Best-Advantage Anchoring
Pompano fishing recently with a very experienced friend, we anchored and tossed flies and jigs into “holes," known to hold pompano. I learned a few things. He doesn’t use an anchor chain, which I have done all my boating life, to let the catenary curve of the anchor rode help set the anchor. He doesn’t want the noise. Instead, in his 20’ skiff, he has a small laundry basket and 50 of 3/8 nylon line tied off the bow to a mushroom anchor.
Quiet is good, so as a guest you’re encouraged to stay in your area of the boat, seated or standing. We fished three anglers, with him in the stern seat. He was able to cast to the area directly to his right and work his fly or lure along the bottom with the current in a wide arc to his right--down-tide--covering a broader area than the other two. The man in the middle had a narrower casting window, not wanting to over-cast the bow and stern anglers, and the man in the bow had to be careful not to catch the middle angler or his line if he tried to broaden his casting arc by casting up-tide along the anchor line. Stern man “covers” more water, his piece of the pie is larger.
Quiet is good, so as a guest you’re encouraged to stay in your area of the boat, seated or standing. We fished three anglers, with him in the stern seat. He was able to cast to the area directly to his right and work his fly or lure along the bottom with the current in a wide arc to his right--down-tide--covering a broader area than the other two. The man in the middle had a narrower casting window, not wanting to over-cast the bow and stern anglers, and the man in the bow had to be careful not to catch the middle angler or his line if he tried to broaden his casting arc by casting up-tide along the anchor line. Stern man “covers” more water, his piece of the pie is larger.
If the man in the stern begins to catch fish and the others don’t-- he anchored the boat knowing precisely where the fish “hold”--he’s sure to begin telling stories...his biggest fish of all time, etc. He may offer suggestions to you... the speed of your retrieve, your hat. You may be asked to count the fish in the box. He’s lost track.
If, for some unknown reason, the bow angler starts catching more fish than the captain in the stern, what does he do? Simple. He asks the bow man to shorten the anchor rode, which pulls the stern up-tide into the hot spot. (Implying that a small shift will improve fishing for everyone.) He always lets out all the anchor line and anchors up-tide of his known hot spot, then uses his motor to drag the anchor down-tide until he’s positioned perfectly, having tested the up-tide area before the other two anglers, leaving them the area he’s already fished. See why he uses the mushroom?
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