Article: How to build a simple drift anchor rig

Allen posted for some articles so I thought that a tutorial on how I built my drift anchor rig might be suitable. Here goes...

I'd tried drifting a few rivers this fall and I quickly realized that without a properly rigged drift anchor things could be dangerous very quickly. So based on a few other friend's designs I decided to make a drift anchor rig for my Malibu X-Factor.

To finish this project you only really need some basic tools. If you use steel of course you'll need some special ones so that's why I've chosen aluminum. It's strong enough for the job but still easy enough to fabricate with tools most of us have.

Shopping list:
1 Bar of metal (aircraft aluminum, steel, or other non-corrosive metal)
1 Lead Block (pulley)
2-4 Fairleads (guides for anchor rope)
2 Stainless steel eye screws
1 Cam/jam cleat (secures anchor line to yak)
Set of stainless nuts & bolts for all hardware

First you've got your block of raw metal (12" X 3" X 3/8") that has some sharp edges that need to be taken care of. I used a dremel with a grinder attachment and ground the edges down smooth. After it was all smoothed out I went all around the entire block again with some sandpaper to give it a nice finish. I next placed the block on the kayak and measured out where I needed to drill holes to attach it. One thing to watch out for here is to hold your drift anchor where it would hang and make sure it's not pressed against the hull and also that it's not going to be dragging in the water.

I next counter sunk into the bar to make room for the washers. This isn't a necessary step but I wanted to keep it all smooth and make it look cool too. I think the bit I used is originally intended to be used for wood but the aluminum was soft enough so worked out ok. Next I drilled all the holes in the opposite end to attach the anchor pulley and hole for the anchor line. I counter sunk the hole for the anchor line so that there wouldn't be any sharp edges that might frey the line. Finally I gave the bar a few coats of flat black spray paint. Most aircraft aluminum has about 4-5% copper in it so it's probably a good idea to protect it. And why flat black? Because it's rock n' roll!

Then attach your fairleads and cam/jam cleat to the yak and you're all done!

Before you do get on the river make sure that you understand some basics of river dynamics and where & where not to anchor. Espiga, maybe you could add something (a new article? ) about this since I think you have the most experience here.

Z

Nice.  I'll transform this into a front page article.  Thanks.

-Allen

excellent post!
No wasted words or pics. I now have the info needed to better my anchor system! ( we all do)
Thanks Z!

pretty sweet man.

Wish that setup would work on my Trident   

Nice work.  I'll have to see how that concept would work for my kayak.

Thanks for the props on the river experience, but I really don't have any.  I'm definitely learning as I go.  Going down the Humptulip I misread the water a lot, while moving downstream or locating identifying good spots.  I had a few out of control moments where things could have gotten ugly, but thankfully they didn't.  Quite a few times I found myself situated in a spot that looked good to find that it was really shallow.

We were looking for channels where fish had to move up a narrow section.  With both the kwikfish and roe we were fishing the bank side of the current/eddy boundary.  The kwikfish needed to be more in the stronger current, to maintain it's presentation.  From what I saw and learned from a fellow killing it with roe on a drift from the bank, he was trying to stay in the same boundary but trying to keep it out of faster moving current by keeping his pole almost vertical to keep the line from catching in the current and pulling his roe into the current.  His catch pictured!

I haven't fished the "frog water" with much success yet, but I have seen coho rising quite a bit in such slack water.  I've tried Dick Nites.  I would like to try some jigs and spinners.

Lots to learn.  Please add your perspective fishdog.

Cheers!

Any suggestions on rotating the image?   

It looks good in iphoto, correct orientation and all! 

Hey Espiga,

Regarding the photo orientation..........your photo software is automatically adjusting the photo for your viewing ease.  I don't have iphoto, but you might want to try turning off that feature (if possible) and rotate and save them yourself.  Another way is to rotate them on your camera before you download them but that is WAY slower as you have to go through each photo individually.

Just my 2 cents, but I'm not expert.

Would love to figure this out for the Trident as well.  I think we can adapt this by using standoffs, with angled feet.

-Allen

I keep going back to using the rudder bracket somehow.  Like you say, use standoffs where the molded nuts are for the rudder stowage bracket and a large bolt through the rudder bracket.  The whole thing could be just stood off the deck.  It might actually be pretty easy.

Zee, where did you find the pulley you used? 

-Jesse

I manually rotated the photos in iphoto, so...any more ideas?

This article is now posted on the Front Page.  Check it out.

-Allen

I've always downloaded my photos to a photo editing software on my PC. In either the MS picture manger or Photoshop I can edit (including rotation) and post.

Did you edit your post with the new rotated photo?

i don't know why, but...

I copied the photo onto the desktop, saved it under a different name and it was right.  I didn't rotate it or anything. 

At least it is right side up. 

Zee, where did you find the pulley you used? 

-Jesse

Sorry, I meant to put in a list of where I bought everything.

Could you paste this list at the end of the article Pole²?

I did my best to buy from all local shops.
Pulley, Fairleads, and Jam Cleat: www.seattlemarine.net & www.westmarine.com
Metal: www.onlinemetals.com
Nuts & bolts: www.ballardhardware.com