crabpot float decoys

Todd Williams

New member
Does anyone have experience making decoys from old crabpot floats? I've seen a few and they look pretty straight forward to make. Looking for any tips before I try to make some.
 
Here's a few i made. I've made quite a few of them, they're fun and quick but if you cut the hard shell off like i did, they do not last long. I don't think they are something that will last in the long run, but are fun to make.

View attachment crab pot.jpg
 
Spencer,
You can't fool us. Those are deffinately highly textured tupelo blocks.
Seriously though, those look great. I had been thinking of doing some and your work just raised the bar of my expectations.
 
Todd,
I have posted these pictures in the past but could not find the post.


These are still working after 6 or more years and are holding up fine.

Basswood head and tail board. Fir ply bottom board. White oak Keel.

Rustoleum paint in flat white, flat black and rusty metal primer(Flat Brown).

FoamGE1.jpg


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Auctionbuffies2.jpg


Have fun and ask away if you hit a tough spot.
 
I love what you did to the tails...and the breast resting heads are cool too....

I saw my first bouy decoys at Grayson Chessers when Steve McCullough went there to carve........I had him make me a pair of full headed Grenwings that are still some of my favorites...I love them for the little places that I walk into......

When I wanted a rig of Old Squaws but didn't want to spend the time, money or effort on a cork or wood rig I did the buoy birds with profile heads......didn't mess with "tails"....since I only hunt Old Squaws once or twice a season that decoy style was a much neater way to have something to that wasn't plastic and that I could customize so that it had a little something "unique" as well....

Neat job on yours.....

Steve
 
thanks steve, a bunch of Chesser buoy decoys were on Ebay some time back and sold really cheap from what i remember. Unfortuneatly not to me...what's that they say about hindsight...

The silos are 3/8" poplar board, and the tails are cut from a 50 gal barrel. I cut the silos out as one piece and then cut them in half under the rump to lock around the buoy, then glue/screw back together. With a large nut/bolt in the belly/keel, they self right and float perfect. Like you say, the tails aren't necessary but I like the way they look!
 
I'll definately be adding the the tails if I ever do more......a neat look for sure.....

I use the same material for the tails on my full bodied Old Squaw decoys....works like a charm and is unbreakable as you know......

I'm predicting that there will be some strongly influenced Bill Embacher Old Squaws in several peoples spreads next season....

Steve
 
you said you use 3/8" Poplar Board? Do you find that durable enough to handle bwing stacked in a boat where it seems that every Lab wants to play King of the Mountain and walk on the piles of decoys instead of the deck, and also able to stand at least SOME of the abuse that "guests" subject them to....you know, stepping, sitting, falling, bashing them against the side of the boat, that sort of thing?

Don't think I've seen that here....where do you find it....

Steve
 
Yeah, my father is a shop teacher and I get scraps from his woodshop. The board comes thicker and I put it through a planer to get it down to 3/8" (or so, not a perfect measurement but its just less than 1/2").

I only have one of those left, the rest sold off. The one in my rig has stood up 2 seasons, haven't heard from the others so I'm not sure how they have held up, but don't see any reason for them not to since mine has been fine.
 
The way Mr. Embacher made his are the way to go. He left that hard shell on them. You can make 1 1/2 to 2 dozen decoys in a day. They are not the sturdiet decoys, and practically all of their weight is the ballast you put on the bottom. That being said, you choose the weight of your spread for your conditions. I put close to 8 oz on the divers and 10 on seaducks. The puddlers don't have much at all. I like my puddlers to swim in the wind, and i make a keel and ballast that enables them to do that. The keels i use also make them ideal for stacking. They also act as a bottom board so if one side floats low, rather than pulling the whole decoy down to that level, push keel to the low side, and it will be floated up. Yall's buoys look great!

Spencer
 
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Thanks guys, some nice looking decoys. I think my first ones will be simple, utilitarian butterballs. They're not too picky what they decoy to so simple should work just fine. I'll post some pics when I'm done.
 
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