Dual Anchors with Good Windlasses?

[harpoon83]

Not to derail this thread, but I never understood how 2 anchors coming from the same "point" would stop the boat from swinging, and why only NY does this.

Can anyone explain how this works?

 

[swster]

Essentially you are setting a spread similar to Med Mooring on ships, it can take a bit of skill, scope and time to perfect. Often the distance between the two anchor points is well over 100ft and by doing so you are steading yourself and preventing a swing past the structure you are trying to stay on top of. There are some New England guys using this but most now are Spot Lock fans which is accomplishing roughly the same goal. New York and New Jersey waters are fished heavy and sometimes absolute pin point anchoring over a small wreck or rock pile will make the difference between success and failure. The spread of the anchors also dampens vessel motion in any kind of sea.

 

[Jason S]

Summed it up perfect! Nothing worse than getting a good blackfish bite on a single hook and the boat swings off the piece and ruins the bite.

 

[harpoon83]

Makes sense with the explanation.

 

[Nickh]

300 feet….lol. Gonna need more than that.

 

[Nickh]

Truth be told. Carry one anchor for emergencies and invest in a spot lock.

 

[BlakeH]

Truth be told. Carry one anchor for emergencies and invest in a spot lock.

I was thinking the same. By the time you invest in 2 anchor setups, 2 windlass’, 2 batteries to run them…..

Might as well install a trolling motor. Can setup, fish, and move so much more efficiently. Plus no anchors getting hung up in structure.

 

[Jason S]

I actually have a Minnkota right now and have been having problems with it, not sure if i would purchase one for my next boat. Circuit board fried, the yandina troll bridge fried, all at once, then come to find out the brushes in the motor were shot , one of the springs broke off, maybe that’s what caused it? Now it’s back up and running having a battery issue, works for about two hours then shuts off even though the batteries are less than a year old, test good on a load tester… so issues still not resolved

i have lead acid batteries so it’s about $600 to replace them. I’m Out of warranty so the board was $270, the yandina said they’d warranty it then never heard from them so that’s another $200, brushes and misc for lower were another $100 plus i Lost about 5 weekends of fishing cause of this. They work great until they don’t. Minnkota customer service was just “drop it off at a service center” which i called but no one answered, twice. And I fish until end of January so i was trying to get this fixed asap

I’m definitely not knocking them. Just want to give you my honest opinion as someone who does a lot of bottom fishing. They’re very convenient but they are really just expensive toys. If you purchase just consider the prospect of them having some problems. Rhodan seems to have a little more issues(based on friends who use them, not the internet) but their customer service mails you the parts instantly and tells you how to fix it. minnkota you have to drop off at service center, don’t know how long that takes.
At the end of the day, with how i fish, I’d rather have two anchors and not be swinging around, or having the thing jog to catch up and having to worry about battery life or electrical gremlins.

 

[Nickh]

Sorry to hear you had issues. I’ve heard a lot of good and have also seen it in action. Was able to fish 3 times as many drops in a day.
Not saying it’s the end all and double anchoring done correctly will do just as well.

 

[Jason S]

Nick there definitely is a lot of good. I wouldn’t bash them at all. Being able to setup and leave is really good for finding new bottom and capitalizing on time. And another thing that they’re great for is setting your own drift lines for fluking when the conditions are shit. I would miss having that.

For whatever reason i seem to not be able to have nice things, so i need to have more conventional kinds of things. The boat can’t be nice. The engine has to be simple. Can’t weigh out the possibility that these problems were somehow my doing.

 

[BlakeH]

I actually have a Minnkota right now and have been having problems with it, not sure if i would purchase one for my next boat. Circuit board fried, the yandina troll bridge fried, all at once, then come to find out the brushes in the motor were shot , one of the springs broke off, maybe that’s what caused it? Now it’s back up and running having a battery issue, works for about two hours then shuts off even though the batteries are less than a year old, test good on a load tester… so issues still not resolved

i have lead acid batteries so it’s about $600 to replace them. I’m Out of warranty so the board was $270, the yandina said they’d warranty it then never heard from them so that’s another $200, brushes and misc for lower were another $100 plus i Lost about 5 weekends of fishing cause of this. They work great until they don’t. Minnkota customer service was just “drop it off at a service center” which i called but no one answered, twice. And I fish until end of January so i was trying to get this fixed asap

I’m definitely not knocking them. Just want to give you my honest opinion as someone who does a lot of bottom fishing. They’re very convenient but they are really just expensive toys. If you purchase just consider the prospect of them having some problems. Rhodan seems to have a little more issues(based on friends who use them, not the internet) but their customer service mails you the parts instantly and tells you how to fix it. minnkota you have to drop off at service center, don’t know how long that takes.
At the end of the day, with how i fish, I’d rather have two anchors and not be swinging around, or having the thing jog to catch up and having to worry about battery life or electrical gremlins.

You’re not the first one to complain about the trolling motors.

I’ve considered going with one of those Lone Star Marine drum winches. I don’t know if my 25 TJ would be good with all that extra weight up front though.

 

[mako69]

My buddy swears by his Minnkota.. hes on his 3rd year.. it broke once and they replaced it... I hate the look of them but the idea of quick adjustments or getting on a small piece in deep water is tempting...

For the guys that have trolling motors, do you feel like the boat stays on the wreck/piece better with the motor or on a hook?


Seems like a proper anchoring would be less swing

 

[Jason S]

My buddy swears by his Minnkota.. hes on his 3rd year.. it broke once and they replaced it... I hate the look of them but the idea of quick adjustments or getting on a small piece in deep water is tempting...

For the guys that have trolling motors, do you feel like the boat stays on the wreck/piece better with the motor or on a hook?


Seems like a proper anchoring would be less swing

Mako , my trolling motor is what inspired me to make this post. I don’t feel it holds as well as two anchors. I’m an avid bottom fisherman and it’s definitely not the same as double anchoring. It swings, jogs, adjusts,a lot (as you would expect) sometimes loses gps and comes off the piece, or can’t keep up with the wind and current.

It really excels in mild/poor anchoring conditions and setting fluke drifts when the conditions are poor for that. And it’s really good for prospecting pieces real quick and moving on

Next boat I’m going to opt for two anchors.

 

[BlakeH]

Mako , my trolling motor is what inspired me to make this post. I don’t feel it holds as well as two anchors. I’m an avid bottom fisherman and it’s definitely not the same as double anchoring. It swings, jogs, adjusts,a lot (as you would expect) sometimes loses gps and comes off the piece, or can’t keep up with the wind and current.

It really excels in mild/poor anchoring conditions and setting fluke drifts when the conditions are poor for that. And it’s really good for prospecting pieces real quick and moving on

Next boat I’m going to opt for two anchors.

Which model and shaft length do you have and which boat?

 

[Jason S]

Which model and shaft length do you have and which boat?

Blake i have a 72” minnkota riptide i-Pilot on a 22’ shamrock. The bow to waterline is 36”.

 

[quiknet]

I have a 96" Rhodan on my 28 seaworthy. Last season was my first full season with it. I love it. It (like any other machine) has it's limitations, and for my boat, that's anything more than a 2.5-3' chop. As long as the prop of the rhodan doesn't cavitate, it keeps the boat dead on the spot with minimal swinging (less than 6' most days). When that chop starts to get above 2-3', you're just asking for trouble using it under those conditions. Only once did it slip off the spot in heavy current (about 2.5 knots). WHen you first get on a spot, the rhodan needs to figure out how to best position the boat for optimal spot locking, but once it does, you really don't move. ANd the jog buttons make it super easy to wiggle around the piece.