Sea Anchors

[tenzing]

Whilst trolling up the 36's on Saturday I was struck by the number of boats using sea anchors.
I have a fisherman 7 which does the job nicely in my boat but I am in the habit of tying it off to the bow cleat.
I notice that most tie off to the stern, i imagine so that your lines (fishing) are also astern.
Whats the general consesnsus. Does the fact that you fish over the sea anchor become a problem. Its certainly very easy tied off at the front after the initial tie, which is nothing. I just imagine my way keeps the boat a bit more comfortable pointing into the chop. I think it probably reduces the likelihood of getting water over the transom also.
I'd like to hear how other people use them.

[death_ship]

over the bow for me as well. dont like the idea of a wave rolling in.

[lethal098]

always used mine off the back, never had any issues with it. apart from the occasioanl line over/under it. cheers Lee

[nigelr]

Often use 2 when drifting, both off the bow.

[Noelm]

I tie mine off to the side, I have a cleat positioned so when it is tied off, the Boat drifts sideways, gives much more room for fishing then, and no waves over the stern.

[tenzing]

I tie mine off to the side, I have a cleat positioned so when it is tied off, the Boat drifts sideways, gives much more room for fishing then, and no waves over the stern.
So you fish over the rope then?
Brendan

[Noelm]

I have a longish rope and fish sort of under/beside it, does not cause any undue drama, and it is miles better than drifting frontwards or backwards, having it on the bow is fine for safety and emergencies, but for fishing, it is a pain to say the least, by the stern is better, but still nowhere near as good as the side, it takes a bit of experimenting to find the right point to tie it off, but once found, you can bolt on a cleat, or use a bridle setup, I went for a cleat.

[tenzing]

I have a longish rope and fish sort of under/beside it, does not cause any undue drama, and it is miles better than drifting frontwards or backwards, having it on the bow is fine for safety and emergencies, but for fishing, it is a pain to say the least, by the stern is better, but still nowhere near as good as the side, it takes a bit of experimenting to find the right point to tie it off, but once found, you can bolt on a cleat, or use a bridle setup, I went for a cleat.
Cheers Mate. Exactly what I needed. Thanks
Brendan

[fly_1]

depending on conditions, either way for me. Although mostly off the stern.

[catfishkid]

I fish with mine on a bridle setup on the stern,never had a problem.I have fished with a mate that has a haines 680 encore and the sea anchor off the back and had waves hit the back of the boat and wet us,they didnt roll over the back though.

Cheers Craig

[Mr__Bean]

Off the back for me (Fisherman 8).

Rope hasn't presented a problaem as it lockes you into the water and your lines go almost straight down.

Also with drifting over small reefs and especially over wrecks I reckon it allows a quicker deployment than out and tied to the bow. We motor up then heave it out whilst still moving in the water, hold on whilst the brakes are thrown on then get those baits down.......

- Darren

[Angla]

Brendan, I normally use it off the stern but when it is choppy I use it from the bow. The stern normally means one side will have to contend with ropes. I have the fisherman 7 too.

Cheers
Chris

[tenzing]

Brendan, I normally use it off the stern but when it is choppy I use it from the bow. The stern normally means one side will have to contend with ropes. I have the fisherman 7 too.

Cheers

Chris
Hey there Chris,
I also have the chute part only of the fisherman 4 as I got the 7 as chute only and recycled the rigging.
After nigelr's earlier comment I've been wondering if I can try rigging them both on the same rope if there is enough current and just add a second retrieve line??
Otherwise I guess its one of those things I should get around to selling one day.

Cheers
Brendan

[death_ship]

I tie mine off to the side, I have a cleat positioned so when it is tied off, the Boat drifts sideways, gives much more room for fishing then, and no waves over the stern.
so is it tied to the front quarter or square in the middle so you r 90 degrees to the waves?, does this create much of a roll or are you in one of those cat thingys? i find bow on the most comfortable as i use it in windy situations offshore mainly.

[Noelm]

never a problem with roll at all, mine is tied almost at the cabin rear, (deck mounted bollard) that seems to make the boat drift 100% side on regardless of how strong the wind is, you might need to fool about a bit to get it right, but it makes for a far better fishing platform, rather than fishing under the boat if tied to the bow, or getting slop in the boat if tied to the stern (well I reckon anyway)

[nigelr]

Yeah I tie my two (when 2 are required) on seperate ropes just aft of the bow at about 1 o'clock, if you get the picture. That gives me close enough to a side-on drift, with the wind direction at about 3.30 - 4 o'clock and the stern at 6.30 - 7.
I've had a wavebreaker put on the front of the tub since last I drifted.
I mainly anchor up and burley, it's only a small boat and I generally fish in less than 30 metres, which where I live equates to about 2.5 - 3ks offshore. As a result of this addition I'm sure I will have to change my set-up, the structure will catch heaps more wind than when she was just an open boat.
Cheers.

[Sea-Dog]

On a related point - what sort of knot do you use for attaching the bridle rope to the main anchor line.

I remember reading about it somewhere and haven't been able to find a knot that is able to slide along the main anchor line for angle adjustment, but won't slip when in use.

[Tazmaniac]

The only way we ever use a sea anchor is exactly as Noelm has described, gives so much more fishing room. Roll doesn't seem to be a problem and we do fish some big seas over here in W.A.
Taz.

[Wahoo]

only brought my first sea anchor today, if tieing from the stern, how much rope do you guy have out?? do you use a weight at all if the S/A floats to the top?

Daz

[Mr__Bean]

only brought my first sea anchor today, if tieing from the stern, how much rope do you guy have out?? do you use a weight at all if the S/A floats to the top?

Daz


What size boat (glass/ally), and what size sea anchor?

- Darren

[tenzing]

only brought my first sea anchor today, if tieing from the stern, how much rope do you guy have out?? do you use a weight at all if the S/A floats to the top?

Daz
Daz,
I can only comment on the fisherman series s/a, but I find that once they fill with water they tend to stay down a bit rather than on the surface. I tend to put the whole mainline out and just tie off the retrieval line so that it is just a bit longer than the chute + float so not any more rope floating around out there than necessaty, Never used a weight with mine
Cheers, Brendan
PS once tied off you just leave it all alone and pull it in by the retrieval line when you are going back to the top of your drift and it is all ready to go again in a flash.

[Wahoo]

Darren, its a 6.8m alloy, the dia of S/A is 760mm


Brendan, the retrieval line, does this come thru the center of the shute or around the out side?

cheers

Daz

[tenzing]

[QUOTE=Wahoo;1023823]Darren, its a 6.8m alloy, the dia of S/A is 760mm


Brendan, the retrieval line, does this come thru the center of the shute or around the out side?

cheers

Daz[/QUOTE
Daz it goes around the back of the chute so that when you pull it in it immediately collapses the thing and you pull it in from its peak , backwards.
You then pull the chute and both ropes on to the deck, drive back up and chuck it all back in again. no more re tying/
Brendan