Decoys won't self right: what to do?

Mike Mitchell

Mike Mitchell

Active member
I'm restle coating some herters model 92 goose bodies and then painting them into big eider decoys using toledo decoy heads. The toledo heads are very heavy and when attached to the big herters decoy body they won't self right. I tried attaching 1, 6oz strap weight to each side of the keel and that's not working. I tried attaching 2 of the straps to one side of the keel and that gets them to self right but I'm concerned that in a chop or blow they won't ride the water well with the added weight on one side of the keel.

What do you think is the best way to go to get these to self right and then ride the water well?
 
Hi Mike,
You will, more than likely, have to use a much deeper keel with more weight to get it to self right. The deeper the keel.....the more weight you have at the BOTTOM of the keel.......the more likely you are to have the bird flip itself over and stay upright. You could also cut off some of the neck to reduce the weight.......make it a snuggler. ;)
 
Are you realistically going to THROW a decoy that big? I doubt it.....

I run E Allen Scoter and Eider decoys...big birds that are far lighter than the ones your working on and I can tell you that I've NEVER thrown one in the 10 years I've had them in my rig.....my "bet" is that you will be longlining and that the decoys will be "dropped" into the water as the line is fed out of whatever method you use to rig....if thats the case there is no reason that you need the decoys to self right.....

I originally keeled my Allens to self right...got most of em right but missed on a few that will often lay on their sides....no problem on those because once you tighten up on the longline and come taut against an anchor those birds will right themselves.....the only time its any issue is if they land perfectly upside down and that is so rare as to be a non issue....

Think about the wt that it will take to make those birds self right....I don't know what youur rig size is going to be or what boat you are operating out of but I'm a big fan of not toting around any more wt. than I have too......

Think about it and you might find that "self righting" is great for some but not required for others.....could be these 82's fall into the "don't need to" category....

Steve
 
Very well put. Self righting is not an issue .......... wish I'd thought of that. ;) All you need is enough weight to have the decoy ride the water and that's it. If they don't self right..........walk over and right them....unless you're in 30 feet or so of water. Steve's right, if long lining/mother lining, just pull the end of the mother line and they'll flip right side up. Then.......go hunt. If the wind blows the decoys over.........get the "H" off the water.
Lou
 
"if the wind blows em over its time to leave"....

I used to hunt with a guy that showed up one morning with this god awful big, and even more god awful ugly, Scoter decoy.....when I asked him what that was he said it was "his indicator decoy"....thinking he was talking about distance I commented that it was a good idea but not really needed because we were longlining....

He laughed and said....NO...indicator as in if the wind blows hard enough to knock this one over, or rains so hard that we can see it, then that our INDICATOR that its time to get our butts off the water......

Good advice for sure...

Steve
 
"Indicator Decoy"...too funny. I like it. That's a lot like the Montana Weather Chain. ;)

I had a customer who bought 4 dozen painted Mallards from me and he wanted them keeled also. No problem. Sent him a sample and he came back and said that he needed to have the rest of the keels weighted because the decoys were blowing over. I said "if they're blowing over, get the "H" off the water". When he stopped laughing, he said that he was setting his decoys with an airboat and they....kept blowing over. Way too funny. So, of course, we weighted all the rest.
Lou
 
There is a strong current where I'm going to use them so maybe the current will right them once the anchor pulls everything tight like you mentioned. Several years ago I burlapped a dozen and a half model 92 bodies and rigged them as big blacks and mallards with the big toledo puddler heads and they don't self right either. That's not as big a deal as I set them out in the boat in the salt marsh where it's tranquil and no big deal to go flip one over if I don't place them in the water correctly but for sea duckin I'd prefer to not have to deal with righting decoys once they are in the water when its cold and dark out.

I'm not going to be out there if it's rough or windy. I'm going out to have fun not a near death experience believe me. My comment about the wind messing them up was assuming that I put 2 strap weights on one side of the keel to get them to self right. I assumed they would not ride the water correctly with too much weight on one side of the keel in any kind of wind.

I think I'll just try setting them out on a couple longlines this spring where I'm going to use them and see how it goes. It would be great if the pull from the anchor and the current will right them. I'll be rigging them up already attached to the line in individual slotted decoy bags. They will be set out from 16' deep V aluminum boat in open water.

Thanks for your input gentlemen.
 
Mike, i have a pond behind my house where all my decoys get weight tested for self-up-righting, and they work great on lakes. But as you stated you are hunting strong current, I too have found a crosswind catching oversize heads, when hunting a fast current tends to cause birds to roll.

It seams that you either have to use increased weighted keels as mentioned by Lou, or get a different designed decoy. Decoys made in our local area are usually flat bottom, no keel. It took an number of attempts to get a decoy with a large head that wouldn't roll in fast water with a crosswind.

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but that current does cause unique problems.
 
this is the reason some old timers attached a chain to the bottom of their decoys - would self right no matter what
 
If needed, melt some lead and pour it into holes on the inside of the keel before attaching. If keels are already attached, bore your hole(s) and cut some grooves or pockets into the wall of the hole before doing your pour (that will keep the lead slug from sliding out).


I also place my decoys rather than throw them while setting out, but I still like all my birds to self-right (especially the fronds); so Steve if any of those go over... by all means, get off the water! Seriously, there are always times when one has to throw a few. I did it yesterday when I ran the boat out to quickly move decoys, after deciding that the spread needed to be pulled in and tightened up.

These cans are destined for a guy who will probably put them on a shelf, but he still gets the same construction he'd get if he were planning on hunting them every day of the season. (The high head self-rights with the weight of just his keel, but the sleeper hen needed a little weight to flip when placed in the water bottom up).

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I just wanted to follow up on this old thread to thank you guys for your input. Steve was right that pulling the end of the main line flipped them all right side up. The big eiders work great and hunting them in wind doesn't seem to be an issue at all. I didn't do anything to these decoys. Just attached the heads and hunt them as is. I got a chance to use them a couple of times this year. This year I had 2 folks shoot their first eiders over them one of which was a teenager who is now hooked.
 
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