suggestions on open water set up

B

brian tierno

Active member
with all the years of experience on this site i will pose my question . i have hunted waterfowl now for 20 years and have been fairly succesful i would like to try some open water hunting with gang rigs for divers specificlly i am slowly puting together the equipment i need for my rig short of a layout boat which hopefully will come in the furture but any ideas or tips ex .. decoying rig patterns, anything i should look for specifecly in my set up as far as location , i hunt the south shore of long island and have never shot or decoyed in a broadbill almost embaressed to say .any help on this would be greatly appreciated . i am not asking for anyones secret spot or tricks just some help to start this style of hunting
 
With the longlines they run pretty much in straight lines, and the ducks pretty much don't care, I wouldn't worry about special patterns.
Your biggest learning curve will be how to efficiently deploy your lines, all depends on how you rig them and what your setting them from. Some guys like long droppers, some short, me... none, snaps, no snaps, they all work when you get used to it. You pretty much have to go try it, and then adapt, pick a nice training day. :)
Use enough anchor on both ends, tide and ice encrusted decoys puts a lot of drag on the rig.

Set were you see ducks working, it's that simple,.. and that difficult. Most important, be safe! dealing with open bay conditions, pitching boats, ice, long easy to tangle lines, and easy to entangle motors can make your life interesting,... and short.
Good luck and keep asking questions.
 
hey george thanks for the quick response i hunt from a 16 ft skiff that is painted with fme grays it has worked well for me i have a grass blind on it that i made and figured that i would just use the boat without the blind in the open water setup and just stay as low as i can to start . the boat is very stable for the open bay not that i would be careless that why i am sking questions to start my adventure with info from guys who have done this already... thanks
 
Brian, you could gun that boat with or without the blind. If the birds come to a big ol floating blind why wouldn't they to a small camo'd boat?
Might not be ideal, but you will get some shooting.
 
I keep expecting to see Lou replying but he's apparently out of pocket so I'll send you to his sketch and write up. Hunting with a boat instead of a lay out, you will want to position the boat more to the side of the decoy set so the ducks are not looking directly at you as they come in up wind. I would start on the shore side of the rig. Note the GEs to the off shore side and buffies on the inshore side.

Good luck!
Scott
 
Thanks for posting a diagram and explanation Scott! Would a similar set-up work if the wind was perpendicular to the shore instead of parallel?
 
There are definitely more qualified guys to answer but until then I would suggest if the wind is off shore try to find a point or move out a bit so the divers won't feel like they'll hit land if they over shoot. Best is always close to parallel to shore. If the wind is from the water to shore your in a tough location. Divers will not want to swing over land to land into the wind. Again move well off shore where the divers will feel safe swinging down wind, staying over water on their final approach.

Good luck,
Scott
 
with all the years of experience on this site i will pose my question . i have hunted waterfowl now for 20 years and have been fairly succesful i would like to try some open water hunting with gang rigs for divers specificlly i am slowly puting together the equipment i need for my rig short of a layout boat which hopefully will come in the furture but any ideas or tips ex .. decoying rig patterns, anything i should look for specifecly in my set up as far as location , i hunt the south shore of long island and have never shot or decoyed in a broadbill almost embaressed to say .any help on this would be greatly appreciated . i am not asking for anyones secret spot or tricks just some help to start this style of hunting
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Brian,
Not too many Broadbill, most I see in our area are buffle head and mergansers. I went out last saturday for bills, few to none to be found.

I like long line setup with 2-3 foot droppers. I clip (big clips see Steve Suttons post below) all my long lines together in a 5 gallon bucket (like a snake in a basket - no tangles). One end gets 2-3 sash weights, with homemade hog loops to clip the end of the mother line too. Then we drop that weight into the water and drift, adding about 10-12 decoys with droppers place about 3 feet apart (my lines are about 100 feet long). Once I get 10-12 on I'll drift a little more and the other end of the line (which is clipped to the next long line) gets 2 sash weights. We then head into the wind making a U-shape, and drop that wieght. I put out between 6- 8 lines. I like the droppers 2-3 feet off the decoy, so the dog dosen't get hung up and the motor dosen't catch the mother line.

The guys on this site really showed me the easy way of doing this, in the past it was 1 weight per decoy, it took me forever to get the rig out and pull it up.

-Jack
 
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what do i say thanks jack that was generous of you will be out tomorrow afternoon fo my first attempt if i can get by the icebergs will probably be starting with 3 lines tommorrow to get my feet wet and start workin out the bugsonce againthank you guys i will post when i get back let you know!!
 
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