Not a ripple on the water all around you. It’s so early the birds haven’t gotten up yet, but you decided to go fishing before the wind started blowing and other anglers in kayaks showed up. After paddling to your favorite fishing hole it’s time to drop anchor. No way were you going to let out a heavy anchor attached to a rope and scare all the fish away. You simply reach down and gear your mud stick anchor out of the bottom of your kayak. Gently, but firmly you push it down into the soft bottom. Now you are ready to start fishing and not worry about drifting off or having to paddle to keep in your spot. Your first cast lands quietly without a ripple. You give your lure a soft jerk. It bobs just under the surface than reappears. No strike, so you do it again. Bang! What a strike. Carefully you reel in the fish. It’s a whopper, so you measure it and let it go. Thankfully your mud stick anchor held you in place so you cast back to the same spot. Your lure lands in the same exact spot. You give your lure a soft jerk.

Mud stick anchors have been around for a long time. At first in the coastal areas, but with the growing number of kayak anglers their popularity has increased. It’s easy to see why. Regular anchors can be a chore to use and loud. Unlike a mud stick anchor some of these other anchors don’t perform well in shallow or muddy water situations. “Yak-Stick is great for using in soft or dirty bottoms. Sometimes anglers living in the Louisiana area will refer to them as stake out sticks; they are also very common along the eastern seaboard,” said Bill Bragman, owner of Yak-Gear (www.yak-gear.com). Besides being the owner, Bragman is an avid kayak angler. The Yak-Stick is available in a 4-foot length that weighs 1.5-pounds or the 6-foot model that weighs 2.5 pounds. Both are made in America and from ¾-inch solid fiberglass with a comfort grip. “The Yak-Stick has a double handle for safety reasons and to make it easier to pull out. It has a rubber handle on top and sponge handle on the bottom. This allows anglers to hold on tight when pushing the anchor in to the mud or soft bottom and for pulling the anchor out of the mud,” explained Bragman. Another great thing about the Yak-Stick is it requires little or no maintenance. “About the only thing you have to do for maintaining a Yak-Stick is to sharpen the tip if it gets dull,” said Bragman.

Kayak anglers can either use a rope to connect their kayaks to mud stick anchors or purchase a leash. “Our Yak-Stick comes with a Stake Out Leash/ Mud Stick Leash and two clips to attach to your Yak-Stick and kayak,” said Bragman.  The 5-foot double braided ¼-inch nylon Yak-Gear Stake Out Leash/ Mud Stick Leash comes standard with 2 clips. Built from twisted nylon cord it reduces the shock or pulling movement when the kayak is anchored. The 60-inch Stake Out Leash/ Mud Stick Leash can also be used to anchor 2 kayaks together and comes with a “lifetime any person warranty”.

A mud stick anchor makes fishing from a kayak more enjoyable and enables an angler to control where they fish. Do you feeling like going fishing now? Making that first cast and watching it land without making a ripple then giving the lure a soft jerk.