How do you folks that anchor up in deep water manage to stay put? I always throw an anchor out of the front and back of the boat, but no matter what i do the boat alwyas sways back and forth something awful. Cant keep even a semi tight line and usually end up having 10ft of loose line just haning off the rods. The boat moving and loose lines just pisses me off most of the time and i give up and leave or go to shallow water where i can tie to trees.

There really is no good way to anchor in 30' or more unless you have a long scope (length) on your anchor rope. Also, always use a Danforth-type anchor to hold to sand/mud better with less length.

what about 20ft or less..thats mainly what i fish.

Ther is a ratio of depth you are ancoring in to the amount of anchor line you need, but I will be darned if I can remember it right now.
Try some boating web pages and I bet you can do a search to get the correct ratio.

Same goes for 20 ft. The fluke-type anchor (Danforth model) is the key to holding your position. Use one off the bow and one off the stern on the windward side and that should do it. Of course the wind has to be steady or you will sway some.

I beleive the depth ratio is 3:1. So if you're anchoring in 20' of water you need 60' of scope. You need some scope on the back anchor too but not as much. Even this won't keep you completely still. The only was to stay really still is to drop two front anchors with about a 45 degree angle on your lines each tied to opposite sides of the boat.

One anchor always works for me, but then I'm seldom tight lining. Ditto on the Danforth or fluke style anchor. As a general rule allow 2 feet of anchor line for every foot of depth. So, if you're in 20' of water, you'll need about 40' of anchor line out. I've got 3' of chain on the anchor and 3 25' anchor lines tied together. The knots give me a good idea of how much line to let out. I just go upwind enough to end up approximately where I want to be and throw out the anchor. If I'm in 20' of water I'll tie off to a front cleat a little ahead of the second knot. You'll still swing some but I find it tolerable. I agree with Castalot. I just don't care to anchor in more than 35' of water.

2 to 1 ratio is what I go by fishing 20-70ft deep. Fishin- 70 ft deep, you need at LEAST 140 ft out...at least this is how I run it. I carry 200 ft on board
Anchor off of the bow is why to alleviate boat sway.
If wind isn't there drop one anchor off the transom and one off the fron. Pull tight on the two till your snug.
Another way is to anchor off the bowand when your set drop a heacy anchor stragiht down and tie it off tight.
I have some oilfield valve thing I use that for when it's really light winds and the boat wants to sway.
Works...hope this helps

I got 100' of anchor rope on my bow anchor and 75' on my stearn anchor. I typically nose into the wind and drop my bow anchor. I will then let the 100' of rope out if in more than 20' of water. Then drop the stearn anchor and start pulling bow line until I have tightened up the stearn line. then tie off and if the wind is not bad MOST of the time this works. If the winds are swirling and over 15 MPH you can drop a 7.3 Powerstroke crankshaft out on my highsided boat and it wouldnt hold you Hope the info helps some.........

Rob

Rob, gotta buy a digger...best $ you'll ever spend on an anchor.
Money well spent, 25-30 mph

A digger? Got a link or a picture?

Ditto on the Digger...

Cliff you know Ole Mike (that trapped in Texas Roll Tide fella?????? Lol) he's tryin to get 4 of us together to take a ride with you on Choke. It can't come soon enough for me I need all the freakin help I can get lol. Would be Mike, my wife, myself and one other gentleman off of here Mike knows. As soon as we can make it work funds wise we are gona give ya one big headache with all the ???????? lol.... You can't run off and leave us hangin niether cause we will have to hire Ray to chase ya down then At that time I will have to check out the anchor you mentioned. I have a pretty good anchor and my boat sets up pretty good I was just tellin one of them FISHIN STORIES since I aint got none to tell about fish I've caught lol.

Rob

You need a scope of 7:1. With a danforth you need a length of chain attached to the anchor for it to dig in properly. This will vary depending on the size of the anchor. You can easily hold precise position in strong winds/current if you set the anchor properly.

7:1 is correct. The thing most people don't do is anchor from the stern first. Pay out the anchor line as you move forward into the wind. Then drop the bow anchor. Pull the boat backwards with the stern line paying out the bow line until you have the boat positioned where you want it. It's difficult and takes a ton of practice. While 7:1 is recommended by the Coast Guard with 6 feet of chain, I have had success with 3:1 and about 4-6 feet of chain. Without the chain, you're wasteing your time. Diggers hold well but have been known to trip when the boat is really jerking around in rough water. Additionally it is impossible to hold in one spot if the bow anchor line is not connected to the point of the bow. Tying off on a point other than the point of the bow causes the boat to "yaw" in the wind and will do so even if you have bow and stern anchors weighing 5,000 pounds each. A carabiner clip ring can be used in the bow ring of the boat, allowing you to snap the anchor line through it then to a side cleat.