Tidy whitey anchor rope?

[Dave Boyle]

I lose a few fish to roping including my best this year as it swam by and hit the rope. I just bought two new lovely 30’ ropes and they are white, like super white. Is it worth dying them? Treefrog, my bud, thinks I’m being daft but I wonder if dyed a darker color they would not be the break-off super highway…ideas, comments, recipes, and ridicule welcome.

Dave

 

[Tom Butler]

I cost my son his best ever steelhead when I blew my net shot, it wrapped around the anchor rope, and broke off. I have to hear about it every time out. The rope was white. I'll follow along.

 

[Billy]

Personally I think this falls into the overthinking it category.

 

[Tom Butler]

Personally I think this falls into the overthinking it category.

We kinda figured we should work out system to avoid the rope. But what if I'm missing something obvious?

 

[Buzzy]

Personally I think this falls into the overthinking it category.

I'm with you on this. One thing @Dave Boyle might do is mark the rope in increments of 5-feet (just for fun or as a measurement of depth or for no reason at all). Dave - I use dark red ropes on my pram not because I think white will scare fish but because it was on sale.

 

[Dave Boyle]

Personally I think this falls into the overthinking it category.

That’s exactly what Treefrog said…Time will tell I guess.

Dave

 

[Bambooflyguy]

Can’t blame it on the anchor rope…..I’ve lost many fish on non white ropes! Smart fish…stupid rope!

 

[Lue Taylor]

I just pull the front anchor up while fighting a fish because every time i leave it down I wrap my line around it.

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

IMHO, I think this is a worthy consideration. Why not try to minimize "spooking" fish with brand new, neon white, nylon braid? Just a few minutes dedicated to spray painting some "moss green" paint on the first few yards of anchor line wouldn't hurt anything...and only cost a few bucks. It's just a few yards of nylon line. What could it hurt? Experimenting with [ making an anchor line less visible to fish ] could be a hoot.

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

And then there is the anchor and chain..typically galvanized or stainless steel. All of this metal is shiny as hell and visible as hell underwater. I find it likely that fish/trout often get "spooked" when a pile of shiny metal is nearby. Spray painting all this stuff with "moss green" might be worth the effort.

 

[Bambooflyguy]

Are you actually casting your fly right next to your bright white anchor rope??

 

[skyriver]

White ropes work man.

 

[onefish]

My anchor rope is very similar to this colour. I also use a high end sounder. Why not do everything you can to tilt the odds in your favour?

 

[Zak]

I lose a few fish to roping including my best this year as it swam by and hit the rope. I just bought two new lovely 30’ ropes and they are white, like super white. Is it worth dying them? Treefrog, my bud, thinks I’m being daft but I wonder if dyed a darker color they would not be the break-off super highway…ideas, comments, recipes, and ridicule welcome.

Dave

Could you leave them submerged for a couple days to get a nice green algae tint on them?

 

[Smalma]

Over the last few years, I have used anchor ropes that were white, black, orange and blue. Have lost fish in all those colors at about the same rates.

I think the biggest factor in losing to the anchor rope is that the fish are seeking safety by ducking into the shade provide by the boat shadow and with that action anchor rope "wraps" occur. MY best strategy in providing this from happening has been to try to play larger fish away from the boat. I do this by allowing nice fish to run freely away from the boat and/or try to "steer" the fish away from the anchor ropes/boat by changing the rod angle while fish is still some distance from the boat. Finally, if the fish does dive under the boat and likely to tangle with a rope, I will let the fish to run freely hoping fish will not go around the rope while I thread the rod under the anchor rope.

Curt

 

[Peyton00]

The idea of painting anchor rope should fall under the humor thread, or the I did way too many drugs thread.

 

[onefish]

The idea of painting anchor rope should fall under the humor thread, or the I did way too many drugs thread.

You can buy white rope, or rope that is already dyed in a myriad of colours, one of which is olive. Olive matches the colour of many of the weedy substances in the environment the fish live in, hence might be less of a trigger for scaring wary fish. Why do fish go under the boat and around the anchor? Is it a strategy of the fish? Hell no, they just got jabbed in the mouth and are swimming away in panic in a random direction.

 

[Tom Butler]

On sunny days the darn crappie seem to often head under the tube and it can be quite the ballet to keep them from fouling on an anchor rope, especially with a vertical rope in windless conditions.

 

[Matt B]

On sunny days the darn crappie seem to often head under the tube and it can be quite the ballet to keep them from fouling on an anchor rope, especially with a vertical rope in windless conditions.

If it’s windless and you’re in a tube why even bother with deploying an anchor?

 

[Tom Butler]

If it’s windless and you’re in a tube why even bother with deploying an anchor?

It's a lot easier to keep a good position in relationship to certain pieces of micro structure in a big lake than finning for me. Especially since I tend to kick a bit with a slab and loose my bearings in relationship to something I can't see.