SportFishing and Charters Forum - Anchoring Question

I have starting enjoying anchoring off the sides of wrecks and live baiting. I am normally around 90ft and have 200ft of scope and 6ft of chain on a 23cc.

If it is anything more than 2ftrs we can really feel the jerk against the anchor and then to the boat. I was thinking of getting one of the anchor buddies bungee cord systems and putting that between the boat and end of scope.....It would go anchor, chain, rope, anchor buddy, cleat.

I was thinking this should take out A LOT of the shock when the waves get to 3-4ftrs.

Has anyone tried this or am I missing some reason this would be a huge NO DON'T DO THAT?

For one, you might want to add some more chain, about 1 boat length. What will happen is the chain will lay flat on the seafloor and as the wave rides the boat up, the chain will lift from the floor, giving you a 'shock resistance' before you get to the point where you are pulling on the anchor. 2nd, you need to add more line to create a bigger catenary. This is where the weight of the line causes it to arc down in the water, giving you a 2nd lavel of 'cushion'


Go with 300 foot of 3/8" line and 20 feet of 1/4" chain and you should be in much better shape.

You can keep your existing 200 feet and then just get an additional 100 feet, connect the two lines together with an end to end braid.

Assuming your anchor line is 1/2", with a 23 ft boat you need at least 20 ft of 5/16" chain, and that should solve your problem.

Assuming your anchor line is 1/2", with a 23 ft boat you need at least 20 ft of 5/16" chain, and that should solve your problem.


I would suspect 3/8 inch on a 23 foot boat.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/WestAdvisorView?langId=-1&storeId=11151&catalogId=10001&page=Anchor-Rodes

More chain more chain.....almost always the answer with anchor question....unless you are asking how to make lulling it in easier....

Bearrock ....... What's the anchor weight? We use a 13# Danforth on my 22' Cat with 15' of 1/2" chain. More chain, less scope, add a swivel, mark you line, always a good idea .........
In 90' depth we have maybe 150' of anchor line out.
Do you have a winch or use an Anchor Ball retrieval system? ......... ICM