Decoy rigging question

[Slaya]

I'm getting back together a plastic rig for traveling, after being cork only for a bit. I plan to texas rig the whole bunch of several dozen decoys for ease of use, as they will mostly be used in wadeable water. Is there anywhere other than SNL to order 300-400 lb mono, any SC locations or other suppliers? Any substitues like black weadeater line? I intend to hang these decoys under the shed, so I definitely want something that will last more than a season. Thanks.

[saltynut]

I rigged some for my father with weedeater line about ten years ago and they are still good to go. I actually prefer it over mono because its a little more stiff.

[Slaya]

That's encouraging. I hate to have to buy 100s of yards of mono for 4 or 5 dozen decoys with 3 or 4 ft of line on them. Where did you find the crimps for the weedeater line?

[saltynut]

I used the brown plastic tanglefree brand cord crimps. The beauty of them is you can open and close them hundreds of times before they give out. Use light weights for slack water and if you go to the coast just open up the crimps and put on your 12 oz weights. You could also just buy premade texas rigs from Doctari for about 55 cents each. A kid that I work with just got some and they seem okay.

[BOGSTER]

Salty ima need you to show me how to texas rig one day.
I saw squatty's deal last year and that mug is NASTY!

[CAMO SNOB]

nice sig there bog... I kill shit to eat, if i wait till next year I may be to skinny and weak to hunt [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Simple Man]

Originally posted by saltynut:
You could also just buy premade texas rigs from Doctari for about 55 cents each. A kid that I work with just got some and they seem okay.

I rigged up about 4 doz. with the Doctari setup the year before last and they are holding up well. 400# mono pre-cut w/crimps included. Seems like you could get it in either 3' or 5' lengths. They'll do you right.

[saltynut]

If you use weedeater line make sure you melt the ends flat so there is no chance it will pull through the crimp. It is not as soft as regular decoy cord and the crimps don't get the same amount of purchase on it. We have never had one pull through so it is more of a precautionary measure than anything.

[Swamp Rat]

I use 400 lb. mono, bought a coil of it two years ago and have plenty left. A 5 pound coil costs about $42, contains about 716 yards of line... enough to rig a life-time's worth of dekes. I think I use the 2.2mm double sleeves. Get a good crimper - worth it's weight in gold.

Here is one source...

Blue Ocean Tackle

I have rigged probably close to 75 dekes, if not more, this way. Anchor line lengths of anywhere from 24" to 10 feet. The deeper depths are a pain, but you can bundle the lines and coil them up. With all that I have done, I have enough line to do an ass more... I think I even gave Squatty some to get him started.

Unless you are running deep lines or gang-rigging, this rocks. I may even start making my gang rig dropper lines from 400 lb mono.

For MOST purposes, Texas rigging rocks.

[GobblerHntr]

SwampRat turned me onto the Texas Rig and I'm gong to tell you he aint lying! It's the only way to go [img]graemlins/thumb2.gif[/img]

[saltynut]

Yeah it is nice to be able to take 15-20 decoys and just tie an overhand knot in the middle of the cords with the looped ends captured in something and just throw them wherever you want with no worries.

[chessieman]

you can get 400 lb test leader in 50 yd rolls from cabelas.

[JABIII]

I am trying to decide how to rig my canvasback spread. Gang rig or individual? Water depth will be in the 6- 12 foot range...

[GobblerHntr]

with 6 to 12 feet you're better off going Texas rig. Anything past 12 Texas rigging starts to become a bit of a pain. If it were me I'd go with the Texas rig and for anything over that longline.

[JABIII]

I won't Texas rig simply because it beats the dekes up too much from past experience. Using the slotted bags protects the paint and with Avery decoys you need all the protectin' you can get... I will either go with ACE anchors or gang rig. I have been leaning towards the ACE because gangs are such a pain but if I decide to start using the layout boat here in SC again I will have no choice. I like having these kinds of problems...

[saltynut]

If you are going to use slotted bags any kind of anchor will do. Just put the weight and cord in the bottom of the slot and place the decoy on top of them. My decoys that stay in my boat have 15 feet of tanglefree on them and I don't even wrap the cord and this system works really well.

[JABIII]

Good point and I see what you mean. Since they are coming out and going right back into the slot, no need for winding line. Gracias. A pro tip on a Sunday morn...

[boondoggle]

Using the XL Drake stand-up bags, I leave my GHG canvasback decoys attached to the long line. I get three lines with a dozen decoys each in a bag. I remove the weight and attach a crab pot float to the end of the likne to make it easy to locate when laying out the strings in the a.m.

All of my diver decoys are rigged this way.

[Mergie Master]

JAB,
I use all Ace Anchors, I don't need any more of the lead, but some of my bungees are starting to deteriorate.

Where can I buy the spare bungees?

[Mergie Master]

I think I'm going to start playing with the divers on big water myself. Puddlers are getting harder and harder to find around here.

Boon, Swamp R, or any of you guys that hunt divers on large reservoirs, how much weight, and what do you use for weight, are you sinking to anchor each string of say a dozen dekes?