thoughts on layout boat color

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george wilson

Active member
i hunt with a group of guys -- between us we have four homemade wood layouts and two fiberglass purchased layouts

aside from the constant debate about which is better to hunt out of we argue "color"

we have one blueish green boat -- and variations all the way to lou's open water gray with some darker gray and black sponged in

i read in europe that some layouts are white

how do you guys camo your boats?? lighter or darker?? solid or a mix??

do you think it matters???
 
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Battleship grey IMO works best. I have seen some guys put different color streaks to camo it but the base color is still grey. It also depends on your surroundings - if in complete open water then grey seems to blend best. If closer to a coast line then you need to adjust.
 
I built 2 sunfish conversion layouts, before I could paint the second boat I used it in the original bright blue color. Still managed to shoot a limit of divers for the days hunt.
The only thing I noticed that day while using the blue boat is I did have several birds flair off at the last second. Did not matter much as I was still able to make killing shots.

IMHO, the boat color is such a minor detail wether it's battleship gray, camo or grean/brown means little to the overall kill ratio of the hunt.
 
Does anyone use gloss or semi-gloss gray on their layouts? All the ones I've seen use flat paint--but then Lou recommends using visqueen over a standard boat to use it as a layout. Wouldn't a shiny finish with a large break-up pattern blend in better to an open water setting?

Rick
 
Does anyone use gloss or semi-gloss gray on their layouts? All the ones I've seen use flat paint--but then Lou recommends using visqueen over a standard boat to use it as a layout. Wouldn't a shiny finish with a large break-up pattern blend in better to an open water setting?

Rick[/reply

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I have no idea who's boat this is, but it is glossy.

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I think Major Woods has it right, it's a minor detail. Paint it what ever color makes YOU feel best because you will be looking at it way more than the ducks will.

Take a look at 90% of the guys in layout boats. What are they wearing? - mostly regular camo clothes and the ducks don't seem to mind.

When it comes to divers I personally don't think it matters what color your boat or your camo is as long as you don't move. Then again if you are an 'overthinker' go out and take pictures and 'match-the-hatch' so to speak. Have fun because playing with our gear is a 10 month gig every year.
 
What about using a layout for mallards and geese? That is what I use mine for. They come in high and slow with plenty of time to spot me.
 
That's a duck of a different color, as it were. For puddlers and geese, which I rarely hunt anymore, cover your boat with natural vegitation, put on your gillie suit and don't move. All together a different kind of hunting. Their wary factor is a lot different than a divers and as you mentioned, they come in high instead of on the water.
 
At least 50% of the divers we take around here come in high, like puddlers. They've been pressured and shot at so much, I think some instinctively fly higher, while others (like cans) seem to purposely adapt mallard tactics when eyeballing a spread. While you would need a boat that hides from high and low in open water, you would also need to be able to adapt it to hunting from a weed bed by using natural stuff pulled over it, etc. It's fun to see divers act like divers (flying low), but we can't count on it too much.
 
pete -- you want an overthinker?

one of the guys showed up one day convinced the ducks could "see" his gray boat more than the others -- he brought a fistful of color chips from the local paint store and floated them on the water to determine the "best" color to hide his boat -- he spent the rest of the week repainting it

his first trip out with his new "best color" boat was a little bit windier than the day he picked the color -- the water was riled up and darker -- the boat to we humans stuck out like a sore thumb -- we laughed till we cried!

it is now back to gray with some lighter "wave action" custom painting on it

i guess i think the spread is way more important than the boat color and after my third year of doing this i will be adding to the spread for next year -- i used lou's "barrel" idea to carry my decoys, but use collapsable garbage cans, since i have only a 17'6" boat and my layout is in it plus hunting gear and partners, 6.5 to 7 dz is about all i can handle
 
Hi George,
If you want me to post some of our colors.......I'll be happy to do it as you know we hang with our open water colors. The ducks are seeing more the reflection of the sky in the water than they are the water itself.
Now, knowing all that, several years ago, the water was continuously churned by waves/wind so I decided to change the color of the layout. On Thursday, I went out to the lake house and tested the color of the water. I was in the shop on Friday & mixed that exact color (baby poop brown) and repainted the boat. All this because I had clients coming out on Saturday for a guided layout hunt. Well, during the night, the wind settled down & the water went back to it's typical colors and the boat still stuck out like a sore thumb.............doh. So much for trying to adjust to nature.
Now........we leave the boat in our Open Water colors and cover with visqueen if necessary.
Lou

View attachment Layout01Carden.jpg

View attachment Layout01Carden.jpg
 
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