pontoon blind in river?

[Deltaduk]

I am a member of a club in Arkansas. We own the land. We are wanting to make a big blind out of a pontoon boat that we can put in a river and leave it , a creek comes into the river on our land. so part of our land is actually an island bordered by the river on 1 side and the creek on the other. when the river gets up and floods our land the hunting can be pretty dang good. My question is have any of yall ever put a floating blind in a river, IF SO HOW DID YOU ANCHOR IT? the current will obviously be pretty strong on this "POINT" . This river can fluctuate several feet(obviously). We have considered concrete in barrels attached to the blind by steel cables or chain, a spud pole system, or even steel cables attached to the blind and to some pretty good sized trees.When the river is down, the blind will be sitting on dry land. Right now the blind would only be in about a foot of water. this is not something we are fixing to tackle right now, but long term. Hopefully next year. So let the games begin, any suggestions or any one speak from experience?? thanks

[teul2]

I would think that no matter how you anchor it, if you put it in the current, your going to loose it. There will be a 50ft oak tree come floating through and take out like it was nothing.

[Barq's]

^^^^ditto^^^^^ first flood, something will hang on it and it will be gone

[Deltaduk]

Yeah I know, current will take all prisoners for sure. Where we want to put the blind will be pretty well protected by a lot of big trees just a few yards upstream of where the blind will be. Just gotta figure out best way to anchor it. It is on languille river. Which is a relatively small river compared to some

[Chuckle12]

No predicting the river. If you stake a blind out there sooner or later it's gonna vanish, maybe 2 days or maybe 2 years. Kind or a crap shoot. I would put it out when it got right & bring it back to safe harbor when the river was gonna rise or fall & make it not huntable.

[JaMak84]

I've heard rumor of some guys taking big fuel tanks and cutting out a section to shoot from. Filling the bottom with concrete to sink it down in the water and keep it from rolling over. Pull them out to the area they want to hunt a couple days beforehand, and pull them out when done. Never seen one first hand though.

[peewee]

I would think that no matter how you anchor it, if you put it in the current, your going to loose it. There will be a 50ft oak tree come floating through and take out like it was nothing.

X 2, I lost a loc-on 20' up due to a tree taking it out when the river got up. You can't predict what will happen in the river.

[no fly zone]

Buy a motor for the pontoon boat. Run to where you want to hunt, hunt, run back to where the water hits dry land. Water comes up, you in the water and can run where you need to be, water goes down, you know where it will be next year.

[riverat]

Got one building for this situation that I'm gonna sell for lack of time. Already installed aluminum floor and WE center console. 26' party barge

[Down South Gratton]

Hey so first thing is I work for the CG and I set buoys in the MS river and other things that we can't allow float away. So with that being say I'm not a master of this. What I would do is get 3-5 times the length of chain to water depth. Example 10ft water you want 30-50ft of chain. I would use 1/2" inch chain. Also somthing that would help prevent it getting washed down river is get some piles and angle them with the part on land the furthest up river from boat. When it comes to picking a anchor. If you use concrete rocked just know you lose about 20-30% of the weight of the rock when it's placed in water. This is due to when they pore the concrete air bubbles get trapped and we all know bubbles want to float. So if you can get your hands on dormor or weights they work the best. I don't know how much money you will be able to put into this but if you have any questions or need pictures to help PM me and I'll be willing to help you out.

[novacaine]

Hey so first thing is I work for the CG and I set buoys in the MS river and other things that we can't allow float away. So with that being say I'm not a master of this. What I would do is get 3-5 times the length of chain to water depth. Example 10ft water you want 30-50ft of chain. I would use 1/2" inch chain. Also somthing that would help prevent it getting washed down river is get some piles and angle them with the part on land the furthest up river from boat. When it comes to picking a anchor. If you use concrete rocked just know you lose about 20-30% of the weight of the rock when it's placed in water. This is due to when they pore the concrete air bubbles get trapped and we all know bubbles want to float. So if you can get your hands on dormor or weights they work the best. I don't know how much money you will be able to put into this but if you have any questions or need pictures to help PM me and I'll be willing to help you out.

Actually it is due to specific gravity or the difference in unit weight of water verse concrete or any other material you are trying to submerge.
Every solid submerged underwater has an amount of buoyancy.
Debris is only one issue to be concerned with. Depending on location (inside bend/outside bend/pinch point depending on depth of flow), scour can unravel anything you try to "set or anchor" on the bottom.
Pontoon boat is your answer.
Good luck pilgrim.

[Deltaduk]

I am pretty sure I am just gonna anchor with chain to the trees. With a LOT. Of chain.

[foxtrot]

Get an empty beer keg from your local beer distributor, attach a long logging chain through the handle and lock the chain to itself with a good lock, take the other end of the chain and attach 3-4 cmu concrete blocks or a heavy piece of metal on the end of the chain, sink block/metal in the center of the channel with 20ft of play for rise and fall of river. Tie your blind up to the keg whenever you need to. Your buoy is in place.