I am trying to get everything in order early becouse once bowseason starts its november in a blink of an eye and i want to be ready. I took a couple years off duckhunting to concentrate on getting a big buck with my bow. Well i did so im back! I have a new lab thats nuts about hunting and i restocked all my gear i sold. My original plan this year was to hunt divers with a net rig. Guys are telling me no way with dog, i love the ease of longlines but had the straight line look, i have no problem picking up 4 doz single decoys but my hunting buddies cry like girls. Any solutions? How does everyone rig for divers
Opinions on gang rigs and ur setups
- Thread starter Jay H
- Start date
Bryan T. Girolami
Active member
32 inch droppers and your dog should be able to swim right through the lines if you use long lines. My dog does routinely, occasionally he'll snag a dropper but it's not all that often and usually he'll lose it at some point as he keeps swimming. I cut my lines at 37 in. before I tie them to the decoy and clip and it comes out right at about 32 in once tied. I absolutely would not even try with a net rig ! Those net rig's sound and look like a cluster anyway.
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Jay~
How deep is the water you are gunning?
All the best,
SJS
How deep is the water you are gunning?
All the best,
SJS
CAnderson
Well-known member
Jay-
We tried to compromise. I was in the same situation. We put out a bunch of singles (4-7doz). Got to be a pain at times picking up all the singles. Switched everything to long lines, but wasn't sold on the lines of soldiers.
So we mix it up. String out Longlines and then intersperse singles strategically to break up the uniformity of the lines. We also stagger the Longlines and don't set them up to be parallel to each other.
We tried to compromise. I was in the same situation. We put out a bunch of singles (4-7doz). Got to be a pain at times picking up all the singles. Switched everything to long lines, but wasn't sold on the lines of soldiers.
So we mix it up. String out Longlines and then intersperse singles strategically to break up the uniformity of the lines. We also stagger the Longlines and don't set them up to be parallel to each other.
I don't hunt with a dog so I can't comment on that aspect of a diver rig. I've been using long lines for a few years and just started using a net rig last season. You should really try to use a net. It's awesome. I can set out 50 decoys in about one minute. Pick them up and have them stowed in 5 or 6. I've settled on using long lines and a net this season. I'm using a small net. 12'x12'. I'm putting 25 decoys on it. I've tried a variety of set ups. I've decided there is no perceivable difference in the appearance of 25 decoys vs. 50 in the same space. I had used two nets last year. That looked pretty good too. But I've decided I like the look of a clump of feeders at the end of several lines of birds going down wind. Making the classic J-hook look.
I would think you could use a net with your dog. Just wait for the ducks to float away from the net and then send your dog after them.
Also, I used to have 15" droppers on my long line decoys. It worked fine but when I shortened them to 0" droppers the whole thing got a lot simpler and less tangly. I mean it really got beautifully simple and efficient.
Other stuff. I began using 150' long lines and spacing my decoys 5 or so feet apart. Seemed like a great idea. I've now cut all my lines in half and space my decoys 2 feet or less apart. This is working better for me. I believe it's better to get the decoys close to your position. I think I've been able to get more ducks in gunning range this way. I used to have many ducks come in and even land outside of gun range. I think I had more ducks actually fly into my spread but I didn't get them in close enough. In fact I've noticed that the hunters in my area are all shifting to a really tight spread. Net rigs have become really common around here. Many guys have nets with 100 or more decoys on them. The guides and hardcore locals have nets with 300 decoys on them. This is becoming standard. I believe the reason these tight knots of decoys work so well is the prevalence of baiting. EVERYONE baits ducks down here, (except me), (seriously I don't do it and never have). The primary food source for divers here is corn piles. When ducks are feeding on corn they look just like a net rig. Even if you don't bait ducks you can't help but hunt ducks that are baited. If you go scouting around and find the ducks you can almost grantee you've discovered someone's corn pile.
I don't know how prevalent baiting is in NJ but I do know that those ducks are on their way down here to NC to spend their winter. They know to look for corn piles. I bet you'd wear em out with a net rig up there. It would be cutting edge like a mojo decoy 15 years ago. (I am in no way condoning the use of Mojo's, just acknowledging the horrible truth that 15 years ago they worked amazingly).
Sorry for the rambling. I just got into duck mode and I'm really excited about it. Teal season is in 2 weeks.
I would think you could use a net with your dog. Just wait for the ducks to float away from the net and then send your dog after them.
Also, I used to have 15" droppers on my long line decoys. It worked fine but when I shortened them to 0" droppers the whole thing got a lot simpler and less tangly. I mean it really got beautifully simple and efficient.
Other stuff. I began using 150' long lines and spacing my decoys 5 or so feet apart. Seemed like a great idea. I've now cut all my lines in half and space my decoys 2 feet or less apart. This is working better for me. I believe it's better to get the decoys close to your position. I think I've been able to get more ducks in gunning range this way. I used to have many ducks come in and even land outside of gun range. I think I had more ducks actually fly into my spread but I didn't get them in close enough. In fact I've noticed that the hunters in my area are all shifting to a really tight spread. Net rigs have become really common around here. Many guys have nets with 100 or more decoys on them. The guides and hardcore locals have nets with 300 decoys on them. This is becoming standard. I believe the reason these tight knots of decoys work so well is the prevalence of baiting. EVERYONE baits ducks down here, (except me), (seriously I don't do it and never have). The primary food source for divers here is corn piles. When ducks are feeding on corn they look just like a net rig. Even if you don't bait ducks you can't help but hunt ducks that are baited. If you go scouting around and find the ducks you can almost grantee you've discovered someone's corn pile.
I don't know how prevalent baiting is in NJ but I do know that those ducks are on their way down here to NC to spend their winter. They know to look for corn piles. I bet you'd wear em out with a net rig up there. It would be cutting edge like a mojo decoy 15 years ago. (I am in no way condoning the use of Mojo's, just acknowledging the horrible truth that 15 years ago they worked amazingly).
Sorry for the rambling. I just got into duck mode and I'm really excited about it. Teal season is in 2 weeks.
Net rigs clusters???? Actually these net rigs are the most simple neatest set ups I've ever seen. You can set out and pick up an incredible amount of decoys in no time at all. The nets used have tiny mesh,(shrimp nets), this keeps the decoys and anything else from tangling up in them. The decoys are zip tied to the net front and back of keel. When you pick the net up you pull side to the net on the down wind side. Pick up the two down wind anchors. Put anchors in boat. With one guy in the front of the boat and one guy in the back,,,,you just pull the net in and lay it in the bottom of the boat.(flake the net). Then you pull in the anchors on the upwind side and leave. To set the net out you turn the boat side to the wind/current. Bow man throws anchor out toward the bow, stern man throws anchor towards the stern. The wind/current blows boat down wind. Net is fed out as boat drifts. When net is out the down wind anchors are thrown out and that's it.
Net can also be set out off the bow if your boat is big enough.
Net can also be set out off the bow if your boat is big enough.
Tim Speight
Active member
I believe John D and those North Carolina boys are on to something with the net rigs. We have a father/son team here in Illinois that began using a net rig last year. I got the opportunity to watch from shore as they set one time last year. They were well practiced...looked like Swan Lake to me...just a beautiful ballet of boat and decoys.
Bet you never thought you'd see the word ballet on this page did ya!
Really...it was slick and effective. I'm planning to ask them if we can video their set-up this year. If I get their ok, we'll share with everyone.
Tim
Bet you never thought you'd see the word ballet on this page did ya!
Really...it was slick and effective. I'm planning to ask them if we can video their set-up this year. If I get their ok, we'll share with everyone.
Tim
Lou Tisch
Well-known member
Here's how we set up, having refined this as a guide service also over a couple decades.
View attachment DekeSet02.jpg
Basic layout for open water gunning.
View attachment MVC-662F.JPG
55 gallon plastic drums serve as our "decoy bags". They don't rattle around and get torn up in these drums.
View attachment MVC-435F.JPG
This is my son's 21 foot tender with a few drums in it.
View attachment MVC-601Fc.jpg
This is our 22' StarCraft with a 140 v-4 on it and we can easily haul 10 drums of decoys. Once the decoys are deployed,
we motor back to the lake house and drop off the drums and head back to our shooting.
Layout-Set ups & Rigging
Here's the set up we use. There are a few things to note:
1. We use 200-250 decoys but you can typically do a good job getting started with about 4-6 dozen. I'd go with BlueBills & Cans as my first purchase......along with at least ONE Goldeneye Drake and at least ONE Buffy Drake. One of each is truly "magic".
2. Notice that I've shown the "shore". This is critical if you want Buffy & GE. We did a lot of work for 3 months with the USFWS and this is what we observed 100% of the time. The Buffy were always on the "shore side" of the rig of Bluebills & Redheads and the Goldeneye were always on the "lake side" of the Bluebill & Redhead. Why........I don't know but I know that's the way they are. Both BFY & GE will come right down the center of the rig and then swing to "their own", giving you a nice coming in shot and a crossing shot.
3. Also, be aware that these divers come in Low to the Deck and will almost always "lift" up and you'll think they are flaring. What they're doing is checking for landing zone. If you let them, they will come in, lift up and then drop right into the rig.
4. Definitely use a call for divers. It will work wonders and it's the only way to draw them in to you if it's foggy.
5. Note that we have open spaces around the boat and behind it. These are passage zones for the tender boat so the tender can come in on either side of the layout and escape whichever way is necessary out the back.
6. We use a "blocker" line of big scoters and eiders. We get these birds into Lake St. Clair so it makes sense to use them but they are also there to "tell" the birds to "drop down". It's kind of the "end of the line".
7. We use 125' mother lines (1/4” Black, New England Line) with heavy duty carabeener clips on the end with the upwind clipped to an 8 lb. mushroom and the downwind clipped to a sash weight. We put 12-14 decoys on a mother line, clipped to loops in the line. We will often clip two lines together. The decoys have a 3' dropper of 1/8" military parachute chord. Tie a bowline to the deke and a bowline to the 5" lobster line clip and the clip goes onto the loop in the mother line. This keeps the mother line about 3' below the surface and away from your prop. A Prop caught in a mother line will kill you.
If you are hunting deep water, merely keep "deep extender lines" (Loop on one end and a carabeener on the other end) available to merely clip on when needed.
I never use single dekes. We lost a lot of single rigged dekes in a storm. It was so dark at 1pm in the afternoon that we had to use a spotlight to find the dekes. Mother lines were easy to find but the individual dekes were lost to the storm (all hand painted E. Allens).
We always keep an anchor in the bow with the line tied onto the bow eye and the line is chain looped. It sits in a pile until needed. When is it needed……if you catch your mother line in the prop, the first thing to do is go to the bow and throw that anchor out as far as possible (the chain loops pay out all by them selves) and pull your bow into the waves. That will keep you safe. Now you can untangle your prop.
8. We put all our decoys (still rigged) into 55 Gal. Plastic Drums with holes drilled in bottom for drainage and 2 fold down, carriage handles (home depot) riveted onto the drum. When retrieving, we set the sash weight into the bottom (still clipped to mother line) and start feeding all the decoys down into the drum. You don’t have to worry much about order.......it takes care of itself for the most part. When you get to the end of the line, remove the upwind 8# mushroom anchor, place the anchor in a milk crate with other anchors and clip the carabeener to the handle. Voila.
When setting decoys, unclip the carabeener and clip on the mushroom anchor and drop at the uppermost, upwind end for the set. As you drift down, you can set the dekes. As you remove the dekes from the drum..........do NOT grab the decoys and pull them from the drum. Grab ONLY the mother line...and the decoys will follow and not get tangled. If you lift the decoys out, they will not be in sequence and you will tangle. When you’ve set the entire rig, hold the sash weight for a bit to stretch the mother line (it will also right any decoys that are upside down) and then drop the weight.
Now, move upwind again to set the next line..............etc.
9. Don't set your rig in the dark. That's a sure way to get tangled in your mother lines and then you're in big trouble.....it can kill you. Divers move all day long. Wait to see where they want to be and then set up there or at least "pre scout" and set up as early as you have light to safely set the rig.
10. Carry a true Ship to Shore radio in every boat and have a backup if necessary. The coast guard doesn't like cell phones though they are better than nothing. A ship to shore radio can be triangulated by the Coast Guard and they can find you in an instant and that matter of minutes can be the difference between life and death.
11. Use a large Danforth anchor for your upwind boat anchor and a mushroom or small navy anchor as your downwind anchor. The Danforth will keep your layout boat in the proper place in the rig. The smaller downwind anchor can be pulled in and reset to adjust to a changing wind.
12. Be safe out there.....most duck hunters (especially layout shooters) don't realize how close to dying we are out there all the time. We're in a harsh environment and at a harsh time of year. Nature is unforgiving.......be safe.
View attachment DekeSet02.jpg
Basic layout for open water gunning.
View attachment MVC-662F.JPG
55 gallon plastic drums serve as our "decoy bags". They don't rattle around and get torn up in these drums.
View attachment MVC-435F.JPG
This is my son's 21 foot tender with a few drums in it.
View attachment MVC-601Fc.jpg
This is our 22' StarCraft with a 140 v-4 on it and we can easily haul 10 drums of decoys. Once the decoys are deployed,
we motor back to the lake house and drop off the drums and head back to our shooting.
Layout-Set ups & Rigging
Here's the set up we use. There are a few things to note:
1. We use 200-250 decoys but you can typically do a good job getting started with about 4-6 dozen. I'd go with BlueBills & Cans as my first purchase......along with at least ONE Goldeneye Drake and at least ONE Buffy Drake. One of each is truly "magic".
2. Notice that I've shown the "shore". This is critical if you want Buffy & GE. We did a lot of work for 3 months with the USFWS and this is what we observed 100% of the time. The Buffy were always on the "shore side" of the rig of Bluebills & Redheads and the Goldeneye were always on the "lake side" of the Bluebill & Redhead. Why........I don't know but I know that's the way they are. Both BFY & GE will come right down the center of the rig and then swing to "their own", giving you a nice coming in shot and a crossing shot.
3. Also, be aware that these divers come in Low to the Deck and will almost always "lift" up and you'll think they are flaring. What they're doing is checking for landing zone. If you let them, they will come in, lift up and then drop right into the rig.
4. Definitely use a call for divers. It will work wonders and it's the only way to draw them in to you if it's foggy.
5. Note that we have open spaces around the boat and behind it. These are passage zones for the tender boat so the tender can come in on either side of the layout and escape whichever way is necessary out the back.
6. We use a "blocker" line of big scoters and eiders. We get these birds into Lake St. Clair so it makes sense to use them but they are also there to "tell" the birds to "drop down". It's kind of the "end of the line".
7. We use 125' mother lines (1/4” Black, New England Line) with heavy duty carabeener clips on the end with the upwind clipped to an 8 lb. mushroom and the downwind clipped to a sash weight. We put 12-14 decoys on a mother line, clipped to loops in the line. We will often clip two lines together. The decoys have a 3' dropper of 1/8" military parachute chord. Tie a bowline to the deke and a bowline to the 5" lobster line clip and the clip goes onto the loop in the mother line. This keeps the mother line about 3' below the surface and away from your prop. A Prop caught in a mother line will kill you.
If you are hunting deep water, merely keep "deep extender lines" (Loop on one end and a carabeener on the other end) available to merely clip on when needed.
I never use single dekes. We lost a lot of single rigged dekes in a storm. It was so dark at 1pm in the afternoon that we had to use a spotlight to find the dekes. Mother lines were easy to find but the individual dekes were lost to the storm (all hand painted E. Allens).
We always keep an anchor in the bow with the line tied onto the bow eye and the line is chain looped. It sits in a pile until needed. When is it needed……if you catch your mother line in the prop, the first thing to do is go to the bow and throw that anchor out as far as possible (the chain loops pay out all by them selves) and pull your bow into the waves. That will keep you safe. Now you can untangle your prop.
8. We put all our decoys (still rigged) into 55 Gal. Plastic Drums with holes drilled in bottom for drainage and 2 fold down, carriage handles (home depot) riveted onto the drum. When retrieving, we set the sash weight into the bottom (still clipped to mother line) and start feeding all the decoys down into the drum. You don’t have to worry much about order.......it takes care of itself for the most part. When you get to the end of the line, remove the upwind 8# mushroom anchor, place the anchor in a milk crate with other anchors and clip the carabeener to the handle. Voila.
When setting decoys, unclip the carabeener and clip on the mushroom anchor and drop at the uppermost, upwind end for the set. As you drift down, you can set the dekes. As you remove the dekes from the drum..........do NOT grab the decoys and pull them from the drum. Grab ONLY the mother line...and the decoys will follow and not get tangled. If you lift the decoys out, they will not be in sequence and you will tangle. When you’ve set the entire rig, hold the sash weight for a bit to stretch the mother line (it will also right any decoys that are upside down) and then drop the weight.
Now, move upwind again to set the next line..............etc.
9. Don't set your rig in the dark. That's a sure way to get tangled in your mother lines and then you're in big trouble.....it can kill you. Divers move all day long. Wait to see where they want to be and then set up there or at least "pre scout" and set up as early as you have light to safely set the rig.
10. Carry a true Ship to Shore radio in every boat and have a backup if necessary. The coast guard doesn't like cell phones though they are better than nothing. A ship to shore radio can be triangulated by the Coast Guard and they can find you in an instant and that matter of minutes can be the difference between life and death.
11. Use a large Danforth anchor for your upwind boat anchor and a mushroom or small navy anchor as your downwind anchor. The Danforth will keep your layout boat in the proper place in the rig. The smaller downwind anchor can be pulled in and reset to adjust to a changing wind.
12. Be safe out there.....most duck hunters (especially layout shooters) don't realize how close to dying we are out there all the time. We're in a harsh environment and at a harsh time of year. Nature is unforgiving.......be safe.
Lock Stock & Barrell, Inc.
Lou Tisch
123 Avery St. (Shop)
Clinton Township, MI 48036