Duck Decoys

[wadu1]

Movement helps a lot. I make my own jerk cords and wind ducks no need to buy that stuff. Make; the jerk setup first by using a 12-16 oz fishing weight attaching 3-4’ of heavy elastic stretch cord then to standard decoy line attach large fishing swivels at 2-3’ intervals the first must be above the water depth. Then make a small loupe of line on each decoy for attaching them to the line. On small pounds I’ll run 6-8 decoys in a semicircle with the jerk cord in the middle. I use 3 decoys 2 regular and one duck butt. The wind duck making is another story for later.

[metlhead]

For visibility, toss in a single pinner drake. That will also entice any pintail that may come around. They really do like being with their own kind. With just those few blocks, you've got all you need for most basin ponds. I use only 4 on a tiny cattail pond on the rez. It's literally all that fit in the opening. I also set them about 4 feet away, and kick my legs in the knee deep water. It is where they want to be that matters.

[salish]

WaDU, Methead, thank you for your suggestions.

[vandeman17]

Hey Salish, I have a pile of decoys in my garage that don't get hunted much. If you are in the basin, I can meet up with you sometime and you can use a handful of them for the season if you want. They are all fully rigged up and ready to hunt over

[CoryTDF]

Hey Salish, I have a pile of decoys in my garage that don't get hunted much. If you are in the basin, I can meet up with you sometime and you can use a handful of them for the season if you want. They are all fully rigged up and ready to hunt over

What a cool offer!

[salish]

Vandeman, that's an incredible offer, thank you very much, but I think I'm just going to go ahead and buy a cheap set of a dozen mallards to go with what I already have. This is very generous if you, thank you!

[cjc23]

I've always been a big fan of trying to make my spread look different from everyone elses, for that reason on small water I like to run like a half dozen from a puddler pack like the GHG's or Tanglefrees and then half dozen mallards. that being said I've shot a ton of birds over just a dozen mallards still.

Another vote for motion though for sure! Motion makes a huge difference in your spread and bringing those birds in.

[Stein]

Wait for a big sale, you should be able to get a dozen for $30 or even $25.  If you're really tight on money, rig them onto a longline and use a small bag filled with rocks on each end for weight, something about the size of a tent stake bag or the mesh game bag carrier bag things work great.