Anchoring for halibut

So in my preparations for fishing this year, I have decided to give the anchor some work. Looking at the shallow water just off Whiskey Gulch when tide and current are slack. But I'm trying to determine the benefit of deploying a chum bag and if I should put it on the bottom with the anchor or suspend it from my buoy on the surface about 20' in front of my kayak.

When I anchor for halibut in my big boat I attach my chum bag to my downrigger to get it closer to my actual bait. Putting it on your anchor could keep it pretty far away from your line. It might be beinficial to drop a second lighter anchor or we8ght maybe a pound or two heavier than your sunker off the downstream slend of your kayak and attach your chum bag to that. That's my plan this year.

Anyhow that's my thoughts on it but haven't tried it yet in a kayak. However the downrigger technique has been very productive out of my striper.

Hope this helps

When I anchor for halibut in my big boat I attach my chum bag to my downrigger to get it closer to my actual bait. Putting it on your anchor could keep it pretty far away from your line. It might be beinficial to drop a second lighter anchor or we8ght maybe a pound or two heavier than your sunker off the downstream slend of your kayak and attach your chum bag to that. That's my plan this year.

Anyhow that's my thoughts on it but haven't tried it yet in a kayak. However the downrigger technique has been very productive out of my striper.

Hope this helps

I guess trial and error is going to be the best bet. Down rigger may be a viable option, just have to decide if I want to have to fight that and a fish at the same time.

I dont anchor in my Kayak at the moment, but in my powerboat days I ran the chum bag down the anchor line on a big 'biner / ring.   Nothing fancy, it would go down once to put some scent trail out, and the theory (which seemed to work) was that the boat and baits would string out down-current from the anchor - the chum bag's scent trail would go right past my active baits and jigs.   Whiskey gulch does have current - pretty much every where in Cook Inlet does - so the theory holds for everything but the short duration of slack.

I didn't want another line or chum bag too close to my active rigs in any case.  If I needed to refresh the scent (long time on anchor or to re-attract at/near slack) I could run down a heavy weight with a pierced plastic bag 'bomb' that I would burst to just dump some meat in my bait zone.

Every year I am tempted to try anchoring, but ever since I had a Cook Inlet kelp mat ride up my anchor line (again - back to power boat days) I have been super paranoid about all the logs and kelp mats and they worry me a bit more in a kayak.   

I dont anchor in my Kayak at the moment, but in my powerboat days I ran the chum bag down the anchor line on a big 'biner / ring.   Nothing fancy, it would go down once to put some scent trail out, and the theory (which seemed to work) was that the boat and baits would string out down-current from the anchor - the chum bag's scent trail would go right past my active baits and jigs.   Whiskey gulch does have current - pretty much every where in Cook Inlet does - so the theory holds for everything but the short duration of slack.

I didn't want another line or chum bag too close to my active rigs in any case.  If I needed to refresh the scent (long time on anchor or to re-attract at/near slack) I could run down a heavy weight with a pierced plastic bag 'bomb' that I would burst to just dump some meat in my bait zone.

Every year I am tempted to try anchoring, but ever since I had a Cook Inlet kelp mat ride up my anchor line (again - back to power boat days) I have been super paranoid about all the logs and kelp mats and they worry me a bit more in a kayak.

I have incorporated a quick release shackle on to my anchor trolley so in case of those situations I can get away from the anchor line very quickly. But that is always a concern, especially there.

I dont anchor in my Kayak at the moment, but in my powerboat days I ran the chum bag down the anchor line on a big 'biner / ring.   Nothing fancy, it would go down once to put some scent trail out, and the theory (which seemed to work) was that the boat and baits would string out down-current from the anchor - the chum bag's scent trail would go right past my active baits and jigs.   Whiskey gulch does have current - pretty much every where in Cook Inlet does - so the theory holds for everything but the short duration of slack.

I didn't want another line or chum bag too close to my active rigs in any case.  If I needed to refresh the scent (long time on anchor or to re-attract at/near slack) I could run down a heavy weight with a pierced plastic bag 'bomb' that I would burst to just dump some meat in my bait zone.

Every year I am tempted to try anchoring, but ever since I had a Cook Inlet kelp mat ride up my anchor line (again - back to power boat days) I have been super paranoid about all the logs and kelp mats and they worry me a bit more in a kayak.

I have incorporated a quick release shackle on to my anchor trolley so in case of those situations I can get away from the anchor line very quickly. But that is always a concern, especially there.

How quick is your release ?   Post a pic or description - I'd love to find a truly fast quick release mechanism - might change my mind.   I considered using a light weight tether between anchor buoy and the kayak - one that  I could cut in an instant if needed - but I like the idea of a quick release that could be easily re-coupled if I needed to pop off the anchor to chase a fish, then paddle back and reconnect for another.

I dont anchor in my Kayak at the moment, but in my powerboat days I ran the chum bag down the anchor line on a big 'biner / ring.   Nothing fancy, it would go down once to put some scent trail out, and the theory (which seemed to work) was that the boat and baits would string out down-current from the anchor - the chum bag's scent trail would go right past my active baits and jigs.   Whiskey gulch does have current - pretty much every where in Cook Inlet does - so the theory holds for everything but the short duration of slack.

I didn't want another line or chum bag too close to my active rigs in any case.  If I needed to refresh the scent (long time on anchor or to re-attract at/near slack) I could run down a heavy weight with a pierced plastic bag 'bomb' that I would burst to just dump some meat in my bait zone.

Every year I am tempted to try anchoring, but ever since I had a Cook Inlet kelp mat ride up my anchor line (again - back to power boat days) I have been super paranoid about all the logs and kelp mats and they worry me a bit more in a kayak.

I have incorporated a quick release shackle on to my anchor trolley so in case of those situations I can get away from the anchor line very quickly. But that is always a concern, especially there.

How quick is your release ?   Post a pic or description - I'd love to find a truly fast quick release mechanism - might change my mind.   I considered using a light weight tether between anchor buoy and the kayak - one that  I could cut in an instant if needed - but I like the idea of a quick release that could be easily re-coupled if I needed to pop off the anchor to chase a fish, then paddle back and reconnect for another.

I just girth hitched the quick release shackle to my anchor trolley as the attachment point and have a piece of cord on the release pin. I keep that cord in a zig zag cleat next to my seat do I can reach it regardless of the trolley being fore or aft. There are cheaper places to get them, but his is the link to west marine where you can see specs. I tested it a few times last year and had no problem releasing under load.

I dont anchor in my Kayak at the moment, but in my powerboat days I ran the chum bag down the anchor line on a big 'biner / ring.   Nothing fancy, it would go down once to put some scent trail out, and the theory (which seemed to work) was that the boat and baits would string out down-current from the anchor - the chum bag's scent trail would go right past my active baits and jigs.   Whiskey gulch does have current - pretty much every where in Cook Inlet does - so the theory holds for everything but the short duration of slack.

I didn't want another line or chum bag too close to my active rigs in any case.  If I needed to refresh the scent (long time on anchor or to re-attract at/near slack) I could run down a heavy weight with a pierced plastic bag 'bomb' that I would burst to just dump some meat in my bait zone.

Every year I am tempted to try anchoring, but ever since I had a Cook Inlet kelp mat ride up my anchor line (again - back to power boat days) I have been super paranoid about all the logs and kelp mats and they worry me a bit more in a kayak.

I have incorporated a quick release shackle on to my anchor trolley so in case of those situations I can get away from the anchor line very quickly. But that is always a concern, especially there.

How quick is your release ?   Post a pic or description - I'd love to find a truly fast quick release mechanism - might change my mind.   I considered using a light weight tether between anchor buoy and the kayak - one that  I could cut in an instant if needed - but I like the idea of a quick release that could be easily re-coupled if I needed to pop off the anchor to chase a fish, then paddle back and reconnect for another.

I just girth hitched the quick release shackle to my anchor trolley as the attachment point and have a piece of cord on the release pin. I keep that cord in a zig zag cleat next to my seat do I can reach it regardless of the trolley being fore or aft. There are cheaper places to get them, but his is the link to west marine where you can see specs. I tested it a few times last year and had no problem releasing under load.

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/ronstan--snap-shackles--P002_060_001_002

Personally after my personal experience  and the horror  stories I've heard I will never anchor in the current again. The first time the current got too strong and I couldn't get the trolley to move because of the pressure.  The second time a huge chunk of seaweed about 30 feet long got caught in my anchor line and pulled my kayak under in a split second.  Finally  the third time I had one of my biggest halibut  get tangled in the rope and break off!

With that said a good, fast, and reliable  release  mechanism  is a must if you decided to try anchoring but be sure to test it under extreme tension because  if you think about it a kayak takes about 500-800lbs to sink it and that's a lot of pressure  if you're  being pulled under.

No horror stories for me...yet. But the few times I anchored up last year were for the hour or so at the slack tide and current. But even then once it started flowing it was a task to pull up the anchor and start trolling again.

I anchored today in a 2mph tide pull and figured out quick that I don't want to untie my anchor from the side of my kayak under pressure. I can see where this could go bad quick. In retrospect it is much safer and easier to peddle/paddle towards the anchor prior to pulling it up. Also a quick release is a must. Very glad I can learn this stuff under controlled conditions.

I don't anchor.  There is no doubt it can be a super effective method but Ive found it unnecessary to land a two fish limit.  I've found trolling the shallow waters pretty effective. Troll against or cross current.  My experience is it out fishes drifting at least 10 to 1 for me. 

If you think about why anchoring is more effective, its because it distributes a scent a field.  If you drift, you drift along with the scent field.  If you troll slowly against the current, you emulate anchoring even if you do end up slowly drifting backwards.  If you go cross current, you really maximize the scent field.

You only need to be within 5 to 10 ft of the bottom though I try to find the bottom every 30 seconds or so by adjusting the trolling speed.  It works pretty well to about 100 ft or so with 12 to 20 oz sinkers. 

Pretty hard to argue against Rudy's success in catching halibut or really any fish he goes after. I have wanted to anchor but still too chicken to try it of off Whiskey Gulch.

Pretty hard to argue against Rudy's success in catching halibut or really any fish he goes after. I have wanted to anchor but still too chicken to try it of off Whiskey Gulch.

^^^^^Second that^^^^^   

Ain't worth the risk

I haven't tried anchoring up, but I tend to agree with the previous couple comments. You are in a kayak...staying relatively stationary shouldn't be all that difficult. However, being anchored into the bottom...that can make for some scary situations.