Good morning everyone! I have a question regarding anchoring. This past weekend we were fishing below the dam at Truman Lake. The current was very strong, as they were letting out a lot of water and the wind was howling. I have a 20lb mushroom anchor for a 19ft Lowe stinger and it would not hold ANYWHERE we tried. What is the best all around anchor? I appreciate your time and answers. 
Water Spike anchor with 3 or 4 feet of chain above it and plenty of rope works as good as anything I have found!
You’ll find two common opinions here:
The Waterspike anchor and the Richter anchor.
The spike is light, but bulky, and can be inconvenient to store. It holds GREAT, however, especially in sand, gravel, or soft bottom.
The Richter is more compact, heavier, but easier to store. I’ve seen a number of situations when the Richter wouldn’t hold a boat in stiff current or wind, however.
Whichever anchor you choose, you’ll want plenty of anchor line (min. 100′). I attach my anchor (waterspike) to the line with a 3″ section of rubber coated chain. The chain holds the head of the anchor down for better digging, and also protects against abrasion that would eventually cut a direct tie between the anchor and the line.
I’ll second the water spike. Works great
I’ll also vote for the Spike where current and wind are involved… 
I have 18# crab claws that I use with my bass boat. I’m happy with them, and for the most part they work well. If I were to replace them, I would look at the Ricters and compare price. The down fall of the crab claws is the ability to get above the anchor to pull it loose.
The problem with Mushroom type anchors is the just roll along the bottom without the ability to dig in.
Another anchor that works well for me is the Digger Anchor. It works very well in the wind, but I don’t fish in a lot of current where I know the spike works very well. As Jason mentioned, the key is making sure you let out enough line. The general rule I’ve been told is to let out 5 feet for every foot of depth you are fishing in (fishing in 20 feet x 5 = 100 feet of anchor line). The nice thing about the Digger anchor is that you don’t use chain to attach to the anchor itself.
Thanks guys! 
I have decided per your suggestions that the water spike is the way to go. Thank you all for your time in answering
this last weekend I tried anchoring with a water spike and also with the Richter. The richter held and the spike did not. one nice thing about the richter is that know matter how it enters the water it always ends up the way it should be on the bottom.
My Water spike came up wrapped and the ring was caught on the small tab that prevents the spikes from straightening out. very annoying. i believe in high current situations it spirals down to the bottom.
Both anchors have 5′ of chain on them
Something a very wise man told me once about getting a water spike to hook up in current was to get above the spot and let the current drift the boat back and put the anchor down and almost vertical jig it right above the bottom until it is going the same speed as the boat THEN drop it. It takes a bit of practice but it does work! Thanks for the tip James!!!!
Nothing holds like a spike once you get it set but I’ll give you they can be a bit trickier to work with the first couple go ’rounds. 
i have used a water spike and they are great anchors. my new boat came with a free richter from the dealership, and i’ve been very pleased with it. it has held in all conditions so far. and that includes on the main channel of pool 4 this spring during high water/flow conditions.
Don’t forget to bring along a Drop-N-Stay. We were getting rocked off of anchor in the current at the Sturgeon Excursion on LOW last weekend with boats weaving in and out. We stayed anchored after I installed it… thank goodness I remembered that I had picked one up from Dean!
Quote:
The spike is light, but bulky, and can be inconvenient to store.
It does fold down flat, though. For a guy that uses an anchor a lot, it’s not terribly convient to fold it down after each use, but for an occasional anchor user, it’ll stow well.
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