492f]

I have used bike inner tubes, just cut the valve off and tie off with a cable tie.

[aussiefool]

darm that's a good idea using bike inner tubes [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

[finga64]

Tony mate, If I read correct and by by the sounds it, it wouldn't have mattered what anchor you had as you got cut off above the chain by something in/on the reef.
You didn't have to cut it did you?? :'(
In that case I would put some of that clear plastic tubing over the last bit of the chain and a ways up the anchor rope. I used to use the 32mm grey flexible conduit I got from work in days long gone by (I'll bring it back oneday if anybody from Country Energy is reading :)) That stuff was realy tough.
Tube might save the rope from abrasion for a while or maybe a double up on the rope for the first 5m up from the chain. Or maybe longer chain is the answer.
We use about 9m of chain down there and never had a problem but we don't fish the same reefs either. The main one we go to hasn't got that tall structure that must be present where your going.
Bugger of an experiment though at $80 a pop to find the answer :(

[Tony_N]

Finga

No mate, didn't have to cut it. The first one broke with almost no pressure on the retrieve. It felt like it must have been abraded as the boat moved about in the variation of the wind. The 2nd one was well caught, and I gave it a serious tug before it broke. However it was 12mm rope and i dont believe that i could break that with the boat alone , so it must have been abraded as well. The first one had over 5 metres of 10mm chain and the 2nd had 4metresx10mm. Its weird that in both cases there was a tiny bit of the melted end of the rope strands where I hade tidied up the eye splice, so it was right at the splice in both cases.

I sometimes fish wih a guy who only uses a danforth and he has bent them but never been cut off in this way.

As Finga says, this is expensive experimentation, so Looks like we need to use the two anchors as Harry suggests. I'd still like to know how reefmaster and others get away with using a plow anchor for all applications. There's something I obviously don't get.

Thanks for your input fellas

Tony

[davez104]

Your not damaging the fibres of the rope when you melt the ends of the splice? A bit too much heat could damage them enough to be fairly weak i think. Might pay to leave the next one a little untidy just to be safe. If thats not the problem, then i would try doubling up on chain, try 8 or 10M, and i hope you've got a good anchor yanker.

Dave.

[seatime]

If you're using silver line, what about a couple of metres of heavier nylon rope spliced in at the chain end, or braided sheet rope joined in. the effect would be similar to the innertube. maybe whip a metre or so with venetian blind cord or shark line.
sounds like you might be on the money with the sharp reef abraiding the rope you normally use.

[Tony_N]

Dave

That I might have given it too much heat did occur to me after the first one and it could easily have contributed to it - but after noticing it was right at the splice, I was VERY careful on the 2nd to just heat the ends of each thread. #I think that the chain keeps the rope down on the reef and it abrades right where the more floating rope attaches to the chain. Some more effective protection of the first couple of metres of rope as suggested by gelsec finga and others seems to be on the right track.


Re using longer chain: Old blokes cant lift 8-10 metres of 10mm chain and an anchor without debarking the boat. 4 or 5 metres seems to be my comfort limit. #I think extra chain would probably still keep the end of the rope down and in danger of abrasion. And yeah we use a ball/keyhole affair which takes the work out of retrieval but not lifting or dropping.

thanks again, all

Tony

[davez104]

OK, how about lighter guage chain so it doesn't all sit on the bottom? I would have thought that with the boat pulling against the anchor, the chain should be off the bottom a little. Sounds like protecting the rope with something is worth a shot, certainly can't hurt.

Dave.

[littlejim]

Tony,

I think I've lost 3 anchors now, but it had nothing to do with the anchor. Each time it seemed to be the chain getting caught in the rocks. Don't know the solution yet. Just make sure I don't try to pull the anchor up from the back of the boat like Col Buckley advocates. Always use the bow. If we look like getting pulled under taking off the power means the front pops up again.

[Chimo]

Tried the chain in tube trick, very hard on the chain, as even gal rusts like crazy as it never get to dry out.


Chimo

[Spaniard_King]

Hi Tony,

I use 10mm of 500mm to my anchor chain. (then 250m of 8mm as main rope).it takes a lot more wear #the 10mm than 8 or 6mm when it starts to look shabby I put another 50m on

Garry

PS I still loose an anchor every now and then. maybe your just havin a bad run ;)

[Tony_N]

Hi Garry #

Yeah mate I surely am having a bad run - Just think there must be some way of avoiding it - even in the rough (jewy) country we have been fishing in lately.


From your post I wasn't quite sure - do you mean you have 50metres of 10mm rope at the bottom or half a metre of 10mm rope? #Do you find that your rope tends to get damaged at the closest point to the anchor #ie just above the eye splice? #

I bought some heavy duty plastic tubing today. #I'll give that a whirl first i think.
#
Also taken Daves advice and bought 8mm chain(its only about $6.60 a metre)

Also for anybody thinking about buying chain, shackles etc it pays to shop around - #for example, the Bolt Barn is about half price for chain compared to Bunnings and about 1/3 of price for shackles.

No I don't work for them or have any interest in the company other than that they save me money.

Tony

[Spaniard_King]

Tony,

My anchor system consists of 250m of 8mm then 50m of 10mm then 5 m of 6mm chain then anchor.

when the 10mm looks a bit shabby.. I replace it.. cheaper than shortening the rope all the time

Garry

[Cobia_Kid]

my dad and i lost 80 m of anchor rope and reef anchor after dropping anchor
it was the bigtide of the month and the float got taken under
we have gone out and looked for it a few times but no luck
o well :-/

[Cobia_Kid]

and we didnt get the parot :'( :'( :'(