Whether you are planning an offshore voyage, or spending a day with the family on the lake, it’s essential to have a proper anchor with you. There are a lot of anchors available, each one having a different shape, holding power, and weight. So it can be quite hard to find the right anchor for a rocky bottom if you don’t know what to look for..
So let’s start by looking over the characteristics of an anchor, what they mean and how they affect its performance, and then have a look at some of the best anchors for rocky bottoms available on the market.
Table of Contents
What You Should Look for When Choosing a Anchor for a Rocky Bottom
When choosing a anchor for a rocky bottom you have to look at the following characteristics:
- Holding power
- Shape
- Size
- Weight
- Material
Holding Power
One of the most important things that you have to take into consideration when you choose an anchor is the holding power. Most anchors are rated by their holding power.
Holding powers refers to the anchor’s power to keep the boat in place while it’s in the water. And it’s measured in lbs.
The tricky thing when choosing an anchor by it’s holding power is that you have to take into consideration not only the weight or length of your boat, but the weather conditions as well.
For example an anchor that can hold a 21” boat, under calm weather, but if the wind starts blowing at 20 mph, the anchor won’t be able to hold the boat properly. In this case you will need an anchor that can hold a 25” boat.
Shape
Another extremely important characteristic is the shape. Some anchors are designed to be used in waters that have sandy bottoms, others are designed for rocky bottoms, others for mud, etc.
We are interested in rocky bottoms, so let’s take a look at the most common shoes and see which of them are good.
Claw: Very efficient anchor, it was initially used for oil rigs, it’s good for all types of environments, with the exceptions of clay and grassy bottoms.
Spade: One of the best overall anchors, it has a good holding power and has no big disadvantage, the only place where it doesn’t do good are rocky bottoms.
Grapnel: very useful for reef, and rocky bottoms where it can grab onto things, but otherwise not very practical.
Patent: Overall a good anchor butt it doesn’t have as much holding power as the rest. It only performs well in mud and sand.
Plough: Great holding power, but hard to stow. Otherwise it performs great on most types of bottoms.
Admiral: The classic anchor. It has a grat holding power but due to its shape it can be dangerous in shallow waters. Overall it performs well in most types of bottoms.
So the best choice for rocky bottoms is the grapnel, but the plough and admiral can also work.
A grapnel anchor can have multiple shapes which have different efficiencies but in general they have the same basic design, similar to the one in the picture above.
Size
Overall the size is not the most important characteristic, but it can influence the chances of the anchor to grab onto something.
A smaller anchor has better chances to grab onto things. But if the anchor is too small it might not have enough holding power.
When choosing an anchor for a rocky bottom you shouldn’t think too much about its size,, instead focus on the holding power. Holding power is usually a combination of size, weight, and other factors.
Weight
As I just said the weight doesn’t matter that much, and it’s usually already taken into consideration when the holding power is calculated.
Material
While the material of the anchor is not extremely important, it will influence the weight and the shape of the anchor, and thus the holding power.
So, as long as the material is not something very light, which will mean that your anchor will be extremely big. It’s not that of an important factor.
The material, the size and the weight, are all factors that influence the holding power, so you don’t really have to look at them separately, you can just look at the holding power. While it’s a good idea to take a peek at them as well, they are not that important to take separately.
Best Anchors for Rocky Bottoms Available on the Market
Now that we know what you should look for in an anchor, let’s have a look at the best anchors for rocky bottoms available on the market.
Extreme Max BoatTector Anchor
This anchor is on the small side, being only 14 inches long, but despite its small size it weighs 25 pounds, making it quite sturdy.
The fact that it’s small offers a lot of advantages, as we discussed earlier a smaller anchor will be able to get a grip a lot faster than a bigger one, so you won’t have to lower it multiple times.
Another advantage is that it can be stored quite easily everywhere on a boat and it won’t get in your way.
This anchor can be used on multiple types of boats like: pontoons, bass boats, runabouts,etc. up to 25 feet, so most boats should be able to use this anchor without any problem.
Another benefit of this anchor is that it’s not only usable on rocky bottoms, it can also be used in muddy and sandy bottoms, so if you move to an area with a different bottom you won’t have to change your anchor.
If you want to check this anchor out, here is a link to Amazon.
Extreme Max BoatTector Vinyl-Coated Spike Anchor
Another anchor from Extreme Max, this one is similar to the last one but there are a few subtle changes that change things up.
The first major difference is that the shape is slightly changed. While it has the overall the same base design, the end of the hooks is changed. This model has spikey hooks, instead of the split ends that the other model had. Those spikes can offer the anchor a better chance to fix itself to the bottom in certain circumstances.
The spikes will work better than the split ends if the bottom of the lake is filled with smaller rocks, or if the bottom is filled with bigger rocks the split ends will work better.
Another difference is the size. This one is smaller, further enhancing its ability to fixate itself on bottoms filled with smaller rocks.
One extra thing that you will find on this anchor is the vinyl coating which offers extra protection, so your anchor will last longer.
If you want to check this anchor out, here is a link to Amazon.
Best Marine Premium Folding Anchor
This is an excellent anchor for fishing boats, kayaks, canoes, jet skis, paddle boards and small boats in general.
This anchor has only 3.5 lbs, and it can fold so you should be able to take it with you no matter how small your boat, kayak, or canoe is.
The material used for the anchor is galvanized steel, so despite its light weight the anchor is extremely durable and resistant to rust.
So, if you want an anchor for a canoe, a jet ski, a paddle board or any other kind of small water vehicle this is a great choice. But if you want an anchor for something bigger and heavier like a pontoon boat, a runabout or a catamaran, you should look at the anchors above, this one is only for small sized water vehicles.
If you want to check this anchor out, here is a link to Amazon.
Final Thoughts
So the two most important things to look at when buying an anchor for rocky bottoms are the shape and the holding power, the weight, size and material are also important, but they are generally represented in the holding power.
In the end I would like to tell you to be extremely careful when you are handling the anchor. While it might seem simple to throw the anchor into the water, that is a bad idea. The anchor can very easily damage your boat if you don’t handle it with care. If you want to know how to properly handle, lower, rise and secure an anchor, I would suggest you to take a look at this article, where you will find a detailed guide with pictures on how to do things correctly: How to Anchor a Boat Step by Step (With Pictures).