Decoy spreads out of a boat..

OSUhuntnfish · 10-19-2006, 08:25 PM

Just got a boat this year and have never hunted out of one before. I was curious if anyone had any pointers about setting up your spread in open water versus setting up along shore.

MarshBum · 10-19-2006, 08:32 PM

If the water is deep... think about long lines (even for puddle ducks, they work).

I would definitely suggest... strongly suggest, you go with weighted keels. It's not like when you are wading around your spread tipping each decoy over and making sure everything is just so. You can't go to each decoy in a boat. You have to be able to pitch them where they need to be and forget about them.

Be mindful of where you will need to drive the boat, if using it to retrieve downed birds or chase cripples. Give yourself an escape hatch. Don't stack the decoys right up to the boat if you're hunting out of it. If you do, just remember you might be resetting a few blocks on each trip out. Not a big deal, but something to keep in mind.

Just my $0.02, no warranty provided or implied

Geoff

steelheadslayer · 10-19-2006, 09:32 PM

One thing to think about when hunting open water is the type of ducks in your area. For divers, bluebills, canvasbacks and ringnecks try a gang rig. I use droppers off my decoys of about 2 feet and attach them to a long cord with GHG decoy snaps. One line for about a dozen works and I use a 20 oz. pyramid but you might need more weight with heavy current. A decoy retriever can help you just anchor up in one spot and pick up multiple decoys at one time. Other than that I motor backwards to the decoy and pick them up that way. For puddle ducks, as marshbum stated long cords all the way up to 15-20' are needed depending on water depth. For these lengths I use Tanglefree 8 oz cigar shaped weights. And YES, weighted keels are the most efficient way of setting a spread out of a boat.

Teton · 10-19-2006, 09:58 PM

All good advice. I would add a couple of things. When you pull into a spot, visualize how it will look as the tide changes. From the bank, it sometimes does not vary the way you would set up, but from a boat, the tide dictates the set up (usually). Most of the water I hunt from a boat is tidally influenced. The other major influence (as always), is the wind, or the direction the birds will predominantly come from (depending upon cover). Place your spread so the birds are funnelled into an area near the boat, and a direction you can actually shoot from the boat. Also, don't be afraid to, when setting up on big water, set up big. Tossing a dozen dekes out when the water is a mile wide in front of you may not attract any birds (except those who were passing by anyway). Spread your spread out, maybe even try a couple of goose floaters or bluebill out on the end of one of your hooks (for color, if nothing else). Finally, realize that a boat is very large object. Some boat blind hunters think that because the boat blind looks awesome, it doesn't stick out. I've watched birds flare again and again on even the best looking boat blinds. In areas where there is little cover above 2-3 feet above water surface, consider ditching the boat until the water level changes, or only hunting out of the boat when light is low, or the weather is nasty. Sorry, more than 0.02.

clearwaterfun · 10-20-2006, 07:48 AM

These guys know what they are talking about. I would just add that most guys try and out think there spread. Look how the ducks sit naturally for that area and conditions and mimic it.

steelheadslayer · 10-20-2006, 04:38 PM

Another thought that Teton reminded me of. When we put the boat in our spot we normally have it up against a backdrop of some sort. Whether it be trees, brush or just a bunch of grass. We try and make the stuff right behind us taller than the boat for breaking up our outline. And, if you can have just a small amount of brush or grass in front of the boat all the better. No matter how good of a camo job your boat is, it wil stick out if you don't mix it in somewhere.

Hunt'nFish · 10-20-2006, 05:08 PM

Mount Scotty rod holder brackets on the 4-corners of the boat and use them as stake pockets for tree limbage. You can get the rod holder extenders and take off the top end and wiggle them down over a tree limb.

You could use these as is and just stick limbs instead of fishing pole in them. Can NEVER have enough rod holders on the boat anyway!!

Or you can mount these:

I think ya get the idea. I use the std mount and the extenders.

But I have been looking at this:

PMI Cover Systems: http://www.coversystem.com/waterfowl.html

Some idea's on the breakup anyway.
Hunt'nFish

adobe wall · 10-20-2006, 09:05 PM

Agree with the suggestion to use weighted keel decoys. If you know anyone who is a machinist, or has access to an end mill, have them take a piece of 3/4" aluminum plate and cut an open mold for one of these weights. They are fantastic for hunting out of a boat and were developed by hunters to deal with variable water depths due to hunting reserviors and tidal areas.

It's a flip weight. You'll see some fairly close versions of this weight for sale but I've never seen this exact weight.

I'd load them with 25' of line for reservoir hunting. Even in the worst open water conditions these weights would hold.

Their strong point is that you can deploy 75-100 decoys in just a few minutes. The line is wrapped around the weight with the final loop pushed through the center- this provides a loop to hang around the decoy's neck. When you get to the hunting spot, just flip the loop off the neck of the decoy and hold the weight next to the keel. You can throw this rig as far as you can and it will flip right down to the bottom. Tide comes up? No prob, the line will peel off. It helps prevent floatoffs.

The downside is that they are abominably slow to take up when you are done. I've always considered it a worthwhile tradeoff considering you can get them out on the water so much faster.

If you have a mold cut, ensure that the "ears" are no more than a semicircle (a radius), if they stick out too far the line will loop around them and you will get floatoffs.

OSUhuntnfish · 10-21-2006, 01:49 PM

Thanks for the input guys, it helps out a lot.

suckerfish · 10-21-2006, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adobe wall

The downside is that they are abominably slow to take up when you are done. I've always considered it a worthwhile tradeoff considering you can get them out on the water so much faster.

If you have a mold cut, ensure that the "ears" are no more than a semicircle (a radius), if they stick out too far the line will loop around them and you will get floatoffs.

We used those wights extensivly when hunting deep water(35-65') We solved the pick-up time by sliding shower curtin rings down the decoy line. When your done hunting, the ring will drop over the weights and keep them from paying out more line. These are very versital. Our weights are 12oz and hold great in a strong wind.

suckerfish