I'm pretty sure nobody makes clips just for duck hunters,
Clips are made for different longline fisheries, and line diameters. Too small of a mainline and the clips don't hold, too large, and they don't clip on enough, too smooth and they'll slide, Why you'd need a swordfish clip is beyond me, too strong for my hands, and decoys don't weigh 400 pounds, you gotta know what you have and what it works best on.
Messy tarred line? Nah, someone just didn't get the dip right, done right, it's dry, darkens the line,and stiffens it which helps immensely with snarls.
If you don't hunt with dogs, just tie the decoys fore and aft on the mainline, or with a real short loop, then the droppers won't twist around the line. Deploys real fast, just run them out of the tub, pick up is as fast as you can stack or drop into the tubs. The boat can still get through the rig by running the lanes, use enough anchor on both ends and tangles are rare even in a tide, of course you need the lines roughly running parallel to the current, so set up has to be thought out for the wind and tide.
I never liked clipping the decoys to the line as your setting, but then we set from a larger boat where we have room for the totes, or barrels.
Whatever works for you with the least amount of aggravation is ok, the absolute worst is picking up 60 singles in high wind and ice forming, lol
