Anchor winch system for hobie?

Does anyone use this (or something like it)?  And if so, on a hobie?

https://www.austinkayak.com/Anchor-Wizard-Kayak-Anchoring-System-Low-Profile/ACK25449P.html

I often fish in 5-30' of water and yarding up the anchor with m' arms and dealing with line tangles gets old. 

Also, open to other suggestions!

I haven't used the Anchor Wizard, but here are a couple of thoughts about it:

1. The Anchor Wizard comes with 45 feet of 1/8" anchor line.  Because you need a scope (length of anchor line) of at least 3 times the depth of the water for the anchor to hold, the anchor line which comes with the system is only sufficient for use in water about 15 feet deep.  Do an internet search for "anchor scope" for more information about this issue.  However, you could replace the anchor line which comes with the system with some thinner line so the system would hold a longer anchor line, and thus could be used in deeper water.

2. The Anchor Wizard includes an anchor holding tube which could be mounted on the front of a kayak, to position the kayak with its bow to the current or wind, or the back of a kayak, to position the kayak with its stern to the current or wind.  It might not be possible to mount this anchor holding tube on the stern of many kayaks, because it would interfere with the rudder system.  For example, the anchor holding tube would interfere with the "twist and stow" anchor system on some Hobie kayaks.  However, you could use the winch portion of the Anchor Wizard system with an anchor trolley without installing the anchor holding tube on your kayak.  An advantage of using an anchor trolley rather than the anchor holding tube is that the trolley lets you choose whether to anchor the kayak with either its bow or its stern to the current or wind.  For example, if you wanted to anchor in shallow water and fish towards the shore, but the wind was blowing from the shore, an anchor holding tube on the stern of your kayak would position you with your back to the shore, which would be pretty inconvenient.  An anchor trolley would let you position the kayak with its bow pointing into the wind and towards the shore.

Good thoughts, pmmpete.  I like the trolley idea.  I'm not terribly worried about scope, this is just for lake fishing on calm days.  I generally just use a 10lb mushroom anchor straight down, which allows me to stand up and cast 360 degrees w/o my fishing line crossing the anchor line.  I don't need to hold fast in wind or anything.

If you're standing and casting in calm conditions, the anchor retention tube looks like it could make it real easy to deploy and recover your anchor.  Hopefully somebody who has used the Anchor Wizard system will give you some information about that.

I've contemplated buying the anchor wizard on several occasions mostly for windy days bass fishing or anchored up in the shallower channel for walleye, bass, or even Salmon.

The biggest thing for me is definitely the limitation on the length of line it can hold. As Pete mentions the anchor wizard only holds 45ft of line and when I contacted them to see if you could use a heavy dacron or similar (kite) line the company indicated that they couldn't recommend changing the line as the 1/8" line is what the product is designed for, thus limiting the ability to easily swap to a smaller diameter line that would hold more. This limitation wouldn't be a major issue for a lot of my usage, but when I am dropping that kind of money on an anchor "system" I would like to be able to use it all over, like say at Swan Island for sturgeon where it's often >40' deep. All that being said I think if you're planning on using it in shallow water I think the tool works quite well, I fished with someone who had one and it was a killer setup for shallow water and put my dive reel anchor setup to shame for sure. I have been contemplating buying just the "chute" portion of the anchor wizard and using my dive reel for the crank portion.

I have the Anchor Wizard on my PA 14.   Honestly I never use it, because I do not fish in a stationary position very often.  The few times I have dropped it down, was in generally shallow water.   It deploys and is recovered quickly and easily.   If my Kayak fishing was not primarily trolling or on the move, jigging, then I could see it being just fine.
When I fished Swan Island this last December, I purposely did not use it, and I made a DIY quick cleat, self release anchor system, with a float.   Think about having the Anchor Wizard deployed 40'+ depth, and you hook up with a larger fish (sturgeon)  You don't have time to screw with reeling up the anchor.   You want a system with a quick release cleat, which allows you to throw your entire anchor line over the yak, with buoy attached.
Come back and pick up your buoy and anchor after dealing with fish.

I am also curious about this.

I plan on implementing this on my new PA14.  I am going to be putting more effort into chasing steel in my kayak, so I've decided I will be attaching a drift boat style anchor to the back of my boat; my plan is to use the anchor wizard as a way to keep the line tidy and out of the way.  Like the drift boater's, I want to be able to anchor in shallow moving water so I can stand and fish an area for a bit, then easily back up, retrieve the anchor, and drift fish to the next spot.

The detachable floating anchor system works great for deeper water and sturgeon fishing, but I definitely want something more streamline and tidy for the small water.

Moving water would make me want a releasable anchor and anchor trolley to move it to the front or rear of my kayak even more than deeper/still water. Good luck with the steelies and stay safe.

I'm just starting to rig up a PA14.  Anchoring in a kayak options have almost become a hobby as far as figuring out which option and when to use that option.

I put together one of these buoy systems for moving water / deeper water:   

I put a PowerPole, Anchor Wiz together for a shallow water tag team aka Tim Percy:  and Chad Hoover with a shorter video: 

So deep / moving water is covered and shallow water positioning is covered.  I also have the Hobie anchor trolley and a new Hobie drift sock for controlled drifts. 

I don't think that there is one perfect set up.  Different tools for different applications.

Moving water would make me want a releasable anchor and anchor trolley to move it to the front or rear of my kayak even more than deeper/still water. Good luck with the steelies and stay safe.

I've never used the Anchor Wizard; does it not allow the line to to completely spool off?  If not then yeah, I won't be using one for this application; I'll probably just stick with a bit of rope that can be release and run through the pulleys in an emergency.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I've been playing in the small, faster(ish) water with more frequency over the past few years and attempted using the standard quick release anchor trolley system a few years back...it really does not work well and is actually a bit sketchy.  My experience taught me that the trolley system takes too long to deploy, the anchor line is never centered directly off the bow (or stern) so the boat tends to drift at a precarious angle in the current, and it was VERY difficult to pull up; granted, it could have just been operator issues, but I won't try that again.  After spending a bit of time in a friends drift boat, I really liked that anchor system and it definitely seems doable with the PA14.

I found this, looks like others on here have had some success with the drift anchor system already:
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=2081.msg17739#msg17739

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I've been playing in the small, faster(ish) water with more frequency over the past few years and attempted using the standard quick release anchor trolley system a few years back...it really does not work well and is actually a bit sketchy.  My experience taught me that the trolley system takes too long to deploy, the anchor line is never centered directly off the bow (or stern) so the boat tends to drift at a precarious angle in the current, and it was VERY difficult to pull up; granted, it could have just been operator issues, but I won't try that again.

I have a breakaway anchor system for use when sturgeon fishing, and have found that it works very well in slow current.  I also have a non-breakaway anchor system which I use sometimes when jigging in fairly shallow water in lakes (less than 70 feet deep).  I don't use an anchor system in fast moving water, because it seems to me that using an anchor system from a kayak in fast moving water is asking for trouble.  It would be real easy for a swirl of water to turn your kayak somewhat sideways, and for the current to catch the upstream side of your kayak and roll your kayak over.  And when I'm jigging on an anchor in a lake, if the wind and waves start increasing, I pull up the anchor. 

Drift boats and rafts very successfully use anchor systems to hold their craft stationary in fast moving water while fishing.  And it may be that a wide kayak such as a Pro Angler is stable enough to resist getting rolled over by current.  But I'm not interested in trying to anchor my Revolution or my Trident in fast moving current.

A big advantage of the anchor systems with a bracket and an anchor holding device, such as the systems used by drift boats and rafts or the Anchor Wizard system, is that the anchor can be lowered and raised very easily, with no messing around.  Most kayak anchor systems require a lot more messing around with the anchor trolley, raising the anchor, and winding up the anchor line.

Another great video on a quick release rig that works:



If it's too long for you start at 15:55 on the counter to see the whole system laid out on land then after that he deploys it on the water. 

Enjoy.