Texas Rigging Decoys

[aaronoto]

Who does it?  I did a half dozen this year, but besides being easy to pick up I don't see the appeal.  They bang around a lot when transporting and seem to accelerate paint wear due to weights banging around against the decoys.  If you try and put them in a decoy bag it becomes a jumbled mess, even if they are all clipped to a carabiner.  Is there some benefit I'm missing??

[Odell]

I started doing it also. Another downside is that they aren't long enough for deep water spots. So I keep some others rigged but that doesn't help when you take the texas rigged and then have to find a plan B or C spot and its deep water.

I think they are for guys who just throw them in a boat or the back of an ATV or Gator. If you have to pack them any distance it is a major hassle.

[Badhabit]

Try putting an overhand knot in the dozen after you get them on the carabiner,  that keeps them in a tighter bunch. I use "H" anchors for my Potholes and Columbia River spreads. They are a pain to pick up when you have 20' of line on each one but really nice for the dogs not getting tangled up in the decoy lines.

[curtdiesel]

I learned the hard way this year of how noisy they are when you carry them in over your shoulder on the carabiner like you see in the pictures.  I got a dozen of the longer ones rig-em-right makes and have been happy with the way they work in shallower water.  I am planning to invest in some J weights though and a nice decoy bag.  It will take a little longer to pick them up and put them out but will keep the decoys nicer longer and be less noisy.

[LndShrk]

I still put them in single slot bags rather it a poncho or an Avery style.

[Patarero]

I have ~1/2 dozen that I did up like this 9 years ago.  300lb mono with copper crimps.  More paint has worn off the heads from bumping other decoys than the weights.  With the 300lb mono there is no tangle issue.  I just pull the line through the keel until it stops at the loop at the other end and toss them in the bag.  Can't really set the depth on these though, which in clear shallow water can be a problem.

[h2ofowlr]

They are great if your part of a lease, private property and can keep them in a blind.  Add eyes in the blind and hang them.  When you get to the blind carry them 10-15 yards and pitch them.  Quick set, quick pick up.

[Brad Harshman]

"Texas" sucks.

I really like  my 12 slot decoy bags.  All my decoys have 20ft of line coiled around their keels with lead strap weights that get tucked into the little pocket for each decoy slot.  Half hitch the line to necessary depth.  Simple. Adaptable.  My decoys dont bang around, weights dont rub, lines dont get tangled. 
Not the least expensive route, but my dekes look better longer.  I tell the wife the bags are helping me protect my investment.

[BiggLuke]

 
Texas rigs work fine... IF you hunt shallow water ALL the time.
But who knows where your next hunt will be?

Personally don't like 'em. They get tangled as hell. We use a hlf dozen this way for use with our jerk cords.
The other Million decoys are standard tradition family sinkers.

[Cougar125]

I made a bunch of lines on deployment and I wish I hadn't spent the time. They get tangled pretty easily and the only advantage I really found was how quick you can pick them up.


Sent from my flux capacitor.

[aaronoto]

I'm gonna dump the Texas setup as soon as I can find some keel grabber weights locally.  Texas rigging looked a lot cooler in the pictures then they actually ended up being.

[AWS]

I hunt a lot of tide water so I need at least 15' of line on a decoy.  I use tangle free line with a loop on the end about 6" long.  There is enough stretch in the line that I can loop it over the end of the keel. picking up is easy also as I can grab a half dozen decoys and throw them in the bottom of the boat with the lines hanging over the side and wrap them a bunch at a time and they don't get tangled, I use 6oz bank sinkers for weights(fishing sinkers).  A half-hitch around the end of the anchor will shorten the lines at whatever depth I want.