kayak drift anchors

 I looked at the "anchor wizard" chute and it reminded me of what I was trying to build on to the white water boat. The chute might be perfect for the sash weight anchor and it might be something that could help support a 4 foot chain.
Would still like to see photos of that ScottV.

Here is the anchor wizard chute. Thanks for adding that BMB.

Interesting... could you use a Scotty Lake Troller for that purpose as well?

There is wisdom in simplicity for this kind of operation.

I'll let you know what i think of the anchor wizard once i've installed it.

One of my key items these days is that I want the kayak to look like its not been drilled, because I think that affects resale value later on.  Some small, cleanly installed accessories is fine, but large bulky items like scotty deck mounts are a no no for me.  Since all of my kayaks have tracks, that's a relatively easy proposition.  What I am trying to do is to install the anchor wizard in a way that I don't have to drill any additional holes, and can use my existing track and rear handle screws to install.  I might need to increase the length of the rear handle screws to do so, but that won't be an issue if i have to replace in the future.  nice thing for me is that my SP10 tends to sit fairly high on the water, so I'm not worried as much about dragging anchors.  But to have a drag chain that can be pulled into the anchor wizard chute with some sort of stop at the end (a cannonball) would make some sense.

 Thought that I would share an experience applicable to this topic and a positive plug for the drag chain style.

It was my first experience on the Jackson Coosa. I rigged a drag chain with a retractable dog leash that was suggested for use with this boat. I had the camera running while I followed/documented my partner.

Photo #1
Set up to hit the first small hole. The anchor is of course not deployed.

Photo #2
Dropped into the hole and the wave pushed me off the slippery lawn chair seat and I was swimming.

Photo #3
Climbing back in.
And here is where it happened. As I climbed back on to get ready for the next set of rapids, my body was on top of the retractable dog leash and without knowing, deployed the anchor.

Photo #4
I got back on, made it through the rapid, but noticed the drag and realized that it had deployed.
I believe that if I was using a pyramid instead of the chain, I may have snagged and my situation made more challenging.

I no longer use the dog leash.

bmb,
Are you planning on using the Slayer propel 10 in rapids?

And I was also curious if you had tested a ball anchor?  While I am interested in hearing alternatives to the pyramid or drag chain, I had believed that a ball would roll.
Hope that you document your experience with both.

I plan to use the SP10 in the AR, so there are some sections with rapids, but not likely to do much anchoring in the actual rapids, because there's not as much fishing in those sections.  the ball might be replaced with something else, but its really there just to prevent the chain to get pulled all the way through the anchor wizard chute, sort of like how sabiki rods work.  i plan to make it as small as possible, or might even use something like a sploosh ball if i can find one the right size.

i realize how confusing this may sound, so i decided to put together this absolutely well designed diagram.

How do feel about the Anchor Wizard not being quick release? Any safety issues come to mind?

the entire system isnt a quick release, but the chute is just a chute.  I am not using the whole system, and will just be using a normal V shape jam cleat next to my seat.  if I need to ditch, i'll just cut or pull off the jam cleat, and i figure the rope will just slide back through the chute.  I saw some reviews of the anchor wizard retrieval reel, which seemed to work nice, but not worth over a hundred bucks extra (the chute was about $30 including shipping).  I think those could be rigged as a quick release as well by not tying the retrieval line to the wizard reel. 

either way, I'll be using floating poly line, so if i was to ever do a release, then i would expect the line to float on the surface so I could retrieve later.

Essentially, the chute would be the same as my old system (like o2b), but less work to create and hopefully cleaner install.  we'll see whether it actually works like I'm hoping it will.

I still plan to use a QRAS when doing slow deep water anchoring in the delta and bay..but since I pretty much never fish sturgeon anymore i don't think its that necessary.  Most of my anchoring these days is at the lake when i'm bass fishing/trout fishing with bait or when i'm on the river during shad and salmon seasons.

I asked about the SP10 in rapids because I was curious if there was concern about the propel drive being damaged on the rocks.

I like the wizard chute alone idea. If the Coosa didn't have the chain track I would probably go this route.

I asked about the SP10 in rapids because I was curious if there was concern about the propel drive being damaged on the rocks.

I like the wizard chute alone idea. If the Coosa didn't have the chain track I would probably go this route.

I would just pull the drive out if i was going anything shallower than a couple feet.  its a fairly maneuverable boat, at 10 feet, so paddling downstream hasn't been an issue with me.  i would suspect it paddles similarly to a mini - X, which i've never owned.  But it feels similar to my old hobie sport and i9.  the drive is pretty easy to pull, just pop the drivewell cover and rotate up.  as you would imagine, the use of a propeller drive is not very valuable going downstream, but can help you in a deeper pocket if you want to try and hold in without an anchor, and gives you more power to try and go upstream than paddling.

  Came across this "snag-less" fishing weight picture and wanted to add it to this thread to reinforce the drag chain concept.

I use a pyramid anchor for rivers, but on the delta I drag about 4 feet of heavy chain.  The chain works great, straight chain with no covering on it.

Still fascinated with how you are able to manage a four foot chain.  Pictures??