hunting tanks?

there is not much big/open water around us but lots of playa lakes-we called the stock tanks when we was in east TX. Anyhow, any suggestions on how to set up for this type water.

Ducks will land into the wind,,, move around till the wind is at your back. 2 main ways that hunters scare away ducks is-- 1.moving and 2.with their duck calls,,, once they see your spread, barely and sparsely do a feed call.
NOrmally they come in 1 or 2 days ahead of a cold front,,,, watch the weather.

Hide and wait if it's kinda small you may not even really need decoys. If you want them to get to your area. Put out a few decoys wind in your advantage. Hide again

Layout blinds help a lot for playas where cover is sparse. We always used a dozen dekes or less.

We always had much better luck with ghillie blankets. Most of the playa lakes will just have a dirt bank around them. Also, the size of the playa lake will determine how many decoys you need. If it is a 1/2 acre playa lake you could probably get by with a dozen decoys. If it is 10 acre playa lake and you use a dozen decoys you will watch a lot of ducks land in the middle of the lake.

We always hunted public playas around Lubbock that were all pretty small so we could get away with less decoys.

I'm a newbie, sorry for the dumb question... why would a lot of the ducks land on the middle if they used a dozen decoys?
Thanks

Not enough to pull them in and they have other options....however, I find this to be situational and dependent on the time of year and weather conditions. On a still day you are going flare a lot of birds with 3 dozen dekes sitting out there motionless. Large conservation lakes/playa lakes also seem to always have at least 100 coots that pull birds. Biggest challenge year in and year out for us is no cover. These lakes in our area tend to fluctuate in level and it makes to hard for any type of vegetation that could be used for cover to grow.

We hunt a lot of heavily brushed in layouts and try to hunt crosscwinds so they aren't staring right at us. Back off from the dekes and hide as best you can. When the wind is right and the lake level is good we can have some pretty spectacular hunts.

Awesome, thanks for that bit of information!

I hunt a lot of tanks I put out 3 deks on strings and put the wind in my back

When I was out in Lubbock area, scouting was always key. If the birds wanted to be there then they were coming in hot!!

Thats what I do also scout the day before

We have ducks hit every one of our stock tanks. I don't even bother putting out decoys, the birds are coming without them. If we aren't in the right place the tank dam is ample cover to move where we need to be.

Good advice, gillie and lay down, prefer cross winds- I Rarely hunt w wind to my back. We had tons ducks on larger hole this weekend- clouds and no wind- not typically good for killing a lot of ducks. Ringers, which we typically don't shoot- saved the day the last 3 passes

You can't talk about being situational and dependent on weather and time of year when you have literally never hunted a playa lake in the panhandle. Also, out of the 100's of hunts I made during my stay in Lubbock I bet I saw more than 100 coot on 2 ponds. Please don't try to give advice on something you know absolutely nothing about.

I do agree with setting up for a cross wind and back away from the decoys a bit.

So you don't agree that the size of your spread should be dependent on weather (wind) and time of year?

How do you know where I've hunted? You don't know [censored] about me or where I've hunted.

So please don't make statements about me when you know absolutely nothing about me but what you've read on an Internet forum.

You've been hunting stock tanks in central Texas for 2 years based on your post history here. That's all I need to know. I love using 12 decoys when it's appropriate, like on a 1 acre stock tank or small marsh pothole, not a 10-20 acre playa lake with a mud bank and no way of setting up in the middle of it.

I hunt a 50-60 acre private lake 80% of the time with very little cover but have hunted in many places north and west of abilene as well as the Texoma area. I rarely hunt small stock tanks. I have never hunted ducks in what I would consider central Texas.

And you've hunted playa lakes in the panhandle how many times?

A few.....I lived in Lubbock for 6 years.

But hey dude if you think this guy should throw 3-4 dozen dekes out on a playa late season with no wind then feel free to say so. I'll continue to say what I want. If you disagree feel free to say so but don't try and put me down because you think you know me.

I realize I'm not the most knowledgeable and I've only been hunting ducks for 6 years (not 2 lol) so if I give some bad advice then feel free to refute it or give an alternative view.

We sat on a pond at the lease two weeks ago, at the edge of the live oaks. The upper 20' was froze when he set up, no decoys just us on the ground. We had 18 birds in less than an hour, but the pond froze over another 30 feet.
If there's cover, you shouldn't need much to hide in. Wind was out of the north, but the ducks were flying west to east landing length wise