# "Gang Rigs" for Diver Dekes



## GVSUKUSH (Mar 9, 2004)

I have a dozen Bluebill dekes and a few misc. Can. dekes, is it worth it to get a single line instead of weights on each individual deke? If so, what system do you use? Wrapping up single lines when it's twentysome degrees sucks, I figure that there has to be a better way.

Thanks!


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## Madduck98 (Apr 16, 2006)

With only a dozen or so dekes i'd stick with single strings.


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## Bow Hunter Brandon (Jan 15, 2003)

I love my long lines. I would do it but thats just me. Right now I run 1/4" dropers with lobster clips ( the type that clip and hold the line) and I run 100' 1/4 main lines. put on a weight drop the line drift down wind and clip on the decoys put on another weight positio nthe line if needed and drop it in. At the end of the day grab and end drift and pull them up unclip and bag the decoys.

Soon very soon I will be leaving the decoys on the line though, saw it this weekend and its a nice setup and faster.

I fun 3 dozen birds on lines right now and will soon have 4 out.

If you need more info I can give you places to buy the stuff.

Dont put loops in your main line to clip to just get the correct type of clips to start with.


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## kcud rellik (Mar 9, 2005)

If you plan on getting more diver dekes just rig up the dozen in a line and use the misc as singles. That way you dont end up buying all the weights just to later turn them into lines and lines are much easier to pick up.


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## joefsu (Jan 9, 2005)

I have 18 that I'm running individual weights on. I wrap the cord around the mid section of the decoy and then secure the anchor to the neck. When you put out the decoy all you have to do is unhook the anchor and point the decoy butt first towards the water. Gravity does the rest. Seems to work alright. For picking them up I always switch to a pair of neoprene (sp?) gloves to keep my hands dry.

My .02,

Joe


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## bloomy321 (Oct 18, 2006)

I use a gang rig w/ only a dozen dekes. I bought the rig at the waterfowl festival last year and it's sweet. It's really nice in deep water because you only need one weight to drop down and they just lay them out perfectly. I have one deke every 3 feet. There's just one main line with 2 foot leaders tied in every three feet with a clip on the bottom. I think it also makes your spread seem bigger. I have others as well that I'll sprinkle in, but that long run way is very attractive. I love watching them turn in low and follow that runway all the way in.


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## Carpe Diem (Jun 24, 2003)

140' tarred #120 w/24" parachute cord drops. 5lb cannonball weights with 12 dekes during early and 15 dekes during late. 20'/100'/20' using blues, then reds and cans with buffies on the shoreside and goldeneye on the lakeside. A few old squaw on drops and some geese as blockers.


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## Bmac (Jul 7, 2002)

Longlines are the way to go for divers. I run 3 lines of 12-15 decoys (bills, cans/reds and buffies) and have another dozen or so individual dekes to fill in around my layout. The tarred longline with clips on droppers is what I use. Because I usually have a dog with me I run longer drops to try and avoid getting the dog tangled up.


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## Wall-llard Willie (Sep 10, 2004)

We must be old fashion. (of course we still use traditional sneakboats on occasion too) We run anywhere from 100-150 decoys in our spreads all on individuals. We've tried long lines and just think the spread looks better and we decoy more birds with individuals. How many more or if its worth it who's to say. Its definitly more work having individuals.


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## BFG (Mar 4, 2005)

Longlines here....get the right clips (I like the 5" model)...and keep your droppers at least 2' long. My buddies gave me a hard time last weekend prior to hunting as I had just changed all of my droppers to 3' lengths. 

They didn't say anything when the boat ended up over a longline with the motor still in gear...and we didn't catch the longline. 

Parachute cord works great for droppers....but it is not a good idea for the mainline, as it floats.  Doctari longlines and their clips. Hands down the best out there, and if you buy the clips in bulk, they are half the price of anywhere else. Currently we are running 125' longlines, but will soon have the 140'ers for deeper water. 

4# muffin weight upwind, 2# mushroom weight downwind. If we need to add more than that, we shouldn't be out there. 8-12 dekes per line. We all shoot right-handed, so we try to keep our longest set on the left side of the spread. 

I will add that we've considered adding singles to the mix. I repainted some redhead dekes to buffies this season, so those might get some longer lines and individual weights. A guide that I know of uses a couple single buffies in the kill zone as confidence dekes. According to him..it makes a big difference. Only problem with that plan is that you now have single decoys right in the way when you are loading/unloading. 

We are also going to attempt to leave the dekes on the lines. 


BFG


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## CMFish51 (Feb 24, 2003)

This weekend we tried a longline where the decoys are permanately attached to the long line for the first time. The guys from the Indiana components booth at the Mouille duck show swore up and down that this rig was far easier than attaching each decoy to the main line with clips. Well the rig is set up with 9' spacing between dekes and 18' of line on the end for the anchor.... I'm not too excited about that setup since we normally hunt in water thats only 6-9' deep and the spacing is a bit far between each deke. 
Therefore we tried attaching dekes with clips in between the permanate dekes and it made a huge mess, we took special care putting the rig in the boat Friday night and it didn't matter. The clips still seemed to get in the way and caught the excess cord between the dekes. We had one tangled mess. 
I guess we are just use to running long lines and attaching the 5" clips that you're referring to BFG and it seems very easy for us (when using 3 guys to set the lines). I think were going to cut this rig up and make droppers for the dekes with clips. I also agree that the Doctari lines are very nice. We bought a few rigs last year at the show but they were not there this year. Thats why we decided to experiment with the "detroit river rig".


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## GVSUKUSH (Mar 9, 2004)

Thanks for all the input, anyone have internet links to any of the lines they use?


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## thedude (Jul 20, 2004)

www.doctarilonglines.com

or go to mightylayoutboys.com and ask on thier forum.. they can tell you where to buy the individual componants to make your own.


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## ThE CaN MaN (Nov 27, 2004)

I bought all the equipment at the begenning of the season for my rig. I have about 100 dekes and 4 strings it seems to be working pretty good. Getting the right equipment for rigging them is important make sure you buy nylon or waxed line because it doesnt fray it is alot more work to melt every cut.haha. my mistake. But the rig seems to work well so far. goodluck.


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## KLR (Sep 2, 2006)

Another vote for Doctari longlines. Scott will treat you well. He will also sell bulk line if you want to make your own rig. That is the route I chose. I also put the 5" lonline clips on every decoy, in case I need to remove one for repair or change the arrangement of decoys, other than that they never come off. Occasional snarls happen if I'm not careful how I pick up after a previous hunt but after putting the in and out a few times they get easier to work with. I run 6, 12 and 18 decoy lines. I keep the spacings on the 6 and 12 decoy rigs at 60". On the 18 decoy lines I progressively spaced the decoys starting at 3' and adding 6" for every decoy, so the last decoys are something like 10' apart...I set those on the outside of the spread, thinking it would give the impression of birds swiming in to join a larger group, not sure how much difference it makes, but it does keep the spread from have a "tin-soldier" look with all the decoys evenly spaced and in perfectly straight rows. I also throw a few singles into the "pocket" to add a little realism. I hunt by myself 95% of the time and can set down or pick up 70-80 decoys in 20 minutes or less.


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## BFG (Mar 4, 2005)

Should have added my .02 on spacing as well....

We typically either have 2 or 3 guys setting stuff in the water. I typically am the "deke guy" doing all the attaching. I make every attempt to space the dekes evenly on every other longline. 

For example:

Outside line gets dekes spaced about 6' apart. Next line in gets them spaced about 4' apart. Next line in gets them 6' apart again. This is not an exact science...for sure...but if it all works out correctly, the dekes fill up the adjacent gaps in the spread when viewed from the sides (which is what happens a lot when divers approach). The Doctari lines come with the droppers and clips already attached. I can't wait to use mine, but they will eliminate my little game of alternating distance between the dekes. It'll be fine, I'm sure.

There are those that will argue the fact that longlines do not look natural. Well, I've seen plenty of divers rafted up on big water, and one thing that is nearly always true is that they orient themselves in long, straight lines. Sure, there are some swimming around in the middle, but for the most part, their configurations are linear. Haven't had many complaints so far this year. 

I've read where guys will put a long string of dekes perpendicular to their large spread behind the layout boat. I don't have the nuts to do that...too many times I've had to try to manuever in a tight spot...and I don't need yet another line in the way, long droppers or not. 

One thing that you do not want to do for sure is to leave the layout boat all by itself in a shooting hole. Bad idea....birds swing in and what do they see in front of them....you. Try to keep the shooting hole off to the left if you can. Right side for lefty shooters. 

Oops...sorry, kinda hijacked the thread here....


BFG


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## lawnboy (Jun 5, 2000)

Currently, I am running 100 ¼ main line and and 16 drops with clips. I like thick lines because they are easy to handle when your hands are cold. I only have 7 decoys per setup at about seven-foot spacing. Being in the river with an undersized motor, I have found over the years that going any longer just creates problems for myself. 

One thing that these guys did not state is that clips are essential to this kind of setup. Years past I just tied them to the main line, however, over time the decs twist the lines and they break. Also, if you get the mother of all tangles then you have to cut all the stuff off and retie them all back on.

Another thing no one mentioned was putting the whole thing in leaf bags. Just clip on a weight, drop it in and feed out the line with the ducks attached. When you get to the other end clip on another anchor. After the bag is empty just collapse it and set it aside.


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## Carpe Diem (Jun 24, 2003)

I use these three to supply my longline needs.


http://www.atagulf.com/

http://www.snlcorp.com/

http://www.memphisnet.net/


CD


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## Crawfish (May 7, 2002)

Carpe Diem said:


> I use these three to supply my longline needs.
> 
> 
> http://www.atagulf.com/
> ...


 You beat me to it.


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## Ultimag_3.5 (Oct 29, 2003)

I bought all of the components individually before doctari was selling lines. Based on his prices I would recommend just buying one of his setups for your dozen.


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