I'm glad I'm not alone! I do it all the time and nose into the wind, sit on back deck to fish a pile or hump.....my kind of fishing

Headache with an anchor (or especially two) is when you hook an expecially good one and have to fight it, wrap-ups with the anchor ropes are unavoidable.

I have PP's and an iPilot TM. I would formerly use an anchor a lot from May thru Sept but the iPilot has taken care of that.

iPilot Pros: Works great holding the boat on a spot even in a pretty stiff wind.

iPilot Cons: The mount is CHEESY and a PIB to mess with. Also the "Unbreakable Polycarbonate Shaft" is NOT Unbreakable!!!

Not a problem at all. When I anchor I have a float on my rope about 4 foot from the cleat loop. If I have a problem it takes about 5 seconds to unhook. I always have my troll motor down and ready to go.
After I get the fish or bait unsung I can go back to the exact same spot.

Do not have the patience to use an anchor. Tried one way back in the day and dragging that anchor
with mud and weeds back into my boat just wasn't for me.

I never once had a fish wrap up in my anchor rope. If you let out enough line as suggested, and fish off the opposite side as suggested, you won't have that problem.

I'm telling you young whipper snappers those big bass are different. They hear that trolling motor and go stick their nose under a log and ignore even the tastiest looking treats and best presentations. Sure you will catch fish keeping on a spot with the trolling motor. And sure you will occasionally catch a big one. But if you want to consistently catch big bass fishing structure try slowing down, sneaking in on them, staying quiet, and either use and anchor or tie up to a tree to hold your position. Mark your brush piles with a drop in marker then come back later and drift in and anchor near them.

I was fortunate when I was younger to fish with some very good (older) bass fishermen often and I learned a lot from them. They ALL were very particular about noise and fishing slow. I wanted to learn how to catch big bass and did. I made appointments to get them in my boat or join them in theirs all the time. I wanted to know what they knew. I took their knowledge and put it to work for me and was able to develop some tricks of my own. Over the course of about 12 years I caught over 30 bass over 8 lbs and 4 over 10. I wish I knew how many I lost. Most of my biggest bass came out of deep water (15'+) brush piles while I was anchored and fishing very slow and quiet. Gosh those were the good ol days. I miss it.

I hope at least one young angler who has never tried this reads this and tries it and lands a big bass because of it! If it works pass it on and help another up and coming angler understand big bass are different!

Good luck!