Decoy Rigging Question

It's been 10 -11 years since I last hunted ducks and I've been missing it so I'm planning on building my spread back up, repainting the boat and replacing any rotted gear to get ready for next year. If my plan is correct, I'll be able to catch a lot of the stuff on sale after this years season to save a little money. Back to the reason for my post. I always rigged my deks with 5-6 ft. of braided tan cord and used a strap anchor so I could secure it around the keel when I was rolling up. I liked the tan cord because it didn't show in the water like the black or dark green cord. I am now seeing everyone using the pvc cords or coated cables rigged "Texas style" with a sliding weight and an eye at the end for attaching a group of decoys to a carabiner. All of the cords I see are black. Has anyone noticed whether the dark colored "cords" flare many (or any) birds? This may sound stupid to some of ya'll but it was something my dad taught me many many years ago about trying to keep everything looking as natural as possible in a spread. I would appreciate hearing ya'll's thoughts on this.

I’ve used black cord a lot and never thought that birds flared because of it. To be honest, never even occurred to me....now I have something new to worry about!

On a serious note, Lucky Duck does make their rigs in multiple colors including a brown\tan that I use. Very nice rigs and do not tangle at all.

I appreciate your reply/ information MikeOH! I never knew if the line color really mattered or not with regards to flaring birds but I've mixed dekes with other guys who had used the black tarred line and noticed how it was visible and floating when the water level was less than the length of the cord. I don't know if it mattered or if it was my poor calling that caused birds to flare off

I'll check out Lucky Duck!

Mack’s prairie wings makes there Texas rigs with clear instead of black. Basically 400# mono line like people use for DIY

I have black for the deep water and clear for shallow.

Today i used the black ones in shallow water, and had to stomp a few lines in the mud after placing them

I also like to sturr the shallow water and mudd around the decoys every hour or so to make the water look like another color resembling a feeding frenzy

If you're rerigging get Lifetime Decoy rigs. The pvc and mono is not near as good. Also, avoid rigs where the weight slides instead of the decoy.

I’ve got clear, black and a brownish/copper color. I don’t think it matters much.

Get 'Lifetime Decoy' texas rig weights or something similar with coated lines. Only way to go imo

I just use the clear .90 weedeater line.....

I looked at the Lifetime rigs online just now and they look top notch. With them being coated steel cable and having the loop at the top above the snap swivel have you ever had the rigid loop affect the "sit" of the decoy? I ask that because in a deeper set the loop is going to be angled upward more towards the bottom of the decoy. In a shallow set I don't see it being an issue. I think having the collecting loop on the bottom would prevent this from occurring but another reply says not to use the rigs with the sliding weight ?

It sounds like you're concerns are the same as mine regarding line color. I have done the same thing regarding stirring up the bottom a little bit. On occasion I used to pull a few handfuls of vegetation from along the edge of the water and throw it in the spread to look like they'd been pulling a food source loose.


I appreciate everyone's insight and advise on the rigging options!

If they can see your decoy lines they are in range. Don't overthink it, which is ironic coming from me.

The only issue I have with TX rigged decoy lines is that they can be too brittle and that can keep them from swimming at all on light wind days. That's a real problem.

same

1) Use the 400 lb clear mono.. I don’t think color matters, but why not use clear. 400 lb mono will last forever.
2) Rig where decoys slides, not weight. Reason being when rig slides, pick up is much faster because loop is at top, so when you grab deek, loop right there. I have done both ways, and hate the rig I did where weight slides.
3) make loop big enough to get one finger in loop with glove on, but not so big it can be seen, because loop will be next to deek.

Thank you Guy! What ounce weight do you typically use? Do you go lighter on your teal dekes than the bigger dekes?

I use 4 ounce for teal and ringnecks, but in high winds above 20mph, they will float away
6 ounce for big ducks and pulsators
12 ounce for battleship swimmer and leg kicker.

So i would go with 6 ounce for overall weight.
You will also need a decoy retriever, I use that thing almost every day:
https://www.cabelas.com/product/NOR...DA1SEAQYASABEgI47fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


My fav set up this year in low wind has been 6 spoon, 6 teal and 6 ring on a 4 ounce weight with leg kicker and 2 pulsators to create ripples. I will add 3 swimmers tommorow as well

Thanx beaversnipe! I like your mix on dekes (well except for the spoonies, I never developed a taste for them LOL). Seems like everyone throws out a couple dozen Mallards and calls it good. I guess this would work good if I was hunting a boat slip at the marina. Teal are my favorite bird to eat so my set will consist of mostly teal with some gadwalls and 2 or 3 Mallard. I'll add a few pintails later in the season and maybe a few redhead on the deeper water sets. I used to be bad about setting large sets of dekes (5-6 dozen)and I still have them all but I want to scale back and see how it works for me. The retrieval pole will come in handy and oughta work better than a notched paddle.

Even though it's been a few years since I've hunted ducks I've lived vicariously thru ya'll on this forum and I'm looking forward to getting back into it next year! I do appreciate ya'll's assistance!

I use the spoonies and ringnecks to the mix since they have a nice white color to them attracting ducks from far.
I also like to use 3 pintail butts ast they wabble in the wind and have a nice white shine to it.

Places I hunt, 4oz weight too much. One rig I think is 2oz, too much. My other rig, small weight, tier drop fishing weight, I like this the best. Not sure the weight maybe I can check later. Where I hunt, you need just enough weight to sink cord to bottom.

Snlcorp.com i get my weights at cabelas, primarily 4 ounce for im a walk in hunter and in the backwaters

To the OP, I'm not saying your question is a bad one at all - it's legit. I am only saying (again) that line color doesn't really matter.

Saturday I managed to break off my bungee and anchor on the jerk rig because the wind switched and needed to move ASAP. Sunday I needed to improvise with some random lake trash and an orange bungee cord I found in the boat. Setup in a few inches of very clear water.



Still had 5+ groups feet down within a few yards of this contraption. Nothing flared, 6 drakes died.

all my big ducks have 4oz weights and my teal have 2 oz weight. In 5 years of hunting I've only had one hunt where my big ducks could not stick due to wind. I know some people that use washers from Home Depot for weights.

If you are a walk in hunter, all more reason you don’t need all that weight. I’m pretty sure the weight I use is less than 1oz, and I let the sand out of my keel. It makes a big difference in weight. Only time I have deeks float off is if water is too deep and weight does not hit bottom. I don’t walk in hunt any more, but I still like less weight, and especially in my momarsh. My girl Molly would fetch deeks with “decoy” command, this off season I’ll be teaching Tara the same. It comes in handy.

I post up pics of my rigs later. I’m gonna rig more this off season.

Thank you sir! I'm sure some of the line color debate is superstition, personal preference or in my case, handed down from my father. There's all kind of trash in the waters today and I'm sure the ducks see it all of the time. I'm going to go with the clear 400# mono cut at 48" with 4 oz weights for my big dekes and 2 oz for the teal dekes. My days of walking 400 yards in to a hole are over with my knees and all of the muck so anchor weight won't be an issue.
I really do appreciate everyone's advise/ thoughts on my post!

These are the size weights I use, bigger weight rig weight slides up and down, smaller weight rig decoy slides up and down. I’ll be re-rigging them all and adding more deeks based on smaller weight rig setup.

Do you have any issues with the egg shape not grabbing hold on the mud and allowing the decoys to slide in windy or choppy water?

I know what Guy will say as my weights are the round half dollar shape. I get them from academy. At 3ft of water and less any weight shape will do.... deeper water and longer lines I would imagine weight shape takes more importance.

Yep exactly. I don't have an issue with deeks floating off. I use the SNL 4 foot pre-cut mono, as long as weight hits bottom its fine, normally it drops into flooded vegetation, and if windy, I pick a spot that is protected. If you hunt a river with a current, you need some weight.

If they do you can switch to a heavier egg sinker. I used egg sinkers at the coast in high winds but as long as I had enough line there weren't any issues