Anchor Down: The 5 Best Boat Anchors to Secure Your Vessel

Whether it's a kayak, liveaboard trawler or pontoon boat, there's one thing every boat needs: an anchor and boat anchor line (Well, also a motor, but you get the idea).

Half the fun of boat ownership is all of the activities you can do and places you can visit. But doing these activities often requires anchoring, unless you want your boat to drift away as you snorkel with Nemo.  

The best boat anchor types reviewed here not only allow for fishing, diving and exploring small islands. They also provide safety, stability and ease of use. If you've slept overnight out on the open water, you'll appreciate the safety factors and staying power of a good boat anchor.

Editor's Choice: Boat Anchor Kit

The whole anchoring setup comes matched in one box: a fluke anchor, nylon rode, and chain already sized to work together, which is the pairing most of this article is spent explaining. Fluke designs hold strongest in the sand and mud bottoms most boaters anchor over, and buying the kit means nothing gets mismatched or re-bought later.

See the Boat Anchor Kit at betterboat.com

Must-have Features of the Best Boat Anchors

• Durable material (galvanized steel / Grade 316 stainless steel / lightweight aluminum)
• Compact storage
• Rustproof
• Non-magnetic
• Adjustable shank or fluke angles

Factors That Determine the Type and Size of Boat Anchor to Use

• Size of the Boat: This one is pretty straightforward. Bigger boats need heavier anchors to hold the boat's weight in place. A small boat like a bass or jet boat needs a lightweight one.

• Type of Waterway: You need a different size anchor depending upon whether you're in the open sea, on a small lake or cruising in a rushing river.

• Type of Bottom:  Whether it's mud, sand, grass or rocks, the floor's sediment plays a major role in the type of boat anchor you need. For example, a sand or grass bottom would require a lighter anchor than one needed for a rocky bottom.

• Wind and Weather Conditions: Consider the weather where you mostly go boating. If there's usually a heavy wind, you need a heavy-duty boat anchor and chain that stays secure!

Keep in mind that each factor needs consideration in connection with the other. For example, don't simply choose a type of anchor based on your boat's size. If you have a big sport fishing boat, but you always boat where there's a sandy bottom, you won't need as big of an anchor as you would with rocky bottoms.

Additionally, more than one anchor on board is a great idea!

Types and Styles of the Best Boat Anchors

• Kedge: That classic anchor you see in movies and as tattoos (think Popeye's forearm). However, while it's still used for large ships, the kedge anchor is highly impractical for recreational boaters.

• Box Anchor: This type actually looks a bit like a box. It's good for pontoon boats, cabin cruisers, sport boats and offshore fishing boats up to 40 feet. Box anchors set quickly and adjust their position as the wind and boat move.

• Claw / Bruce (check price on Amazon): A claw, or Bruce anchor, looks very much like a claw. It's good for sport fishing boats and is used in coastal and open waters.

• Fluke Anchor / Lightweight or Danforth: The fluke anchor is one of the most commonly used anchors. It has two sharp pieces, or flukes, that dig into the bottom. (Like a dolphin's fluke.) It stows flat and is excellent for small to mid-sized boats and pontoon boats. It's great for rivers and lakes with sandy or muddy bottoms, but not good in rocky or clay bottoms.

• Fixed Shank Scoop Anchors (check price on Amazon): Shaped like a scoop, it's all one piece with a chisel tip and a roll bar. It digs in quickly and is good for a variety of bottoms, even thick weeds and kelp.

• Grapnel Anchor (check price on Amazon): The grapnel anchor has a center shaft and four pieces that dig into the bottom for a great hold. One really nice feature is that the points aren't sharp to cause injury or scratches on your boat. It's used in lakes and rivers and folds up to stow flat.

• Mushroom / River Anchor: The mushroom anchor is hard to miss. It's shaped like, you guessed it, a mushroom. It's used on rivers and lakes and is great for PWCs like kayaks, jet skis, Jon boats and even water toys like inflatable trampolines! It's best used in calm conditions. It stores easily, and all you have to do is toss it over; there's no fussing with edges that don't dig into where they're supposed to.

• Plow Anchors (check price on Amazon): Also known as Wing or Delta, the plow anchor is one of the most common types and is shaped like a tractor plow. It can be hinged or non-hinged, and it's good for almost any bottom, even hooking rocks! Plus, it makes a great anchor for a windlass.

• Spike Anchor: The spike is great for shallow water, but can also be used on land.

The 5 Best Boat Anchors to Secure Your Vessel

From bass boats and cabin cruisers to trawlers, sport fishing boats and pontoon boats, every water-going vessel needs staying power. Even jet skis use anchors! Read on for an in-depth look at some of my top picks. 

Editors Choice

Check Price on Amazon - Better Boat's anchor kit comes with a fluke-style anchor, a chain with shackles and a nylon line. It's made of hot-dipped galvanized steel, has a pre-spliced eyelet and provides a secure hold in high tide and harsh winds. Anchors are available in 8.5 lb. and 13 lb. to hold boats from 15 to 30 feet. 

1. Better Boat Fluke Anchor with Slip Ring

The slip ring is the feature that earns this spot: when the anchor sets hard, the ring slides along the shank so you can pull it out backward instead of fighting it straight up. The fluke design digs deep into the sand and mud bottoms most boaters anchor over.

Hot dip galvanized steel stands up to fresh and saltwater, and it stows flat on a pontoon, jon boat, or other small boat. See the Fluke Anchor with Slip Ring at betterboat.com.

2. Manson Galvanized Supreme Anchor

The Manson Galvanized Supreme Anchor sets in varying sediment and water bottoms immediately. Its dual-operation shank allows it to be used on rocky bottoms. Plus, it's reliable and has high holding power.

3. Better Boat River Anchor

A hybrid of the mushroom and fluke styles: it drops like a mushroom anchor but molded flukes bite into bottoms a plain weight cannot grip. That makes it the pick for rivers and lakes with mud, rock, gravel, or debris down below.

The vinyl coated cast iron keeps bare metal off decks, hulls, and gunwales, which matters on canoes, kayaks, jon boats, and jet skis. See the River Anchor at betterboat.com.

4. Better Boat Box Anchor

The double sided design bites from either direction, so when wind or current swings the boat, the anchor resets instead of dragging. Large retention teeth dig into mud and rock bottoms, and the steeper rope angle can shorten how much rode you need compared with many fluke setups.

It folds completely flat for storage, which is why box anchors are a favorite on pontoons, cabin cruisers, and offshore boats. See the Box Anchor at betterboat.com.

5. Better Boat Sand Anchor Spike

For beaching at a sandbar, the spike replaces the whole drop anchor routine: bungee cord action drives the tapered galvanized steel blade into soft or packed sand with no mallet needed, and a wide steel tie loop takes your dock line.

Two spikes will hold a pontoon or tritoon steady on windy days with chop. See the Sand Anchor Spike at betterboat.com.

Additional Accessories for a Boat Anchor System

• The Rode is what attaches to the anchor to toss it out or pull it up. It's either all rope, all chain or a combination of rope and chain.
• Nylon anchor rodes are great for small boats. They're usually made of nylon and are lightweight, inexpensive and stow easily. The Better Boat double braided anchor line runs 100 feet with a reflective strand woven in so crews can spot it at night. Stowability is a factor to consider if you don't have an anchor windlass.
• If you have a bigger boat, you'll want to go with a strongerrope/chain combo anchor rode like the one in the Better Boat Anchor Kit, where the rope comes matched with a galvanized chain and shackles. Eight-strand anchor rodes are more shock and abrasion resistant than the three-strand variety.
• Anchor Windlass (check price on Amazon) A manual or electronic windlass is a great option (and an arm lifesaver) for a heavy anchor. It's basically a machine that pulls the anchor out of the water (and likewise, lowers it into the water).

Anchor Down a Boat Anchor?

Between the wind, the waves and the current, any boat is a moving vessel. And a top-quality boat anchor is an investment worth making. Have you picked out the best type of boat anchor for your boating life from this review?