So I was fishing a nice wreck today with my kids. we anchored just right and enjoyed 2 hours of catching. When we went to leave the anchor would not come up. Even had another boater try and help us.

Finally after 1 hour of trying everything possible I tied a fender to the line and had to cut off the anchor :(

I am hoping to go back tonight a slack tide and try again.

Any ideas on how I might that thing to come up?

13# Danfourth Anchor with 20' of chain.

get it as vertical as you can and cleat it off to the bow cleat. put the boat in forward and motor ahead {opposite of the way it was set of coarse}.
It will come up :humpty:

Just make sure you don't repeat the mistakes of the NFL guys in Florida:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-missingboaters-nfl

Around 5:30 p.m., they went to pull up the anchor and head back to port, but the anchor was stuck. Bleakley suggested they tie it to the transom and use the boat’s motor to pull it loose.

When Cooper tried to thrust the boat forward, the vessel became submerged and capsized, tossing the men overboard. All four tried uprighting the boat by standing on one side of the overturned vessel. When that didn’t work, Bleakley swam underneath and was able to retrieve three life vests, a large cooler and a portable, cushion-type flotation device.

I've drilled a 1/2" hole in the anchor down by the fluke pivot. I shackled the chain there and secure the chain to the anchor shaft with 100 lb mono. If it is stuck I drive over it the mono snaps and the anchor swings free.

I also fender with 14" buoy balls, I have one of the anchor line rings that goes over the line, most of the tuna guys use them to pull the anchor up, also works well to free an anchor , the anchor shaft goes through the ring and all you have to do is wind in the line.

Try using a ball and ring to pull it up - usually works.

How deep and where?

And how much is it worth to you? :hihi:

anchor ball on yer line going to the anchor, and retreat about 100 feet..... drive in a circle all the way around where you're stuck; repeat in the opposite direction. never seen it fail to free an anchor

Back in the 80s we used something like this tuna fishing. (no rope though, just ring and tuna ball) Worked great when we got into a fish as the anchor line would just be tossed overboard.

To retrieve the anchor it works very nicely.

I will try the anchor ball. I was wondering how that worked. I'll let you know if I am successful.

had the same problem this weekend. tried every angle pulled / pushed while cleated... fugger would not budge. Almost went swimming since it was only 12 ft down but ended up just cutting my losses. Got a spare in the shed.

BALL method, seems to work good for me, I have had it stuck it some narly places and it always seems to retrive it

for the people like myself not being able to visualize the ball method
http://www.fishing-catalog.com/other%20products/anchor_ball.htm

now it makes sense.

I've drilled a 1/2" hole in the anchor down by the fluke pivot. I shackled the chain there and secure the chain to the anchor shaft with 100 lb mono. If it is stuck I drive over it the mono snaps and the anchor swings free.

I also fender with 14" buoy balls, I have one of the anchor line rings that goes over the line, most of the tuna guys use them to pull the anchor up, also works well to free an anchor , the anchor shaft goes through the ring and all you have to do is wind in the line.

Works very well.
We rig it that way for blackfish, using heavy cable ties instead of mono.
In conjunction with the ball rig, it works great.
Just don't go to something to heavy, otherwise it will be tough to break in a small boat!!!
Also, make sure you drag it enough to catch the anchor in the ring, then you can back down on the line without the anchor dropping back to the bottom. makes it alot easier with a larger anchor and 20ft of chain.

In talking with a few friends I am going to leave the anchor stuck for a while, it is a good fishing spot, and now basically I have a mooring there ;)