Why do folks use anchor pulleys?

After reading Stevehawk's great fishing report it got me thinking about fishing the coastal rivers, but I have one fundamental question. Why do folks use an anchor pulley in the rivers? I assume that it is safer to pull up the anchor that way, but perhaps this is not the reason. How do you retrieve the anchor? Do you pull yourself upstream with the rope or paddle upstream then pull in the slack? Is it more dangerous than anchoring in the Willamette for Sturgeon? How do you unstick the anchor? Jerking through the pulley or jerking directly on the line (after the pulley)? Can you anchor without a pulley (the normal Willamette type anchoring setup)?

Thanks!

Are you talking about anchor trolleys or a drift anchor set up? Check out this thread.
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,2081.0.html

My questions refer to a drift anchor setup. I know what one looks like but I am not sure why it is necessary, etc.

It allows you to quickly drop and pull up the anchor in a swift current, think light white water. From there you can fish a hole from above or the side. It also allows you to reel in your anchor line a little bit at a time until the anchor breaks loose. If you were to try it in swift water with the set ups you use on the willy you'd have a hard time staying straight and you could easily flip if your boat turned sideways while pulling the anchor back up. I don't think you could effectively fish a hobie with a drift anchor on most of the coastal rivers.

Thanks Noah, I assumed it was safer. I was not sure how easy it was to get your anchor back since the current is pushing you downstream and I assume you want to be above the anchor to remove it. Perhaps folks mostly use heavy pyramids rather, which might break free easier, than claws.

Why would a Hobie with the drive removed (and perhaps the plug in) and the rudder up not work in a river? I know my Outback does not track great under those conditions but is it dangerous or just a bit more work?

Part of the problem would be that the anchor swings back and forth when you're pulling it up and it would smash into your rudder. At least it would on my hobie, but maybe not if you had the newer design. You would still need a large arm to extend it back far enough back and I would think you would have to mount it where your rudder folds up too. I guess you could just remove your rudder and then design a custom drift anchor to fit the boat. Sounds like a huge pain though. You'd probably be better off just buying a seperate boat to drift the river with. How long if your outback? I would think it would not be an easy boat to turn without the rudder quickly. Which if you can't turn quickly the river will likely push you into the bank, rocks, log jams, etc, which will almost immediately flip you.

I think most people use a 10lb pryamid. I used a 5 lb claw over the summer on a mild little river and it worked well until it caught on tree root. It could have been ugly if it was a larger river.

I think you could drift a number of the lower section of the coastal rivers with your outback, with the drive in, just not the upper portions where there are rapids, rocks, etc. The outback does a lot of things great, it's just not a small river drift kayak.

First of all we did not anchor in anything resembling white water.  The current we were in was nothing stronger than on the Columbia.  Anything stronger we just clipped to the bank on the side. Knowing the river and asking a lot of questions helped us select were to go. For instance:I would not do the Siskeyville float, on the Wilson but would do the Guide shop float below. Slower moving river with less obstacles

As far as the Outbacks. We treated them more like drift boats than WW's. We would back row to get into position and then use the current to take us through We went through a few small rapids and bonked on a few rocks here and there. I definitely wouldn't want the Drive in. The only time we had a problem was trying to beach in a place with a swift current.

I like the trolley system because it puts the anchor at the end of the boat. That combined with a 3lb claw anchor set up with break away zip ties at both ends. Small ones for the release end and a large one for the anchor tie.  This way I can be sure to not tombstone the boat. I would rather leave the anchor than flip.