Dang Wille, That stinks!

I've lost two, luckily cheap mushroom style anchors. They work well for the muck at the bottom of the lake here closest to home.

I use a stainless snap link so I can switch easily between my fluke and mushroom. Well, one day with the mushroom I went to pull up anchor and got nothing but the snap hook. I'm guessing that it got twisted up somehow, and when I pulled up I opened it up. This also happened once in shallow water with the same anchor, so I've since put a swivel on and no problems since.

Another time, same place, I decided to take off for some tubing without pulling up the anchor. I couldn't figure out why the boat was handling so badly, until the line popped and I figured it out.

Since then, I've managed to keep all three of the anchors I keep aboard!

Lost our anchor on lake Michigan yesterday. The line broke just above the chain in heavy surf.

The rode broke!? Was it old or to small?

Old

Have not lost one yet.

We came pretty close once.

On a fishing outing several years ago, after doing some fishing (as opposed to "catching") in one spot for about an hour, we decided to find a better spot.

So I go to pull the anchor and find that I can pull in the line, but with a large amount of physical exertion.

I continued to work at it and was about wore out. Thinking that the anchor was not worth me pulling something (like an arm out of a socket), I asked Brenda to bring me a knife and was about to cut the line.

Just then, after pulling one last time, I could see that we had hooked a crab pot that must have been sitting on the bottom for several years. It was just about completely overgrown with barnacles, algae and whatever else.

I was able to tip the pointed end of the anchor down enough for the relic to slip off and back to a hopefully oblivious existence.

We keep a spare anchor on board.

I have been luckly so far but my anchor line is not attached to anything in the anchor locker. This is my work weekend in the summer I think I will fassen the end of the road to the loop in the anchor locker. Several years ago a friend was letting out the anchor and did not know it was not attached. Close call but did not loose the anchor.

Lost one the first time out with our previous boat.

It was out first time on that particular lake and we just happened to drop the anchor into some "structure". It seems they left a lot of trees in the lake when they flooded it. Now I know where I can anchor safely and where there's structure.

I also don't spend a lot of money on anchors any more.

The first time out fishing I thought I was going to have it leave it in the lake. After my son and I tried to pull it out, I attached the rope to the front cleat and went around it to pull it in all directions--it didn't work. So, I untied it from the cleat while I went to get the knife. When I pulled the rope up to get the maximum amount of rope in the boat, the anchor came up nice and easy. I guess it was caught on a submerged tree or rock structure.

In Table Rock Lake a few years ago, I was gently unwinding the rope as I lowered the anchor into the water. I was using a plastic "H" style rope winder with two handles...until one handle broke off and the whole thing went into the lake. I thought the rope would float up, but evidently the plastic rope winder was not buoyant. I dove down many times but the water was too deep without a scuba tank. So, that was the first and only one lost...so far.

Man, if you lose one in TRL, it's GONE buddy, GONE. The water's too deep to consider trying to retrieve it.

Last summer, I watched a friend throw his anchor in....without a rope attached. The expression on his face was priceless. I still pick on him about that.

At TRL we were within about 15 yards from the shore and could see ledges of rocks under the water. Evidently the ledge stopped and the drop-off was significant. My fishfinder said 25 feet if I remember right.

Is this your friend?

When I got my first boat 3 summers back, I dropped anchor for some family swim time. The boat kept drifting so I pulled up the anchor to try for a reset. Actually I pulled up the rode and chain and no anchor. That was the day I learned to check the tightness of the screw in the shackle if I wanted to not keep buying anchors. No snags or anything; it was just a loose pin that fell out. The guys where I bought the boat were decent and let me have the replacement at their cost.

I'm always at risk of losing my ground tackle. At least it seems like that. My lake is a 1970's reservoir that was an oak filled canyon before the dam and the water. It's frequently a challenge to unset my anchor. I figure it's just a matter of time before I lose the works to the 60 foot depths.

Hey Chappy, welcome to the site.
You can wire the shackle bolts to hold in place, that's why there is typically a hole in the end.