It seems like every time I go out on the lakes around North Texas I spend most of my time fighting the wind trying to keep the boat from drifting, constantly on the trolling motor. Ive tried anchors and drift anchors and I see some of you out there hovering in the same place actually fishing. How do you keep from drifting when it's windy?

What kind of boat do you have?

I have a 17' Stratos

You need about 35 pounds of weight to keep your boat from moveing.I use castiron weights, body builders use,with a big eyebolt in the middle.

Thanks Ill try that

Keep in mind that to be effective and to not drag the anchor across the bottom, you need to let out much more anchor line than the depth of the water. Even a heavy anchor will not hold your boat in place in a strong wind if the anchor line is near vertical. A rule of thumb for ships is that you need to let out anchor line at 5 times the depth.

Just like off shore fishing and length of heavy chain attached to the anchor and then to the rope will help it grab and hold. A fluke anchor in soft bottom should hold. I have this setup on a 21 ft Stratos and it holds well.

I agree with the last couple of posts. Get some chain on your anchor rope, a good anchor, and let out twice as much line as how deep it is. I bought one of those chene anchors and love it. A 6lb anchor holds my 18ft boat easily in a good wind. A quality anchor used properly will hold you even in high wind.

Great anchoring advice!

If you're drifting, try turning your big motor all the way one direction. When I do this with my Pro-Craft, it will drift sideways, and much slower. If not, she points downwind, and will move right along. But I only use that method in winds up to 12mph. Any more than that and I'm finding some shelter. My little boat don't like the wind at all.


Jay

I have a cheap knock off 6lb chene anchor, 6' 5/8 chain and 200' of 1/2 rope. That holds a 24' off shore CC the weighs over 4000lbs in winds up to 25mph in 80' of water on Texoma. Weight of the anchor system is probably the least important factor in getting a good anchor set. Having a good length of chain keeps the anchor down allowing it to set and minimizes rope abrasion.

I think a scope of 5:1 or even 7:1 is probably appropriate for offshore fishing but is excessive for a 17' boat. If the conditions are so rough that you need to use more than a 3:1 scope, the water is going to be too rough for a 17' to begin with.

Most likely most of the boats you see hovering in place has a 24-36 v trolling motor .Had a minn auto pilot that was great just for holding me in place . Never had to put a anchor out with it.

Yep - a strong t/m, comfortable butt seat and knees that won't give out on you are what you need!!! Sometimes you just gotta be willing to take the pounding. Really, if it's a glass boat, you should be ok. If it's a tin boat - oh, I'd just get outta there and find a protected areas. Tin boats are just too light/catch too much wind and just too exhausting to try to control, unless you anchor... Actually... anchor... what's that?!

I second the anchor chain. I've learned to keep two different lengths of chain at home for the boat: a 6' length for ordinary days and a 12' length for high wind days. Also have a chene anchor & it seems to be an improvement over my last one ... although I'm open to ideas for something that will set easier in strong winds.

x2 the minn kota with auto pilot. Takes most of the work out of holding in place the wind. Lot easier than dealing with an anchor unless the wind is really howling.

You need a two fluke anchor (Chene, Danforth, Guardian etc,) at least 6 feet of chain and at least two times the depth on the anchor line. If this doesn't hold you then you shouldn't be out there. Fluke anchors are famous in freshwater for getting lost by hanging in brushpiles, stumps, logs etc. A good compromise is a rubber/plastic coated river anchor. They're the black ones with three stubby flukes and come in different weights. They can still hang up, but not as easily. They're pretty good for all type bottoms.

When setting up your ground tackle (anchor system) imagine that you're drifting toward a giant spillway with no p[ower and you REALLY need to stop. In that situation, what would you want to have? That's the one you want. :-)