Sea Duck (Old Sqaw) Question

[idn713]

Gonna try to get after some long tails this late season out of my Alumacraft on the open lake (on nice days). I will have one longline with a dozen sqaw dekes out (wish had more but that will have to come with time). 
 

My question is, should I run a setup where I anchor the longline and drop back perpendicular to the line and anchor the boat 20 yards off the dekes? 
 

Or I have heard you can tie the line to the boat and drift with the dekes trailing the boat. Which sounds easier and potentially more appealing 

 

I know the ideal setup would be 4 dozen dekes, a layout boat, retrieve boat, etc etc, but resources committed to this are scarce as I am just trying to plug a few divers and not destroy limits or setup a guide service. Just hopefully seeing if anyone has any tips on simple setups with minimal dekes. Thanks! 

[whaler1]

Pm misdemeanor on this site. His name is Matt. He can tell you everything you want to know. Great guy I bet he’s happy to help. 

[Missdemeanor]

Thanks Bill.....

     I have done both.... Drifted out in 200 feet of water and anchored.   

   If you want true decoying birds, then I would anchor .... If your running a dog, you should anchor both ends of your long line and run 2-2.5 ft droppers from your blocks. No dog, anchor one end .. positioning the boat can be tricky .. if it's dead flat, the birds might be a little squirrel, but as a general rule they are pretty dumb when It comes to the boat.

   I usually anchor parallel to the long lines... I usually anchor from the stern ( if it's calm) and do the shooting from the bow....

     The trick to coming off anchor.... Let out enough anchor rode until your where you want... Tie a loop in your anchor line and put it around the cleat... On or near the end of the anchor line, attach a fender...once you shoot a bird, take the loop off the cleat, toss it overboard with the fender attached .. once you get the bird, come back, hook the fender, and then put the loop back on the cleat... Should be in the same position if your anchor is holding ..

    Shooting sea ducks is fun .. just wish I found a way to cook em... Best of luck to you...

Edited November 29, 2023 by Missdemeanor

[whaler1]

That’s the best!!

[idn713]

12 minutes ago, Missdemeanor said:

Thanks Bill.....

     I have done both.... Drifted out in 200 feet of water and anchored.   

   If you want true decoying birds, then I would anchor .... If your running a dog, you should anchor both ends of your long line and run 2-2.5 ft droppers from your blocks. No dog, anchor one end .. positioning the boat can be tricky .. if it's dead flat, the birds might be a little squirrel, but as a general rule they are pretty dumb when It comes to the boat.

   I usually anchor parallel to the long lines... I usually anchor from the stern ( if it's calm) and do the shooting from the bow....

     The trick to coming off anchor.... Let out enough anchor rode until your where you want... Tie a loop in your anchor line and put it around the cleat... On or near the end of the anchor line, attach a fender...once you shoot a bird, take the loop off the cleat, toss it overboard with the fender attached .. once you get the bird, come back, hook the fender, and then put the loop back on the cleat... Should be in the same position if your anchor is holding ..

    Shooting sea ducks is fun .. just wish I found a way to cook em... Best of luck to you...

Thank you this is great info! We won’t be over a dog so I’ll probably just anchor the one end of the decoy string. If you only had a dozen, would you run two strings of six or one string of a dozen? 
 

Also, how heavy of an anchor have you had to run to hold you steady out on the lake? Mind you we won’t be challenging any crazy weather.

 

I appreciate your help! 

[Smat64]

Driving around and stopping quick can work. Seen them close when trolling and you can move towards the large packs. 

[chowder]

Sea ducks are actually ‘good eats’ . My personal favorites are shredded breast meat fajitas or ground breast meat tacos. I’m also very fond of smoking the breasts and combining with pork or beef and making the mix into brats. Like most wild foods- you can’t turn a sows ear into a silk purse , you have to learn and listen to your inner muse, read a little and most things can turn into delicious food  https://honest-food.net/eating-sea-ducks/

Edited November 30, 2023 by chowder
More info

[Missdemeanor]

23 hours ago, idn713 said:

Thank you this is great info! We won’t be over a dog so I’ll probably just anchor the one end of the decoy string. If you only had a dozen, would you run two strings of six or one string of a dozen? 
 

Also, how heavy of an anchor have you had to run to hold you steady out on the lake? Mind you we won’t be challenging any crazy weather.

 

I appreciate your help! 

For a dozen block set ups.... I'd set six on one end of the boat and six on the other .. pocket in middle could work ..

   I anchor my decoys with window weights... Couple of big ones on one end if it's rolly.. I also use a couple car rotors on one end if I run my supermag battleship decoys.. as far as anchoring the boat,. Depends how big the boat is... I used a Danforth anchor used on a 30 ft boat .. ..

    

[Missdemeanor]

9 hours ago, chowder said:

Sea ducks are actually ‘good eats’ . My personal favorites are ground breast meat fajitas or tacos. I’m also very fond of smoking the breasts and combining with pork or beef and making the mix into brats. Like most wild foods- you can’t turn a sows ear into a silk purse , you have to learn and listen to your inner muse, read a little and most things can turn into delicious food  https://honest-food.net/eating-sea-ducks/

Thanks for the info

[fish whistle]

We hunt plenty of sea ducks here in Maine, a lot of  Old Squaw and Eiders.

The popular way to cook them is to bake them with a brick inside the bird and when it’s done you toss the bird and eat the brick !   Our sea ducks taste just like low tide.  Fortunately we know an old fella that has a big smoke house and he takes them and brines em up. Still fishy tasting to me though even after smoking. Wish they were better cause they are fun and easy to hunt on the coast.