Diver long line storage

W

Wesley Bouchelle

Active member
I was just curious if anybody leaves there decoys clipped to the long line ? I wish I could leave the decoys hooked to the line so it takes less time to set up thanks
 
During the season I also leave my decoys clipped to the main line. Just stack them all in the bow of the boat.
 
I have never done anything but keep the decoys attached to the long line, even store them that way in the off season.

A couple of advisories: 1. What you keep the rig in and run it out of is critical, 2. what you use for the main line and its stiffness are critical. 3. How you attach decoys to the long line is critical.

My first long lines used old salvaged, telephone cable (gotten for free) for the main line, with loops tied into the cable (overhand figure eight loops) every six feet or so. Decoys were attached by short, stiff staging lines tied to the decoys and the main line. these could be stored in and run out of a gunny sack if you put them away properly and ran the rig out of the bag instead of dumping them on the floor before deploying. My most recent rigs I have run out of Rubbermaid storage contains (as I have seen other gunners do) with no tangles or problems as long as I do not shake them up, dump them out, or otherwise encourage tangles.

I am currently designing plywood boxes for long line rig storage that, hopefully will enable me to run the rig out at about 1/4 throttle with no tangles. If I can get it to work, I'll post them up on duckboats..........

Mike
 
I leave all of my decoys attached to the main line. I'm running 1/4" solid braid nylon for the main line. I got it from Decoy Rigs of Indiana. It's stiff and I have no tangles as compared to 120 tarred nylon I use to run. I store everything in collasable leaf bags from Home Depot.

Mark
 
Ditto, 1/4" main line from Decoy Rigs and leaf bags. Decoys are never unclipped unless I need to rerig a line for a specific set.
 
Exatly what Marl had to say. I never take them off the lines and leave them in the same collapsable bags that theycome out of when were gunning
 
IMAG1817.jpg
here's a better idea
 
Andy,

Wood decoys can stay attached just like any others but it really depends on how precious your decoys are to you. If you're real anal about their condition I wouldn't put them in leaf bags (though I do) but don't see why you couldn't put them slot bags and keep them attached. My decoys, whether plastic, cork or wood are just tools to me so I don't baby them unnecessarily - not that I intentionally beat the crap out of them.
 
I think the guys that use slotted decoy bags furnished the answer to that. How you transport and handle the decoys from home to the boat to the gunning area and how you deploy them can cause more scuffs and scrapes than the hardware and rigging attached to the decoys.

Slotted bags are pricey and a pain at taimes, but they do keep the decoys from beating against each other in the car, when being trasferred to the boat, and when being deployed. Attaching the end weights when running the line out and detaching them when picking the rig up keeps anchors from scuffing the decoys.

But it works a lot nicer on wooden or nice corks if there are at least two of you, one to run the boat, and the other to bring in the rig and store the decoys as picked up.
 
My concern is unloading and loading the decoys and not beating them up. I'll make some 'tougher' wood decoys and try out a line.

When I used all plastics I had them all on long-lines I made from Tangle free line going into leaf bags. I put out about 10 dozen myself in short order. But I didn't worry about beating them up.

Right now I run my own wood and corks all with single lines. However, in the spot I hunt, bigger spreads equal a bigger bag of ducks.
 
I deploy 4 to 5 dozen decoys by myself out of my BBSB. Typically, I have 3 long lines.... a dozen BBs, a dozen BBs and Ringers, and then 7 or 8 buffies on long lines. I then fill in with singles of Cans, sleepers, Black ducks, and other odds and ends.... I use slotted bags for all my birds because they stand up well and are protected on the decks. I put 2 6 slot bags on the bow, 2 12 slot bags on the rear deck, 2 6 slots on the floor under the dodger, and then a 12 or 8 slot on top of them up to the dodger. I work this by myself, but it is a dance! Works best in a slight breeze, where I can deploy an acnor for the long lines and drift off as I pay out the decoys. I then adjust the lines, and then motor up wind to set out the singles...20 to 30 minutes depending on the wind and tide.
 
My sons and I put all our sea ducks and divers in Cabela's bags with the short lines and longline clips still attached. Then we put all our seemingly endless long lines on extension cord reels, and unhook and store our sash weights with them in the shop. Makes it almost effortless to rig out next season when the birds show up.
 
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Those were the days when I needed more decoys than a couple dozen, i miss that. I have tried just about everything, electrical cord wrap, electrical cord spool with crank, bucket(that worked ok) But hands down when I ran long lines was the slotted decoy bags and leaving the lines attached. This was with all cork and wood decoys. Towards the end though I was getting away from long lines, I was only running a couple and then was putting out singles to fill in the spread. I never liked the look of the rig when it was all long lines and even keeping the lines attached it was a hassle compared to throwing out singles. Pick up was a bit longer but thats it. If I ever live in an area again where I need a big spread and conditions are right, I will try the North Carolina net rig.
 
I use the same mother lines and ground tackle for diver hunting and sea duck hunting. I use slotted bags for all of the decoys, but I unclip them from the mother line each time and flake the mother lines and anchor drops (attached end to end) into separate milk crates.
 
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