lineless decoy anchors

[swamprat1975]

has anyone here heard of or used those lineless puddleset decoy anchors. new things scare me especially when i cant see them in person. thanks for any help

[johnch]

I know a guy that just got a dozen
Don't think he even has them on decoys yeat

Basicly a fiberglass rod that the weight slides up and down
You atach the rod to your decoy with a wire tye

Rods are only 3' long , maybe a little shorter

IMO if you hunt shallow water , like 2'
they might work ok

BUT
I may be hunting 6" of water in the AM and move to 6'
So that would mean I would have to change decoys

A decoy on a string will move around with the wind
These decoy anchors would stop most if not all movement

IMO I will pass

John

[swamprat1975]

hmm....thanks for the thoughts. I dont think the weight on these slides though. Looks like the weight is molded right to the rod. Curious question though if you dont mind. Where would you hunt puddle/dabling ducks in 6' of water? I dont think I have ever set my mallard and woddydec's in more then 2 feet of water.

[johnch]

We hunt some deep creeks channels edges with a long tapered slope to the marsh behind us , with a timbered dike remnant for us to hide on

No the ducks don't feed there , but they will feed on the acorns and in the marsh behind us
Or even stick around in the decoys long normaly

But as they fly the creeks
They see our decoys and pitch in

And we bust then as they get ready to land

This is a perfict 11 am to 3 PM spot for singles
Later the woodies and mallards fly the creek to their roost 1/4 mile up the creek and in the marsh behind us

John

[swamprat1975]

Sounds like a nice scenario. I have seen singles and pairs swimming in deeper water like you said. I guess I'm not confident enough in my shooting to knock enough birds down in a hunt seeing one or two at a time. I need the flocks... : ). Anyway, I bit the bullet and got a dozen of the Puddleset anchors. I hooked them up and took them out in my canoe to the swamps where I hunt. They seem to work like they're supposed to and I did have some birds land in the set. The weights dont slide either. It is one solid piece from the clip to the weight. I set the dozen in dec's in three throws. We'll see if I can shoot when season rolls around now. Thanks again for your thoughts

[AR 34 eight point]

Gravel pits are hard to decoy too. Deep water, drop offs....

[swamprat1975]

We do some diver duck hunting in a quary around us but not much. I dont think I have ever seen a puddle duck species in there. most of the time we run lines from shore to shore accross one of the corners and string the decs to that. the divers dont seem to mind that