Egg Sinkers or Mushroom Weights

[Big Hutch]

I am going to make some modified Texas rigs for my marsh spread this year. I leave my spread of 150-200 decoys out all season. I hunt a point at the edge of open water so wave action can be pretty intense at times. Our bottom has a layer of silt and then is fairly sandy. Water depth ranges from 4-6" to 2' depending on the amount of rainfall. I have been using railroad spikes and oil field scrap that range from 7 ounces to 14 ounces. I am tired of rerigging decoys every year or two and I will be using 400 lb mono with either a snap or swivel to attact the decoy to the line.

With that information, would you recommend egg sinkers or mushroom weights? Would 8 ounce be enough?

Just looking to do this right the first time. Thanks for the input.

Robbie aka Big Hutch

[Gottogo49]

Mushroom would hold better. Wow 8 oz, A dozen would weigh 6 pounds.
The beauty of Texas rig is being able to pick them up quickly but if you leave them out anyway it's not a big deal. We have a similar problem with wind and fairly deep water. I made some anchors out of concrete in a 5 oz cup. That should hold them down in a blow. I set some scaup decoys in 4 feet of water, they tend to blow away in a strong wind.

[Reefman]

With open water, waves and varying depths I would use the mushrooms. The one important thing to do is bury the weight below that layer of silt using an old paddle with a notch to run the weight in the mud.

[MarshRat89]

I rig with 3ft of decoy cord, crimps on both ends, with strap and mushroom weights. The extra cord will give your decoys better action in enough wind.

[Gottogo49]

Originally Posted by Reefman

With open water, waves and varying depths I would use the mushrooms. The one important thing to do is bury the weight below that layer of silt using an old paddle with a notch to run the weight in the mud.

Good idea

[ScubaLatt]

I hunt the south side of an open water lake and use 12 oz mushroom anchors I buy from Lake Charles Tackle. My decoys still I sometimes move a few feet. I use clear or black weed eater line and rig them Texas style. My water is anywhere from 6" to 2' depending on tides, rain, etc. I will use 16 oz mushroom weights next time!

[Big Hutch]

After a lot of thought and input I decided to make my own anchors using quick Crete and some 8 ounce styrofoam cups. One idea I had was to use the pieces of aluminum that are used to attach hurricane fence wire to galvanized posts. I was going to use fence staples but they would rust quickly in our salt marsh. I bent it kind of like a cotter pin.

My anchors run from 10 ounces to about 13 ounces. I plan on having at least 4' of 400 lb mono on each one. I also hunt the south side of a shallow open lake and sometimes we can have 2' waves.

I bought some rosco stainless snap swivels that I was planning on putting on the main line and attaching my decoy to the snap to make the storage of 200 plus decoys easier. Iwas going to Texas rig with a loop and a weight on the other end. Now I am thinking about either putting the snap swivel on the loop to attach directly to the decoy with the decoy being "fixed" to the end of the line. Either that or letting the decoy move up and down the line and attaching the line to the weight with the snap swivel.

Any thoughts on one of the 3 methods?

Thanks
Robbie aka Big Hutch

[Gottogo49]

I like the quick Crete anchors - cheap. I used some old plastic coated electrical wire twisted kinda cotter pin style. I'm planning to have a loop knot or snap swivel to be able to disconnect that heavy bulky anchor when it's time to store the decoys for the summer. I like your idea of at least 4' of anchor line. Where did you get the 400 lb mono? That shouldn't tangle.

[Big Hutch]

I got a 5 lb roll of 400 lb mono, crimps, and the Rosco 4/0 snap swivels from SNL Corp. Cheapest place to buy all of the above. The even sell precut 4' pieces of 400 lb mono that I buy for my field decoys. Its just too short for my matsh rigs.

Robbie aka Big Hutch

[cashcropper]

Ive used the Quickcrete anchors and they work OK. I hunt open water and leave decoys out all season and what works best for me is 4-5 feet of decoy line and regular strap weights. Straighten out the strap weight and punch it in the mud and your decoy will be there till you pull it up. Guaranteed. Pull em up at the end of the season and with the strap weights they still pack well.