If you’re a catfish enthusiast or other angler who likes to drop the anchor, you know a good anchor is one of the most important pieces of equipment you can have onboard.
You can have a $50,000 boat, but without the proper anchor, anchoring can be an exercise in frustration and futility. That’s especially true in fast current, where a mushroom-style anchor won’t do anything more than reduce the boat speed to a slow drift.
And if you’ve ever been the designated anchor person, you also know how much work it is to pull a 30- to 40-pound anchor or how difficult it can be to free an anchor that’s become caught in the wood or other submerged debris.
During a recent excursion with longtime fishing partner and Grand Forks catfish guide Brad Durick, I recently had a chance to try out a couple of new anchors he received from Cat River Anchors, a Hinton, Iowa manufacturer that has come out with one of the most novel anchors I’ve used in quite some time.
Best of all, they won’t break either the bank or the back.
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With four flukes - the pointy things that dig into the bottom - that extend from a shaft, Cat River Anchors will hold the boat in everything from hard, scoured bottoms to mud, sand or rocks. A 50-pound test zip tie holds a length of chain (also tied to the anchor rope) to the shaft. If the anchor gets hung up, you can break the zip tie loose and pull the anchor out upside-down.
To return the chain to position, simply fasten a standard zip tie around the chain and the shaft.
Quick to set and easy to retrieve, Cat River Anchors are available in 10-, 16- and 20-pound weights depending on the boat and current conditions. Speaking from experience, the 10-pound anchor is a joy to pull and will hold the boat even in several Red River situations.
Cat River Anchors retail for $85 for the 20-pound version, $80 for the 16-pound and $75 for the $10-pound (my favorite of the three because it’s so light). Shipping is free for all U.S. orders.
For more information, check out the website at catriveranchors.com.
