For an anchor, pick up a basketball net tie the bottom closed and thread a rope through the top[. Fill net full of rocks and just lower. when you are done or reach the next portage dump the rocks and carry on.

we used to take 2 or 3 Onion Bags and use them,   fill with Rocks,    small weigh nothing and  they work.

Basketball net with a rope through it as previously mentioned. I use a small replacement nylon landing net (Crappy Tire has them). Cheaper than the basketball net and very durable.

In my experience it's best to use just one suitably sized roundish rock rather than a bunch of small ones. The net tends to get shredded if you're using it a lot with a bunch of sharp edged smaller rocks.

The mesh bag with the rope is also used in the summer to cool beverages. Put your beverage in the mesh bag along with a rock and sink it in deep water past the thermocline. Wait long enough and voila - cool drinks even in the summer. 

Last edited by solopaddler (2/19/2018 9:26 am)

I've tried a couple of the options mentioned in this thread over the years but landed on purchasing this one: 
https://www.boundarywaterscatalog.com/spring-creek-outfitters/canoe-anchor-bag-21963

I've been using it now for over 7 years and it's been great. Aside from shelling out a few $$, it hasn't shown any wear at all, compresses down to a very small footprint in storage, and very light.and easy to use. The only drawback is picking rocks with a diameter that fits easily into the circumference of the Velcro opening

One of the best things I ever did to outfit my canoe was to install an anchor system. I run a thin small rope through a couple fairleads (small plastic tubes to guide rope), which I mounted under my thwarts/yoke and the front seat, then under the gunwales and out through a hole I drilled just uner my bow deck and through my stem (I have a home made cedar strip Winisk). I epoxied in a small brass tube with th eedges peened over through the hole. I then added a clam cleat to the front edge of my seat thwart. The clam cleat will instantly grab your rope to 'tie' it off, but instantly releases when you lift the rope. So when I am set up for fshing etc. I run my anchor line through the clam cleat, then through the fairleads and out through th e brass tube in the bow. I then add a nylon stuff sack, which I fill with sand or small pebbles etc if its a rocky, sand free shoreline. The sand works great and does not ding up the bow as a dangling rock might. With the anchor coming straight off the bow, you reduce the yawing from side to side with the canoe, and it much more drag resistant to wind. Also, so easy to do it myself from the stern, no need for the bow paddler to do anything. We can easily work down a shoreline by just lifting the anchor for a few seconds, drifting downwind,  then dropping the anchor. It has worked really well. 

Moonman.

Yeah, but Moonman, if you do that, you'll reduce the amount of line getting all wound up in everything in the boat and twisted around your feet, plus you won't get to pick weeds and muck off the anchor every time you go to change locations.  Actually I like the idea a lot, although I am wondering if it might have worked better in the stern, so you'd have wind or current behind you rather than in front of you.