marking your anchor line

[TunaT]

I came in from a fishing trip and was stopped by a couple of fisherman from PA about how I use my anchor and how I know how much line I have out. They had seen me anchored in the 20 fathom area doing some wreck fishing and they just couldn't get on any of the wrecks. Now the anchor wasn't the issue, it was how much anchor line they were letting out, they had no idea. they had tied little bows on their anchor line marking the depth but they were gone and said they had talked to someone else that just lets the anchor rode out and hopes for the best....this is what I showed them.
this might be a poor's man way of marking his or her anchor line but just so you know. I used spray paint, I actually used some old stuff I had left over and all I did was every 50 ft put a mark....ie at 50ft I put a 6-8inch spray of green paint, at 100ft it was black, at 150ft it was green and black, 200 ft two black marks..etc..note the marks are about 6-8" wide and cover around the rope, if 2 marks they are about 4-6" apart to easily view. I hope this helps someone.......I know there are better ways to do this but this works well for me and those big wide marks are easy to see. I know the colors could have been different but it was all I had at the time....and just have never bothered to change the colors and these have lasted several years now....hope this helps someone

 

[mhff34]

I wish you had posted this a couple months ago, I wouldn't have taped my line in different colors lol. Nice tip thanks

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

I mark my line every 100 feet, first 100 wrap one tape line, 200 wrap two tape strips etc, etc. In order for the tape to stay there i use a needle and thread to hold it in place. Never thought about spray paint.

 

[midnight-rider]

marking the line

I use yard of differnet colors.. cheap and easy to attach.

 

[jekyl]

Flourescent pink spray paint and every 100ft worked for me, has lasted over 2 years so far and is probably ready for a freshen up.

 

[Blackbird]

Anchor line markings

Any marine store like West Marine sells marking strips in 30 foot increments that fit in your line. They are cheap and very easy to put in. I've used them for years and they work great.

JJB