gang rig in the marshes

[widgeon05]

Would a gang rig work in marshes? We have alot of shallow and two foot deep open area ponds here in utah. The gang rig looks pretty appealing as far as fast set up and take down. I hunt out of a boat and a layout boat.
Thanks for any info. And does anyone have some pics of rigging the dekes and how they look in the water. Thanks again
Riley

[woodduckhunter]

if you are hunting puddlers it wouldn't look right. i have scouted a lot of ducks, and never have i seen puddlers in a perfect little line. i always put my decoys exactly how i saw the ducks while scouting. if you want quick pick up texas rig'em.

[Dux r me]

remember puddlers arnt as dumb as divers.........

[Commando]

if you want quick pick up texas rig'em.

It works even better out of a layout where space is very limited.

[Tony Caggiano]

I started out gunning bug bays and marshes on Long Island, so when I came up north and began hunting smaller marshes, I brought my gang rigs with me.

I never had much luck with them in marshes.

The birds didn't respond to them well, most likely due to the decoys in a row.

I also found that they got caught up in too many branches and veg matierial in the shallow water.

Texas rigs work well if you are looking for quick setup.

I do it the old fashioned way not, just wrap decoy line around the keel.

[widgeon05]

nice good to know. I never thought about it not looking right for the puddlers. In the late season though when I go after divers I think that I will give it a try.

[pvogtlin]

I have use gang rigs for mallards in rice beds with great success before. If you have sparse stands of rice and can weave the long line through them with decoys near the rice clumps and bring the ends of your lines back to the boat, you can use them as jerk strings and bring your whole spread to life. This is a good way to make alot of water movement. I have done this near no hunting zones where the birds come in high and there is alot of other hunter pressure. There is no doubt in my mind that our spread looks more realistic from the air than all of the other rigs on the lake as the birds tend to work vertical directly above us.

[Heronk77]

You can use gang rigs in shallow water. The key as pvogtlin says is to break up the straight line look. You can do that by setting the anchors on both ends of your lines across the wind so the decoys form an arch downwind. Set a few lines like that (sort of like fish scales) and the straight line look will quickly disappear.

[Wingman]

I have not tried it BUT I have thought about gang lining a couple dozen Coot many times and then intermixing 2-3 doz wigeon decoys as one part of my spread. Again I have not tried it but I think it would work.

Cheers,

Adam