Ringneck or bluebill decoys?

[fasternu]

I have some mallard decoys already, and was going to tie a line of dekes, as we had great luck with it last weekend, but didn't know which would be best to buy for this, ringnecks or bluebills? Most of the ducks we saw were ringnecks and teal, but had at least 5 types of ducks land amongst my partners line.

Thanks in advance.

[Gordie]

I would go with Bluebill decoys as they have more white on the and they will get noticed faster and from farther away and if you really want to add some white add in a few or a line of canvasbacks .

[Quackaddict9]

Goldeneyes and bufflehead decoys work nice too.

[JBar]

I have blue bill dek's that work great for divers I also belive the white brings those divers in. I set them up on a string line found out for me the plastic string didn't work well it would keep breaking. so i went with small polly cord. with quick attach easy to string out alot and quick for pick up when your ready to get back to the truck and warm up a bit after a cold morning or afternoon.

[Gordie]

I've also had some of my best mallard shoots over bill decoys in the lated season

[311Hemi]

I would go with the bluebills. We had mallard and bluebill decoys out on opener and had a number of ringnecks come over out spread.

How do you go about stringing a line of decoys? Is there a common string that runs through all of them, and if so how does that work if the dog swims through your line?

[JBar]

the way I have done it is take about 50 yards of line more or less depending on amount of decoys you use then what I did is go and buy those chain stringers for fishing and remove all of the large clips used to attach the fish to. take the clips and fasten them to the line I went 18" appart on my string line then a clip at each end to add decoy weights to each side for an anchor on the front of the line and the end. when I set out I drop one end of the wieights in the water till touches bottom and start cliping on you deeks on a slow troll you'll get it down where it only takes you a short time to set a nice line. when you get to the end you'll have a nice string line to make a j hook with or what ever line pattern you choose. I took a 2x6 cut a notch in both ends to wrap the line around when not in use. You can also buy the lines premade but as you know most sportsman like to tinker.

[JBar]

I also do not use a dog but I don't think that the dog could get caught up too bad in the deeks or line while on retreve. mabey someone else with a good dog would know?

[311Hemi]

I assume like this?

[JBar]

you got it!

[Gordie]

I assume like this?

My clips are on the decoys but it functions the same

[Muthagoose]

With decoys clipped directly to the mainline its more for the retriever to deal with and you dont get as good of a ride.. I like 16-20" droppers to the mainline... Dog can swim right through..

I was looking at the GHG line clips..They are a wimpy version of doctari/long line fishing clips. With a good clip you dont need stops or have to be regulated by predissposed crimps././/

As for wrapping things up I made a winch/spool out of a cordless drill that with the step on a switch rolls up my line as I take in..

Otherwise the $2 cord wrap works just fine You could even go with the roll up spol they sell on doctari.....

Bills or ringers.. I got with both...

Goldeneye and buffies not by a set rule tend to decoys better species specific..

[Gordie]

The plastic spool from a wire feed welder works awsome too.. The 44 pound spool is what I use,Now to rig it to a cordless drill like Mutha.. Great I dea BTW Mutha

I think I even have a extra foot switch to use.

[Muthagoose]

Bought the Bill dance trolling motor foot switch for $2 ea from Wally World. I now own 5 Gotta love closeout.....

[DAT]

I have been chasing bills around Canada and MN for years. My experience for bills is mixed regarding strings or no strings. If it is bills you are after then absolutely use bills in your string/spread. I have gone with no strings recently as it gives me more flexibility. Remember a slight wind change and string looks funny fast. You can always drop singles in a line..works great!

If there are ringnecks around they may give a look but most of the time they wont do it like you want and you are then taking hard passing shots. If there are ringers and you actually want to shoot them then using actual ringneck decoys works the best. If there are bills around they will do ringneck spreads most of the time just fine.

Personally, I would rather set for the bills and if the ringers don't do it, that is fine with me.

Have fun, and try different stuff..