I was thinking about easy/cheap ways to add motion to my decoy spread and thought about tying a hook on a couple decoys and let some catfish do the work for me. My first concern is, is this legal? I obviously wouldn’t use any grain for bait but could cut bait or chicken liver be considered baiting migratory birds also? I was thinking maybe make a 3-4’ leader with a 1lb weight to keep a catfish from running off with it and tying the hook about 1’off bottom. And if I were to catch a fish maybe it would pull enough to maybe make the decoy either look like it’s swimming some or feeding. Worst case scenario I either double my odds of bringing home meat or double the meat I bring home, assuming it’s legal. I know this is some top water sh!t but just thinking out loud. What do you think

Hmmm

Well, jerk rig is the easiest and cheapest way.

But that is an interesting idea. I just wouldn't count on it be successful, especially in shallow water in winter.

I don’t know catfish patterns at all but do they get that shallow in winter? If they do, I’d give it a shot assuming you have a way of getting the decoy back if it does get dragged off. Don’t know that it’d provide much motion but like you said, you’re doubling your attempts to put food on the table. That being said, the easiest and cheapest way to get guaranteed motion is a jerk string.

I almost always set out a jerk rig I was just thinking of ways to add a little more excitement to my spread and the hunt and also question the legality of something like this

As long as your information is on the bottom of the decoy, just like you’d need on any other jug line, I don’t see any legal issues.

I've used decoys as a jug line, it's not uncommon. The trick would be hooking a fish and keeping your decoy from wondering off.