My experience is that selecting ground tackle is difficult, not least because every manufacturer is sure they have the best all-round design, but also because testing and standards vary dramatically from one manufacturer to another. From our previous chat in the Bullfrog campground I suspect our situations are somewhat different, and that this will be more than you were asking for, but I'll share our experiences and you can extrapolate to your needs.
When we replaced our 16 ft Boston Whaler with a 21 ft North River Seahawk we doubled the weight and the use changed from lunch anchoring to camping on the boat during storms. My first attempt, a Richter anchor w/ 150 ft of 3 strand line, was a near disaster. While the anchor gets good reviews and apparently works well for many, it was difficult to get the anchor to set at LP and we dragged in a 20 mph wind. Plus the plastic coating quickly tears on LP rocks and mussels hide under the plastic. We decided to up our game by several notches.
Plan B is a 17 lb Mantus anchor w/ 20 ft of 1/4 inch chain and 300 ft of 1/2 inch 8 plait anchor rode. Over the past two years we've camped on the boat about 50 nights with maximum winds of 35 mph. The anchor has set immediately every time and it has never slipped an inch.
After watching tons of comparison videos and advertising propaganda we used the excellent Mantus website to size the anchor based on boat weight, length and wind/use. We chose the 8 plait rode from American Rope because it is easy on the hands and they braided the chain directly to the rode. American Rope's website has good info but isn't great for ordering -- their phone service is excellent, the rope is made in the US, quality is great and the price is fair. I wish I had asked them to braid a 2 ft loop on the bitter end. I wove short lengths of colored parachute cord into the rode every 25 ft, repeating pink, blue, red and green (easy to remember Babies at Christmas), so we can tell at a glance how much rode we have out. The rode flakes easily into a 6 gallon milk crate, which is secured on a large swim platform. The anchor is secured on top of the crate.
After inspecting the shore and selecting an appropriate rock, we use a range finder and sonar to find a spot about 80 - 85 yards from shore with a water depth of 35 ft or less. We drop and set the anchor, then nose onto the shore. We use an old boat trailer winch strap with loops on both ends to pass around a boulder and attach a 1/2 inch, 150 ft bow line with a carabiner. The strap doesn't seem to wear while the bow line showed abrasion quickly before switching to a strap. Both flake into a 4 gallon milk crate that lives in the bow anchor well. Then I pull us about 30 ft off shore with the anchor rode and cleat off the rode and bow line. We typically end up with a 6 or 7 to 1 scope. It is very common for the wind to change direction at night by 90 or even 180 degrees. We are well suspended between a big rock and solid anchor, so we ride well with any wind direction. While it is not generally considered good practice to anchor off the stern, particularly if your bow in on the beach, we haven't had any problems. If I'm preparing for bigger wind, I can slack off both lines and reverse the boat, bow-on to the anchor. In the morning we nose onto the shore, retrieve the strap, pull out to the anchor using the rode and retrieve the anchor -- good morning exercise. Sometimes we have to sag the anchor free -- it really sets.
After several stormy nights on anchor watch I got a lot more conservative about ground tackle. This may be overkill but I sleep well now. Safe Anchoring. Hope you are enjoying your new boat. Roger
