Veteran catfish tournament angler Steve Strong has lost count of the number of anchors he has sacrificed to the bottom. With rocks, logs and debris, good catfish waters are tough on anchors.
At more than $100 a pop for commercially made anchors, Strong, like many catmen, makes his own anchors using steel tubing and ½-inch rebar. But even at less expense, he still hates parting with those. That’s when Strong, who works for an engineering firm, decided to do a little engineering of his own.
“I shackle a chain to the center of the flukes on the bottom of the anchor,” he said. “Then I run that chain up the shank of the anchor and use a plastic zip-tie to attach the chain to the eyelet on top of the shank.”
If all goes well, the anchor performs like any other, and it is retrieved by reversing the boat and pulling it out backwards. However, if by some twist of fate or current, the anchor remains hung, all Strong has to do is apply enough force to break the plastic zip tie.
“It’s easier to picture if you think of an umbrella,” he said. “You hold an umbrella by the handle, but if it sticks, then I can pull hard enough to break the plastic tie and then I’m pulling the umbrella up by the top, there’s no resistance from the flukes, and it’ll pull loose from whatever it’s hung in.
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