Traditional bass anglers rarely think of anchoring beyond sticking a Power-Pole or Minn Kota Talon in the bottom, but bass-seeking kayakers find easy-to-use anchoring systems a godsend when fishing in wind, waves and current.
Power-Pole (www.power-pole.com) has a nice niche in the kayak world with its Micro Anchor System (about $600).
The Kayak Anchor Wizard from winch manufacturer Anchor Wizard (www.anchorwizard.com) is a compact, manual-crank system (about $150) also gaining in popularity.
“Kayakers are super-susceptible to wind; it’s not like they can kick the bow-mount trolling motor on high and fish into the wind or stay on a spot,” says Chad Hoover, host of the television show Kayak Bassin’, which counts both Power-Pole and Anchor Wizard among its sponsors. “An easy-to-deploy anchor, whether it’s a Power-Pole or an Anchor Wizard, lets you use the wind to move down shorelines, weedy breaklines and other structure by pulling and resetting the anchor.” He noted that after an anchor is deployed, a Yak Attack ParkNPole Stakeout Pole (www.yakattack.us) stuck into the lake bottom through a kayak scupper hole or anchor trolley keeps the ’yak from swinging in the wind.
Weights of 4 or 5 pounds are usually enough to anchor kayaks in place in a fairly brisk wind, and numerous styles work. Kayakers can make anchors from chain, dumbbells, concrete in a soda can — just about anything compact that sinks and can be tied to an anchor line.
