Chances are that at some point in your boating experience you will probably want to anchor. You may want to stop and fish, swim, have lunch or stay overnight. You might need to drop anchor to control the boat if bad weather is blowing you ashore or if your engine has quit and the wind and current are pushing you into shallow water or other boats.
Long before you experience the reason, the first step in anchoring is to select the proper anchor. In spite of manufacturer’s claims to the contrary, there is no single anchor design that is best in all conditions. On most pleasure boats, the three anchors you will find most are the fluke or danforth type, the plow and the mushroom anchor. 
Mushroom anchors do not have the holding power of a fluke or plow anchor and should only be used on small, lighter weight boats. Check with your local marine supply store . They can help you select the proper anchor for your boat and for the waters in which you will be boating. 
Anchors also must have something to attach them to the boat. This is called the anchor rode and may consist of line, chain or a combination of both. The whole system of gear including anchor, rode, shackles etc. is called ground tackle.
The amount of rode that you have out (scope) when at anchor, depends generally on water depth and weather conditions. The deeper the water and the more severe the weather, the more rode you will put out. For recreational boaters, at a minimum you should have out five to eight times (5 to 1 scope for day anchoring and 6 to 8 to 1 for overnight) the depth of the water plus the distance from the water to where the anchor will attach to the bow.
For example, if you measure water depth and it shows four feet and it is three feet from the top of the water to your bow cleat, you would multiply seven feet by six to eight to get the amount of rode to put out.
Thinking ahead can make your boating experience even more pleasurable. 