Anchor quick release saved my bacon!

Hey everyone!  With all the good stuff going on with kayak fishing this year I really have wanted to get out on the water.  I finally had the time to go with my buddy to the Columbia River today.  I checked the river flows and with the high water I knew it would be not the best fishing conditions.  We just wanted to get out and have a good time, maybe catch a sturgeon.  With that we arrived at 10am at the mouth of the Deschutes to launch into the Columbia.  The water was high, fast, and murky.  The Columbia was moving right along too, deceptively fast.  We paddled out and over the sand bar into the main river to our favorite spot.

Going over the sand bar we came up on a bald eagle, he was sitting on a partially submerged tree limb.  Pretty impressive fella.  He eventually took flight up river as we passed.  I found the edge of the sand bar on the depth finder and set anchor in 28 feet of water.  We fished for about 30 minutes and no takes.  We then pulled up and moved 200 yds down to another spot  where I set anchor in 25 feet of water.

The main river was much clearer than the silty flow from the Deschutes.  There still was no action for the rod and our squid remained untouched.  My buddy pulled up and back bounced down river a bit.  I decided to pull the anchor.

So the trolley has always worked very well.  I have practiced to see how the quick release system would perform in rivers, and it works in practice very well.  THIS time I had to use the quick release for real.  I hung up while pulling the anchor, it was an instant brake.  What I did was set the anchor the second time with my spool and float out at the stern.  I did not have the anchor line attached to my zigzag cleat at my left carry handle- where I connect the anchor line so I could just pull up anchor and remain facing downstream. 

I set anchor and my hog ring was at stern by hand trolley, with my anchor line out the stern I was going to attach my anchor line to the zig/zag cleat when I dropped it.  The anchor line is clipped to the spool after anchor is deployed and holding- so it doesn't free line out on accident.  Since I dropped the spool it went back to the hogring at my stern.   I was still holding in my spot and I knew my anchor line couldn't free spool out, I figured I would just pull the spool back with the trolley when I decided to pull up anchor next time.

So about 45 minutes later I wanted to move, I used the trolley to get the spool back so I could grasp it.  I used the trolley to get the spool, this extra resistance was enough for the anchor to free and I was going down river with the current.  Not too excited, yet.


I turned sideways just as quickly as my spool was now at my hands, and with my anchor bouncing from the bottom...I could now feel the pebble bottom through the anchor line as it skipped across the gravel bottom.  Then the anchor hung up with a jolt!  I was already broadside to the current and thought Oh*#$&!

The carabiner I ran my anchor line through was at hand, so I opened it and tossed my spool and float.  I drifted free while  watching my spool and float disappear into the river.  The current flowing over it pushed it under until it was out of sight.  It was a big reminder of how quickly an error in detail could really ruin your day.  I'm really lucky all I lost was an anchor rig on this one. 

I have never dropped my spool and deployed like that before.  I possibly could have used the trolley to get the anchor line back to stern with the spool back out just like it was, but I had maybe all of 2 seconds to decide.  My spool was in my lap, my float has about a foot of line attached to the spool, my trolley line was in my face...I went for the quick ditch.  I am really appreciative the design of the anchor trolley, having the quick release system because I at least had two options to save my bacon. 

I thought I would throw my experience today out there for anyone who might want to add a mental "worst case scenario" to think about when out on the water.  It was a really fun day out on the river, just not the action I was hoping for!  Got to go buy another anchor rig now (I'm OK with that).



-Scott

Staying cool is critical......if the quick release some how jammed, having a knife quickly available is important too.
Thanks for your clear report and this is a happy ending to what could have been a tragic outing! 

Thanks for the report Scott.  I'm still learning too, but two things I can think of that have helped me in similar situations.  First, I use two buoys placed about a foot apart - instead of one.  And they are not crab buoys, but boat fenders, which I think are more buoyant.  I've seen the first one go under in strong current, but not the second one (yet.)  And when I need to pull anchor in heavy current, I unclip, drift down river while I turn upriver, and then grab my rig and retrieve it while facing upstream.  I really don't like to be sideways while I'm hooked to anything. 

Saved your bacon indeed. Nice quick thinking and had the right gear. Glad to hear the happy ending.

Z

Scott, thanx for reminding me i need to revisit the way i rig my anchor when i get out of this desert and back to the house.

glad to read that you're alive becuase of attention to detail when rigging.

Thanks for the support, I'm getting my stuff together to rig another setup.  So far I have a new spool, anchor line, and chain.  I think I will purchase a mushroom anchor for this one, and I'm adding the boat fender idea for the float (good suggestion).
Tight Lines,
-Scott

Glad to hear it all worked out for you Scott!  Broadside and hung up is a scary situation.  I'm really glad that this site is here to share the knowlege.  I know it's saved my bacon a time or two.

PS  I love my mushroom anchor in snaggy rivers.  Claw anchors are just too agressive in rocks and snags.

-Spot-

PS  I love my mushroom anchor in snaggy rivers.  Claw anchors are just too agressive in rocks and snags.

What size are you using?  After wasting 45 minutes last Saturday trying to unstick my claw from the bottom of the Willamette, I'm interested in trying something new.

Thanks,

Craig

There's so much foreign crap on the bottom of the Willy you're probably better off with a bag of rocks. Carry a spare bag and line, you lose your rig, head to shore pick up some more rocks, you're back to fishing and you've saved yourself a trip back to Fi$herman'$. You snag an old rusty car body you'll probably lose a mushroom too.

What size are you using?  After wasting 45 minutes last Saturday trying to unstick my claw from the bottom of the Willamette, I'm interested in trying something new.

There's so much foreign crap on the bottom of the Willy you're probably better off with a bag of rocks. Carry a spare bag and line, you lose your rig, head to shore pick up some more rocks, you're back to fishing and you've saved yourself a trip back to Fi$herman'$. You snag an old rusty car body you'll probably lose a mushroom too.

I use an 8lb mushroom.  I have lost one on the willamette before but there is a marked difference between the trouble I've had with a claw anchor and a mushroom. 
For the columbia, I prefer a claw anchor and about 5lbs of chain.  Mushrooms don't get much of a bite in sandy bottom of the columbia.

-Spot-

I have the standard 3 pound, 4 tine, folding anchor.
The head or base of the anchor has a hole in which I secured a 3/16" nylon line.....the anchor design allows you to "pull the anchor backwards" from the tines if it were to get stuck.....this design is quite common for river anchors that can get stuck.
Aside from having two anchor lines, there is no down side I have encountered......the main line is 1/4" black nylon and the "back out" line is white in color.......easy to operate and really works on "stuck" anchors".

What size are you using?  After wasting 45 minutes last Saturday trying to unstick my claw from the bottom of the Willamette, I'm interested in trying something new.

There's so much foreign crap on the bottom of the Willy you're probably better off with a bag of rocks. Carry a spare bag and line, you lose your rig, head to shore pick up some more rocks, you're back to fishing and you've saved yourself a trip back to Fi$herman'$. You snag an old rusty car body you'll probably lose a mushroom too.

I use an 8lb mushroom.  I have lost one on the willamette before but there is a marked difference between the trouble I've had with a claw anchor and a mushroom. 
For the columbia, I prefer a claw anchor and about 5lbs of chain.  Mushrooms don't get much of a bite in sandy bottom of the columbia.

-Spot-

I have an 8 pound mushroom also to go alone with the 3 pound folder. Obviuosly the mushroom can't grab as well so needs to be heavier. Muhrooms don't hold that great inmo, In lazy current fine but like in the rogue or swift current they just don't hold well