I would go with the ezmarine anchor puller. I love mine. Pulling up even 10 feet by hand is a chore with my anchor. Make sure you put 8-10 feet of heavy chain on your anchor. It helps it lay down properly to get a good hook up on bottom. You definetly don't want to anchor up, start fishing and then begin drifting down river cause your anchor didn't hold.

I recommend having someone show him how to use his anchor and puller for the first time down on the big river. I did and am very glad that I did. It's real easy, but someone in the know will take a lot of the trama out of a situation.

PS Bobs in longview carries everything he would need. Bigger is better too.

Good luck
Kris