What Anchor?

I have a 20' Thompson with a #8 Fluke Style Anchor. It will not hold the boat in Lake Erie in 50' of water with 1-3's. Will a #13 work any better? What's the best Lake Erie anchor for a 20' deepV boat? My Grandson gave me specific instruction to get this boat to hold over the school!!!. Thanks for suggestions.

I beleive the "rule of thumb" is 3 times the depth of the water... So if you are anchored in 50'..let out 150 of line.. Of course this is only a general "rule" in 1 -3's you shouldn't need that much...

I have a 12# danforth with about 12' of chain that'll stop anything with enough rode out.

Add 5' chain

agreed....the length of the rode is more important.

There are some well known deep water hot spots on Sayer's Lake.  Typically, the first 3-4 boats out at a tournament head straight there.  One year, a club member of ours drew the first boat out and immediately headed for the best spot.  When he got there he deployed an anchor, something that tournament bass anglers rarely do.  With an anchor down and trolling motor stored, by tournment rules he was able to claim a 50 yard berth from any other tournment anglers.  He parked his butt there almost all day and while he knew where the spot was, he didn't really know how to catch fish off the type of structure that was present. 
 
When we passed him late in the afternoon, he hollered over to us and asked if we wanted the spot, he wasn't doing anything on it.  Since we had done well there in the past, we were glad to take over for him.  Being careful not to set ourselves up for a possible protest by other anglers for violating the anchor distance rule, we told him we would move on the spot after he left.  Not thinking about it, he tied down his rods, popped on his lifejacket, and tried to jump the boat up on plane.  He forgot that he was anchored (it was probably the first time ever for him doing that).  The boat just stood up like a bucking bronco.  He settled it back in the water and tried again.  Same results.  At this point we are laughing so hard that tears are coming.  He had no idea what was so funny about him not being able to plane his boat.  On the third attempt, the prop cut the anchor rope and the boat shot out of the water like a submarine making an emergency porpoise with the prop coming out of the water and spinning wildly in the air.  The boat slammed to the water and since the prop hadn't caught, the nose dove in and completly soaked the occupants.  He let off the throttle and water washed over from behind as well.  And of course, he had lost his anchor, chain, and all but about two feet of rope (he was tied off the stern).  I bet he never anchored again for as long as he boated.

if u fish it daily you will quickly learn... this IS lake Erie sand & mud bottom ... with an occasional water spout or 3 ......... 2foot or less eventually end up at 4-6 fters .... go big or go home( anchor that is ) : )

Practical laws of physics do not explain why a 12lb anchor weighs 3 times as much as an 8lbwhen lifting from 80 fow.

No one has mentioned setting the anchor.
After anchor is out- pull it with the boat to dig in.

After main anchor is set sometimes in tight conditions I drop a 15lb crabclaw over the side to reduce moving sideways (pendulum swing)

200 ft of rope can be easier to handle in 100 ft pieces with a swivel in between.
Metal loops whipped at ends protect rope.
Anchor buddy can be made by tying heavy bungee cord into a loop in main line.
4-5' of bungee between knots 10' apart on main line work.
Buddies are sometimes also known as snubbers

I am not going to buy another anchor or dock buddy-seen a few float away because of crew

Trailer buddy is OK and very hard to loose.