Ask five people, and you'll get five different answers. Seriously. I use a river anchor off the front, a mushroom off the back when necessary, and have a fluke as a spare. Since you're coming up to the James, make sure you have a decent anchor and enough rope 150-200ft so that you can get a good set in the current.
River anchor in the front and a fluke off the back. I hate using two anchors though. Why must it always be so windy on the riveroooh:
Navy anchor from the front and a river anchor from the back, but hardly ever use this anchor due to it wont hold worth a darn.
Thanks all.....I'm used to fishing in 4 feet of water when on a river and until doing research and asking on here, I never realized you're supposed to have a 1:7 ratio of line vs. depth. 200 feet of line for 30 foot of water....Wow!! I'll need to pick some up, and I have 2 Richtor anchors with a 5' length of chain. They grab on almost anything up here so I hope they work ok down there. May just pick up a River anchor to be safe though....Seems pretty standard from the responses.
I don't know how the current is on the James, but using two anchors in a BIG RIVER will get you in trouble in a heartbeat. I'm talking about the Mississippi and Missouri from my experience. If the front anchor should lose grip, your boat will swing to with the stern upstream. You will sink the boat before you can react unless that knife is REAL handy. For a BIG river, use a good anchor off the bow and throw out a drift bucket off the stern. That will lock the boat steady with the current and it is a lot safer!
I usually lake fish and don't even carry an anchor. What skip said makes sense to me however. I used a drift sock before and it's enuff in the lakes i fish.
Used a homebuilt wreck anchor until I lost it due to a loose shackle. Went to a Richter after that. I personally have never used anything better. They stick and STAY. They don't seem to require as much scope in the line which means you can carry less line and reduce sway in the current. Rear anchors are useless because they don't stick when you drop them straight down. If you put some scope in the line to get the anchor to stick, every cat you hook up with will get wrapped in the line. In deep water, I use a bucket or sea anchor. 20 feet or less and a soft bottom, I drop a piece of steel i-beam over the side straight down. It sticks and holds fast. Thanks to Cataholic for that tip...
I think you'll be fine with just the Richter's and chain. They are good anchors and people use them with success up here. I've never used 7:1 scope. Probably around 4:1 or 5:1, but it's good to have that extra rope in case you'll need it if the current is ripping.
