I agree with drgildy completely on the video " The art of commanding ducks" , I have most of the duckmen tapes but this one is the most informative. If the ponds are not too deep, a robo duck,mallard machine, or some jerk ducks might be helpful. I use all three but my favorite is the robo duck, if the ducks are not shying from it as they tend to do later in the season(make sure it is faced into the wind). As far as learning to call goes, a tape or cd might help you ,but if you know someone that calls and could help you, that would probably be better. Just remember what works today to get them in,might not work tomorrow, wind direction is a big factor.