16' Boat help
 

I am outfitting a 16' Aluminum boat for lake fishing. It has a 9.9 four stroke & a electric trolling motor. I need to know how many feet of anchor line, and what type line I would need to fish N.J. lakes. Also any other tips would be appreciated.

Re: 16' Boat help
 

As far as anchor line, you will need 3x the depth of the deepest area you intend to anchor in. For a 16 foot boat, 3/8 line is reccomended. If you anchor often, you should also consider adding a 10 foot shot of chain since that helps set and hold the anchor on the bottom.

16 foot boats don't usually have a lot of space for stowing more then 50 feet of line and an anchor. If you only intend to anchor deep occationally, you might want to just keep as much as you can stowe on the boat comfortably. On the occation that you intend to anchor deep, have a longer length of rope and chain in laundry basket that you can take on and off the boat. Laundry baskets work well because they allow the wet rope to breath and dry out when not in use.

A would also think a fish finder is a must and knowing how to set/use it to mark fish and figure out where the thermocine is will help you target/catch fish.

If you intend to fish in non daylight hours and your boat does not have them, you will need navigation lights too.

I'm sure others who fish the sweetwater lakes will chime in here.

Best of luck with the boat.

Re: 16' Boat help
 

70 ft. of soft rope, 20 lb. dumbell tied to the end.

If the wind blows you off a 20lb. anchor, you shouldn't be out there.

Re: 16' Boat help
 

Hi,

Gerry is right. 3:1 scope. And 3/8" nylon. That's the perfect size. You can buy multi hundred foot spools too. Some chain (3' to 10') helps keep the scope down. Although not much in a current-less lake. A River Anchor is the way to go for anchor choice.

I use a 15 pound river anchor as my stern anchor when I double anchor over a spot to lock in on windy days in my 14' Mirrocraft crabbing.

Since there's no tide or steady current to anchor against River Anchor in a lake is first choice(perhaps only good choice). A Danforth fluke-style anchor would be a very poor choice unless you have moving currents. Nothing to dig it in and hold it aside from running the engine in reverse.

On windless days your anchor line may be nearly straight up and down in a lake.

Scope 3:1 of what depth? Go to FishingHot Spots.com. They sell maps of most decent sized lakes and reservoirs with depths. That way you have an idea of how deep you'll find. I use a few- Greenwood and lake Hopatcong in my boating classes to teach chart reading.

Hope this helps? Or PM me for more details?

Re: 16' Boat help
 

3/8" nylon 12# to 15# Anchor - most local lakes soft bottom mushroom works well - 175' more than enough, scope requirements are drastically reduced when current is not present - Most local NJ lakes deep spots maybe 125' and that's generally in a small area ! Chain in my expierance is optional!
Years back when I steelhead fished in mid west rivers regularly we used 4" round piece of chain best river anchor I ever used.

Re: 16' Boat help
 

Yeah, its more like the dead weight is your holding power.