Side of the highway is fine... either side is legal.  Otherwise, you can park in the dirt lot near the half pipe right across from the beach that's just south of the jetty!  Just don't park in any of the "lots" for the rv park... you'll get towed

@LoletaEric I'm a little confused about how my response is a bad one.  I have been anchoring for years without any safety issue, so it just never occurred to me that could be any.  However, I asked, got responses, and learned about a new danger that I didn't know existed. All of the replies here indicate to me that an anchor becomes unsafe when in a big swell, and I agreed that I could see how that makes sense.  However, due to the nature of when and where I fish, I've never run into that issue despite basically always having anchored in the past.  The danger just never occurred to me because I'm never out in big swells, opting instead to stay home or find a sheltered place to fish!

The lesson that I'm taking away from this is that anchoring can definitely be dangerous, but that, in situations where anchoring is appropriate or relatively safe, there are things that can be done to make it less dangerous (i.e. QRAS). For example, someone mentioned diving and/or sturgeon fishing, both activities that I'm interested in.  I'd also feel pretty comfortable anchoring inside of a harbor/protected bay or similar on a flat day, etc. I think it's very possible that there's a better anchor design than a grapple anchor for those situations, and I am simply wondering if anyone knows what a better option may be.  This seems like... a pretty reasonable question?  This doesn't mean that I'm going to go out and anchor up in a giant swell, or even that I'm going to keep anchoring in the same situations that I have been in the past (I believe I also mentioned that I was going to look into a drift sock, to avoid anchoring in the future). I just know that different anchors perform better in different situations, and I'm wondering, for those times in the future when anchoring is appropriate, if there's a design that is better suited for the central coast area than a grapple anchor.

I realize that I've been lucky to not have run into any danger while anchored in the past, and it seems like seeking for more information about a subject I'm not very knowledgable about isn't something that should be shamed.  There may very well be a situation in which I'd like to anchor in the future (hopefully sturgeon fishing, but who knows!), so it seems like not a huge deal for me to want to take this opportunity to learn more about how to do that in the best way possible if and when the situation comes up someday. I don't think I was being dismissive of the warnings at all; its not like I said, "Screw a QRAS and drift socks, I'm fine out there"—quite the opposite.

Or, what about my response offended you?  I guess I'm just not seeing how trying to get more information is bad. In my response, I recognized the danger that I didn't realize was there, indicated that I was going to look into the proper equipment so I didn't have to anchor when doing my normal fishing (drift sock), and plan to look into a QRAS so that IF i ever find myself needing anchor in the future, it is as safe as possible. Now, i'm hoping to learn more about anchor designs and uses.

Appreciate any light you can shed so I don't similarly offend anyone in the future. thanks!

Hello all,

New member here.  I joined this forum mostly to be able to learn more about anchoring when fishing in the ocean, as I've lost a few anchors over the years and finally figured I must be doing something wrong.  But as I'm searching these forums, I'm reading a lot about how most kayak ocean fisher-people don't actually anchor their kayaks.  I've never heard of this, I thought that most people anchored.

I mostly fish in the rocks off the SF bay area coast, where there isn't a whole ton of kelp to use those kelp clips.  I've found that when I don't anchor, I move pretty quickly if there's any kind of wind or drift.  I've never actually tracked it with a GPS or anything, but I bet it's at least 2-3 miles an hour sometimes. When I've forgotten my anchor and it's windy, I found that I spend probably 80% of my time paddling rather than fishing... I'll paddle for 5 minutes to get in place, but then I drift out of position within like a minute and have to paddle back again.

So for those of you who don't anchor, how do you actually fish?  I have to say, I've never felt unsafe anchored, although it's worth noting that I do all of my fishing within a mile of the shore and I tend to avoid days that are too big to launch from the beach.  Is there some other way to keep stationary if anchoring isn't a good idea?

Side note, is there a better nor-cal ocean anchor than the little 3 pound grapple anchors that I keep losing?

Thanks!