Layout Boats?

[ICE]

How deep of water are you guys anchoring in with the layout boats? Besides rope is there anything that limits the depth your in?

Also could you guys show some pictures of your layout boats in action on open water.

I have never been around them and I think it would be interesting.

Thanks
ICE

[Tait Ronningen]

I hunt any where from 6 inches of water to 25 feet... as far as my anchor rope will go.. but for the most part I hunt in about 8 feet of water.http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr148/tkronningen/DSCN1515.jpg the sting over the can really bugs me..lol
http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr148/tkronningen/DSCN1516.jpg

[Tait Ronningen]

The biggest factor to layout boat hunting is being smart about the conditions you are going against. I always look up the weather conditions the day before the hunt including an hour by hour report of the winds at weather.com. Being that a layout boat is designed for waves to roll around it instead of ridding over the waves can make it easy to go from a great hunt to a life threatening hunt. There have been days I have had to call off a hunt because of unfavorable conditions caused by high winds. My ideal layout hunting day is spitting snow, low cloud ceiling, and a 5-10 mph wind to break up the layout of the boat. I have hunting in the layout in 25-30 mph winds but that was on small bodies of water. A layout boat hunter has to be able to know his boat and bodies of water so he or she can have a safe and enjoyable hunt.

[ICE]

We would have a tender boat not far if we tried it. I don't want to spend $1400 on one to try it around here so I was hoping I could build one. Anyone have any plans, Ideas, or pictures.

Do you run and anchor off the front and back of the boat?

Do you keep your anchor tight or move around a little?

Do you attach your long lines to the layout?

[Tait Ronningen]

If you have a tender, I would run a mighty layout boys style layout boat (these have spray skirts). I have a four rivers layout boat and the other one my buddy CJ has is very similar to the four rivers but is made out of a durable plastic. The reason why I went with a four rivers is because they are easy to kayak paddle out to a spot where you plan to hunt. However they have a higher profile than a mighty layout design and don't have an adjustable spray skirt. Mighty layouts are wider and have a square bottom making it difficult to paddle long distances. However, If you have a tender, get a mighty layout boys boat (the one man classic runs 1200). Four rivers 9'6" runs about 750 and the plastic one runs about 550 at sportsman's warehouse. There are many layout plans that you can builds such as one (bubble like) with a higher back. Next year I am going to be running a 20 foot alaskan with 2 layouts (the same style as mighty layouts) and am going to have an avery quick set on the boat for the people running the tender. It is fun but the more stuff you run off the tender the more man power you need. If I was running 2 layouts and the tender I would obviously need a minimum of 3 people on the hunt. Check out www.mightylayoutboys.com and they may have some more suggestions best of luck and happy hunting! Take it easy!
Tait :)

[Tait Ronningen]

Anchors. I run two anchors on each boat... One off of the back and one off of the right side. I may have a little extra rope off the back anchor just so it has a good anchor in the ground (depending on wind conditions). The anchor off of the right side is kept tight so it keep the boat anchored 30 degrees to the right (this makes it easier for a good follow through). Hunting in a layout there is limited (about 45 degree shooting angle) but even with this down side they are very effective. I am a right handed shooter and so it is most likely set up opposite for a left handed shooter.

Decoys... With a tender I would use gang rigs because you need to be able to back troll to set them. I would also have the gang rigs set up to have anchors on both ends incase it is calm out because if they are anchored on both ends on calm days they will bunch up into a small cluster.. I learned the hard way...
I run all decoys with individual line and start setting the spread by drifting and setting a line of cans, bills, and ringnecks. I normally have the last 3-4 decoys on the line bull cans because cans seem to really key into those ones and run the line to the boat. After I finish the line, that runs 30-50 yards, I paddle back to the start of the line and start making the J hook of the spread. I fill in a of decoys around the boat on the hook side to break up the outline and simulate a raft of divers (which you typically see when scouting). I make a group of buffleheads just down wind of the layout but not making out into the J hook of the spread. Buffleheads work amazing to this and most shots are feet down and less than 10 yards. Most people have crossing shots from shore on bluebills that run the line and then head out to the middle. In the layout the bills come in feet down and work amazing, again typical shots are 10 yards. I hardly ever have divers short stop me (meaning land 50 yards out where my line starts) they love to land in with the raft.

I have never ran a line directly attached to the layout for the main reason that i use my layout to retrieve the downed birds. It is not a bad idea if you have a tender to pick the birds up. Trying new things is one of the main reasons why i like waterfowl so much!