Texas rigged decoys

Mark W

Mark W

Well-known member
I don't think this has been discussed before.

Looking at other options for rigging my decoys. I've been using a pretty good method for the past many years (cord lock and tangle free weights and line) and it may be time to change. Main gripe about this system is that my hands get pretty wet when picking up the dekes which I'd like to eliminate.

I've been eying the "Texas Rigging" system for a couple of years. At $35/dozen it isn't cheap. I figure I have about 5 dozen decoys and think there has to be a way to do my own.

I have no desire to melt lead and make my own weights but the crimps, line and swivels (if needed) I can get anywhere. I just need to find a place to get the egg weights that slide.

I've been reading how others have done this rigging and I like the idea of having the loop that goes onto the carabiner be next to the decoy when they are deployed as you just lift the deke by the head and then attach the loop to the carabiner and move on to the next one.

Anyone using this method. Pro's, con's?

Mark W
 
Mark, SNL corp fishing supply actually has a decoy rigging page and they sell everything you need. i dont rig texas rig but i do run clear droppers for my diver longline rig and i got my supplies from them. crimps work great.... mark
 
Mark,

Sliding egg weights can be had in 8, 10, 12 and 16 ounce sizes from various vendors on ebay. I have hunted with a fellow who had his decoys texas rigged. Retrieval went pretty smooth. Pretty much as you described.

Biggest drawback I can see is the decoys get banged around quite a bit.
 
Mark;
They work well if the depth of the water you hunt in is constant. The decoys deploy and pickup fast, but you are limited to location. I changed a few doz over to the "rig-em right" style but keep most of my decoys with lines that let me hunt in 12-15 feet of water.


Google up "grateful lead sinker co"..........they put out a quality egg sinker that has a full length hole big that's big enough to allow 200+ lb mono to slide easily thru the sinker.......if the hole isn't big enough and clean the system won't work right.


Gibby
 
I don't rely on the egg sinker sliding to make the system work. With this method you don't have to use egg sinkers because when you pick up the decoy by the loop the weight slides to where it rest against the bottom of the decoy. And if your worried about wet hands this will save a lot on that because when you pick the decoy up by the head that loop will be right there to grab. I have tried several different ways and this is by far the best option for me. Plus if you have a bunch of other anchors you can just use them and not have to purchase new ones.

Here's a link to some pics:

http://www.daviddenies.com/blog/tag/texas-rigs/

I really enjoy this system.
 
I don't rely on the egg sinker sliding to make the system work. With this method you don't have to use egg sinkers because when you pick up the decoy by the loop the weight slides to where it rest against the bottom of the decoy. And if your worried about wet hands this will save a lot on that because when you pick the decoy up by the head that loop will be right there to grab. I have tried several different ways and this is by far the best option for me. Plus if you have a bunch of other anchors you can just use them and not have to purchase new ones.

Here's a link to some pics:

http://www.daviddenies.com/blog/tag/texas-rigs/

I really enjoy this system.
Click to expand...


I ran into this page. I do prefer this method I believe as I was thinking with this method, I could reuse my weights saving some money. Question back. Do you really need the swivel or can you just get by putting the mono through the decoy hole? Guess I have another one. Does the mono work well or could I just reuse my tanglefree line as well? I don't know if the tanglefree would hold a loop at the one end.

Mark W
 
Mark,
I switched all my decoys to Texas rigs 2 years ago and love it. I do not have a sliding weight. Rather I fix the weight to the bottom of the line with a crimp, put the through the decoy keel hole and then crimp a loop on the end. This allows you to use a variety of weight other than the egg style (anything you can hammer into a square than wont catch on the line is good. I do not like the swivel as it is just one more moving part to break that is not needed, the only advantage to this is moving rigs to different decoys as needed so you wouldn't necessarily need a rig for every decoy you own. The mono line is the only way to go as far as I am concerned. SNL corp has a large spool that is around $30, this has rigged at least 20 dozen decoys for me.
The biggest factor is how deep of water you are hunting. Texas rigs over 4' I have found can be cumbersome and still tangle. Most of my teal and water keel mallards for early season are only on 2' of line, plenty for back water marshes.
 
Mark, I was using the same setup as you and got tired of wet hands and lines in the decoy bags. I re-used my 4oz tangle free weights and set them up Texas rig style with 48" clear mono (I just purchased the stuff Cabela's had and got line crimps from Thorn Brothers been Cabela's did not have any crimps in stock. I am going to finish the rest of my Decoys before opener.
 
Mark, you could do it without the swivel but then you would have negative energy and you might have tangles and twist that you don't need. The swivel takes care of that. I use green weed-eater cord. Cheap by the spool and our water is dark so it doesn't stand out. I haven't used the tanglefree cord like this so I can't comment.
 
I switched all my puddler dekes to the Texas system a few years ago and it's been great. Don't buy anything from the waterfowl companies, check out the kit from SNL corp and you will be set to do a huge spread at a fraction of the cost of buying commercial rigs. http://snlcorp.com/SNL/Other/DuckDecoyKit.aspx
I use 1 1/4" nuts for weights and run the line through a small hole in the decoy keel-that way you can grab the loop by the keel and the decoy slides down the line to the weight. I can pick up 3-4 dozen decoys on my own in about 10 minutes with this system and you can do it with nearly dry hands.
 
I bought everything I needed on Amazon, 3 oz. egg weights, 400# mono and crimps. I will next pick up some 2 oz. weights and reduce my walkin rig by more than a pound. At age 67 I notice an extra pound of weight after walking 2 miles.
 
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