I need advice on the best way to raise and lower my anchor in my fishing kayak, right now I have the line wrapped around a water bottle in case it flips out (the line) and it will float until I reach it. What I would like to solve is what is a better way to contain the line, if I don’t have it wrapped around something it is tangled and in the way, the bottle is awkward. Any suggestions.

If all you need is a storage spool:

– Last Updated: May-17-14 10:31 AM EST –

I remember when I was a kid, 99 percent of fishermen in small motorboats had the same problem: Loose line laying all over the floor of the boat, getting tangled and snagging fishing lures. The trick my dad came up with, which I still use in such boats, is to cut a storage "spool" out of thin plywood.

I use a rectangle of plywood that's about 16 inches long and 5 inches wide (it sounds like you aren't using very much anchor line, and it's probably thinner rope than what motorboaters use, so a piece with somewhat smaller dimensions might be okay in your case). Cut a U-shaped notch in each end about 4 inches deep (less deep if not using much rope). Optional is to drill a big hole through the plywood for easier attachment of the end of your rope.

Now just hold the plywood in one hand and wrap the line around it with the other. With an anchor as light as what you are probably using, you can do this as you are lifting it (and do the reverse as you lower it), so there's never any loose line laying around. You'll get the line wound up in a tiny fraction as many "turns" as what it's taking you right now with that water bottle. It only takes a few seconds to wind up 20 or 30 feet of line this way.

If you don't have tools and don't want to buy a special handsaw or power saw that can cut curves, you could cut V-shaped notches with any kind of hand saw instead of cutting U-shaped ones. Quarter-inch thick plywood is thick enough, and there's no reason to go thicker than 3/8ths-inch, but any sheet material with some stiffness would work just as well.

I find this useful.
With a small sliding float between the anchor and the winder.

Thank you so much for solving the problem, makes sense, funny how you do not think of those things until someone else mentions it, thanks!