River Anchor Rig for Cobra Marauder XF

Just when I thought I had every concievable rigging option figured out, along comes steelhead season... hence my latest project... a river anchor rig.   I think I came up with something very simple, minimally invasive, and easily removeable.

I had these fiberglass shaft prototypes left over from when I was having some gaff shafts made... they work perfectly for an anchor boom.  Next a trip to west marine for some blocks, a few pad eyes and rivets and a little luck to find some very small turnbuckles... I'm in business.

In all I only drilled two holes to install an additional pad eye next to the pad eye that is already in place for the rear handle of my yak.  After struggling with just how I would secure the rear of the anchor boom, I figured why not just use the yellow rope that is already attached back there for my sturgeon anchor release system.  Perfect! 

Now I can very easily attach my river anchor or decide to leave it as is to use my "Tote style" sturgeon anchor release system with very minimal installation time.

So... here's the pics.  Let me know if you have questions.  Can't wait to give it a try.

EK

KZ that's a sweet set-up, you're getting innovative there. An anchor used for driftboat style river fishing needs to be strong enough to endure a violent blow with a rock. I'm testing a variety of drift anchors this winter but my favorite is still the "Scwafish special"

Nice Erik that's a lot like my first one only in place of the turnbuckles I made a T out of PVC and ran the rope through the pipe.
Worked great on land but it wasn't strong enough when I tried it in current.

Look pretty good Erik.  The Marauder rides great on the hook.  I definitely found that it worth making it high enough that the anchor doesn't drag in the water, you can't believe the amount of drag it makes.  Give it a try before you try and fish.  It takes a little getting used to.

Look forward to chasing steelies with ya!

I found the same thing happening to me Sean. The weight drags in the water, it doesn't affect stability or maneuvering but it slows me down. I'm trying a scotty anchor mount on an extended rod holder pole on the back of my mini. I don't think it's as strong as the welded aluminum when screwed to the yak. My dream design yak has upswept bow and stern like a Gondala. Flat on the stern piece would leave the anchor high and dry.

I have the Scotty anchor mount on my Cobra using a PVC T ala MickFish, but I'm concerned about the Scotty anchor mount's autolock feature.  Because the autolocking cleat is on the anchor mount itself at the very back of the kayak I worry what happens if you try to drop your anchor to get out of a bad set.  From what I can tell the line will run through fine until you let go of it and then it will re-lock and you'll be stuck again with the line out of reach.  I guess I need to figure out a way to skip the autolock and set up an alternative cleat closer to my seat.

Brian

I worry what happens if you try to drop your anchor to get out of a bad set.  From what I can tell the line will run through fine until you let go of it and then it will re-lock and you'll be stuck again with the line out of reach

Brian, I had the same concerns.  I bought the Scotty Anchor release after seeing Mike's setup last spring.  But then I too was worried about how to make sure you didn't get locked up when you needed an emergency release.  So I vacillated on finishing that project until it was too late in the season to worry about it any longer.

For the auto lock on the scotty mount, drilling a hole and tying some spectra cord in there might solve it. You can run the spectra through the pad eyes and tie it off for emergency uses. Give it a tug and voila

My dream design yak has upswept bow and stern like a Gondala. Flat on the stern piece would leave the anchor high and dry.

Hmm, sounds to me like you're dreaming about a drift boat.

Thanks for the tip on the Scotty mount, I'll look into doing something like that. 

Brian

Oh-not dreamin Brian. The latest acquisition to the Humboats fleet.

drilling a hole and tying some spectra cord in there might solve it. You can run the spectra through the pad eyes and tie it off for emergency uses

I thought about this solution, but having the extra line seemed to defeat the whole appeal of using the "self-contained" release in the Scotty release.  Also, in an emergency, the spectra could get wrapped around some gear or tangled in some way leaving you in a lurch.  It seemed that having the cam cleat right up next to you, as in Eric's and Sean's setup seemed like a simpler, more sure-fire way to address the release function.

The release on the scotty anchor is only self contained in so far as you have the rope in your hand. The smaller secondary spectra cord operates the release once you've let go of the mainline. It shouldn't foul any gear if it's run through the pad eyes likewise. Being spectra there's minimal concern for wear. Needs to be tested, just theoretical

I made a little adjustment.  I noticed that with the first block attached to the top of the shaft, there was quite a bit of torque on the system when I pulled on the anchor.  So I put another pad eye on the side of the shaft to attach the pully.  This reduces the torque substantially. 

I also noticed that the two pad eyes that the turnbuckles were attached to were experiencing quite a bit of lateral loading, so I opted to install two new pad eyes turned 90 degrees so that the stress is along the axis.  This all seems much more solid.

Also, I figure that with a tight knot on the anchor, it should pretty much clear the water line or if anything, just the tip of the anchor will drag.  From pictures of me on the water, the rear of the kayak is out of the water a bit, showing a little bit of the skeg, so I figure this should be good enough.

Right on.  Now go play with it before its the season.  It takes a little getting used to and BE CAREFUL!!!