placing decoys from boat

[fishingman93]

I normally hunt water that i can wade in so i can put my decoys out. but i want to get out a little farther but the water is to deep. i hunt mallards and its really hard to put my decoys in the formation i want from the boat. is there a easier way like having 6-8 decoys connected to one large string. any info will help.

[bluebill]

if you hunt alone i use a anchore to hold me in place with the motor on to adjust in my poke boat i push my push pole in for some of the lakes that are small and deep i bring the anchore with that is how i do it some may have better ways would be great to here

[poutpro]

I guess I've always just thrown them out to where I wanted them.

[Fish&Fowl]

Quote:

---

I guess I've always just thrown them out to where I wanted them.

---

You got it. Big water or small, alone or with others. Sure you might have to go grab a couple that don't end up quite right, but that just means getting up 5 minutes earlier. What's 3:25 am instead of 3:30??

[surewood]

If your like me you obsess about what your spread will look like and have to adjust it a few times. Sorry man no easy way here, but it wont be a problem after you do it few times. My only advice is don't let your brother do it, cause then it never looks right.

[Sartell Angler]

we tried gang-rigging a couple strings of six bluebill dekes and it ended up being more of a hassle than anything. I would just say go one at a time...looks more natural that way in my opinion and doesn't take much longer to set / pick up. The season is too dang short anyways!

SA/wdw

[IceHawk]

When I do big water hunting I actually use a bow mounted minkota to set the decoys. The trolling motor works great you can position yourself at any angle thus alowing you to throw your decoys into any position desired.

[river huntfish]

When I hunt from a boat i just do my best to throw them in a good pattern. It is difficult at times if theres a little wind on the lake or river

[crappeyeslayer]

Well if you are like I am then they will never be just how you like em'!!! So let it go and shoot some ducks... thats what i have to do!

[BoxMN]

We usually always have dropped each one individually, and tried gang rigs with the same hassle. But we kept at it, and now have a system of two or three "leads" of about 10-15 decoys on each string, and we can get them out, and then go fill in the "bunch" with the boat (or wading if it permits) and have about 5-6 dozen decoys out in about 10 minutes. The "leads" or gang rigs allow easy and fast changing, and very easy pick up. It seems odd, but they end up looking really good, and the end is always lining up with the wind, as you can let it hang loose for the lead.

We have ALWAYS used a boat, and we just let boat drift gently with the wind, and "drop" decoys over the side. Sort of throw the weight into the wind, and set the deke so you know the slack is out, and it is coming with the wind. The decoy won't go far from that point, unless the wind changes. Drop on each side of the boat, but make sure to throw the weight into the wind a bit, then pull out the slack.

We have geese on leads as well, in strings of 6. And then fill in with sinlge and butts.

We use a hammer for the weight, and have another hammer on a clip to make an angle in the middle if needed. The claw grabs the bottom good, but is still lightweight. The key for us is to have good clips (Ace has the best) tied to the string itself, and the dekes just have a sinlge length of tanglefree with a loop in the end (tanglefree keeps the loop sort of open) and you just keep feeding out the line and grabbing a deke and quickly slapping the loop into the snap. Can do it with thick gloves even. Really helps if you have two guys, one walking or rowing the end deke out and it just keeps the "snapping" guy going fast. Then the boat/wading guy just drops the hammer and you are done.

But we still always have to go out and move a few anyway We use two Carstens Puddlers on small water, of when bringing the big water boat, we still bring one Puddler inside the boat to go get ducks or set dekes. One thing if you are using gang rigs if you are using a dog, you need to make sure the string hangs down low enough so the dog doesn't get hung up One decoy dragging in is no prob, but 10-12 coming in on the dog is a hassle! ha!

We got a few of those decoy spreaders to try out this year. They look slick, but we shall see. It's always fun experimenting. If we are only using 20 or less dekes, we set each one individually.

As usual I am long winded But the old timers taught us this while hunting divers on bigger water since we were little kids.

[tacklebox7FF]

how deep of water are you hunting in? i have an awesome way of putting decoys out by 6 at a time in depths of at least 10-15 feet...let me know... tb

[BoxMN]

t-box,

I'd love to learn your technique. We are often about 6-10 feet, but sometimes over 15 on bigger water. That is when the strings have worked great for us. Love to hear your way. Thanks.

[Eckie]

I posted this a while back, and it works great for this type of application -- it's a simple way to attach several decoys on a line. They always stay straight no matter what the wind direction.

I used an old coffee can filled with cement for an anchor. Starting approximately 6-8 (or longer depending on the water depth) feet up from the anchor, I tied on a swivel connector about every 3-4 feet, then as I'm letting the line out, I attach a decoy to each swivel. I usually run 10-12 bluebill decoys on the line and place the set up on one side of my spread depending on the wind. It's a very simple way to always have a nice, long straight line of decoys for the birds to "bank" on as they're coming in, and they never get tangled (since there's only one anchor holding them all in place). After the hunt picking them up is a breeze, just grab the last decoy, unsnap it from the line, throw it in the boat and work your way back to the anchor. I then wrap the line on an old waterski tow rope carrier (you can use anything for this, obviously)...

[CrappieAttitude]

Quote:

---

I used an old coffee can filled with cement for an anchor. Starting approximately 6-8 (or longer depending on the water depth) feet up from the anchor, I tied on a swivel connector about every 3-4 feet, then as I'm letting the line out, I attach a decoy to each swivel. I usually run 10-12 bluebill decoys on the line and place the set up on one side of my spread depending on the wind. It's a very simple way to always have a nice, long straight line of decoys for the birds to "bank" on as they're coming in, and they never get tangled (since there's only one anchor holding them all in place).

---

I use a similar setup for my bills, but instead of using swivels, I bought a couple of those cheap metal stringers. You can take the clips off the stringer and attach them to your decoy line. I tied an loop every 10-12 feet on the set line and left about 18 inches of line on each decoy.

At the end of the line attached to the decoy, I put the clip. I had the decoys spaced out a little farther, because I wanted to really get my birds out there. Often times when you are tying them in your garage they look like they would be spaced out far enough, but when you throw them in the water, the seem a little bunched together. You can always add fillers if needed. I really like not having any sort of clip on the line when retrieving. There is nothing worse than trying to untangle a mess with your headlamp at o-dark hundred.

I found that the clips work very well because they are big enough to work with your neoprene gloves. I don't like to have my hands in that late season water any more than I have to.

CA

[Eckie]

CA -

Very good tip on the clips you used..it's my one complaint about my line - can't unsnap the dekes with gloves on. I also like the spacing...at time I wished I would've spaced my clips further (I went through the same thing in the garage -- they seemed far enough apart, but on the water they look much closer together). Either way, this setup works like a dream, and watching the birds "bank hard" to come in for a landing when they see that line, is nothing short of awesome.

Like a few have said, some people obsess over having decoys set up "just the way they want them" so they're perfect, which is almost impossible to do, but with this , you'll always have decoys in a perfectly straight line every time.

To this, throw out mally dekes on either side of the blind, with the line going straight out from the boat/blind, and you've got a beautiful "pocket" for the birds to land--works great every time.

[BoxMN]

Ca, it is interesting, as we found that having the clips on the decoys is a bigger pain in the but, as then the short dropper lines with clips get more tangled. We use clips like carabiners, but smoother latches, and we can operate them with full "warm" gloves on. Having the "loop" on the decoy dropper allows us to simply drop the loop onto the clip and pull, and the deke is on without even touching the latch with your fingers or thumb. The line comes in and goes easily because the clips are smooth. We tried the little "thumb sliding swivel" clips, and found the problem you are talking about, so I do know the mess you mention

Good to hear different ideas. Going to try the string we have now with some spreaders next season, and see how it looks. Put 2 or 3 spreaders on the first clips, then single on after that. That puts the bunch and lead all on the same string. Sounds easy, will see how it works ha!

[MLaker2]

I use the long line decoy snaps w/ droppers, attach decoys to a 100 ft line at home before going out, then drop them into totes, once on the lake you just feed them out. Reverse to collect. I can get 15-18 dekes in a tote depending on size, and can get 6+ totes in my boat plus other gear and 2nd hunter. Once totes are empty stack them up. Some use plastic garbage cans. We also bring a couple bags of loose decoys to fill in and seperate species.

During the season I just leave the totes in the garage until I need then toss them in boat.

[poutpro]

Most people aren't duck hunting out of a yacht. There's no way I could get 6+ totes into my boat.

[MLaker2]

Really! I have a 14X48 jon. I'm not tallking about giant totes. 2 totes in the bow, 3 in the mid section and one stacked over them with a few loose or in a bag. I don't go out in rough water with that setup. Lots of people hunt over 100 dekes or more.

[poutpro]

I know I was just giving you dump. I hunt over 100 decoys out of my small boat when diver hunting too, but it isn't comfortable. I just use 3 big bags of decoys. I might have to try longlining some this season.

[outdoor ran]

I've tried using strings and lines with single big weights, etc. Was just a pain in the butt, even with clips and tangle free line. I've found that its easier when the guys in front just throw and the driver runs going backwards and drives the boat in the shape that you want the dekes in.

Less chance of running over lines backtrolling. I'll just let the guys know what species were throwing and controll where they go with the motor. Sometimes you might have to adjust things a little later or go flip one of them dang unweighed decoys over

[Gordie]

I have a 18ft husky jon and even with just two guys and a hundred plus decs it still uncomfortable but we manage

I run three lines made up from tangle free cord and I only have had one really bad instance with the decoys> I tie loops every 4 feet and do the snap swivel thing on a dropper on the decoy I only take the decoys off the main line if I want to set up differnt style speads. If you take a little time when retriveing them and place them in your boat so that when you set them again they simply pull out of the boat with minumal problems. seems llike no matter what you do it can be a pain, cold or froze fingers tangled lines the list goes on. GOD I love duck hunting!!