My current setup has a max depth of 15′, only limited because I haven’t figured a way to store more anchor rope safely. This is a killer setup for shallow water, especially in mud where it can dig in! Sometimes I drift flats with the rear anchor out just enough to catch the bottom, but not dig in. I’ll pull in a little rope if I want a faster drift, or let out a bit if I want to slow down to a crawl.

The system starts with an eight pound dumb bell cut in half. The easiest way to transform the two pieces into anchors is to drill a hole toward the top of the shaft that was just cut in half. This is where you will run the anchor line through, and tie a few knots.

Front Anchor

Just behind the rod tip cover I installed a pad eye, and in front of the side handle I installed a Harken cam cleat. For those of you who like to customize, you can find the fairleads (cap on top) in different colors! I run the anchor line through the pad eye, and lock it into the Harken cam cleat. The extra length of rope is stored on side of the seat.

Rear Anchor

The rear is setup just like the front, but reversed and on the opposite side of the kayak. Pad eye at the rear, Harken cam cleat somewhere near the seat, and rope under the seat. The idea is to place the cam cleat for the rear anchor far back enough to allow you to reach over across your waist, and one hand the rope in, just in case you’re fighting a powerful fish that tries to run toward the anchor rope. Be careful with this cam cleat when selecting a mounting area. I had to call on a tall friend with long arms to help with the installation of the nylon lock nuts. Even with a long arm, he had to apply double sided tape on a fingertip, and apply pressure while I slowly tightened on the outside of the Cuda.

Tips:

Make sure you install the pad eyes high enough to keep the anchors out of the water while you paddle! The way they are in the pictures keep them out when the weight is pulled snug against the pad eye.

I don’t have any long rods that would interfere with the way the rope is running over the rod stager (rear picture), but when I decided to start fishing with some I’ll bring the line down below the rod holder and install another pad eye. Same with the front, I’ll drop the line down below the rod stager and add a pad eye.

There are products that you can use to coat the weights; one that I found to work well is Plasti dip. The spray on will eventually wear off (like in the photo), but the liquid works great against corrosion.

This anchor system can be safely used with any of the Jackson fishing kayaks. The seat design on all of them allow you to safely store anchor rope out of the way by using the storage on side of, or under the seat. No more hooks in you rope, or rope around your legs!