Although puddle ducks and divers both frequent the shorelines of large water bodies, don't make the novice mistake of mixing your diver and dabbler decoys. Puddle ducks don't like to mingle with bay ducks and vice versa. If you have similar numbers of both types of dekes, separate them and leave a large landing zone between them where either species could pitch in.

A classic big-water decoy setup is the "J" or fishhook formation. The long tail on the J acts as a roadmap for the ducks to follow up toward the head of the rig and land in the pocket. It's common for hunters to rig the J, like the U mentioned above, with the bend facing the blind and the wind at their backs. But a more advanced technique is to erect your blind with a crosswind.

When the wind is from your left or right, set the J with its tail running parallel, rather than perpendicular, to the shore. The bend in the J should end up directly in front of your position. The advantage of this layout is that the birds will be looking ahead toward the J's hook and more open water rather than looking directly at land and your blind as they would when landing with the wind blowing from behind you.

GOOSE BLOCKS DRAW LATE-SEASON PUDDLERS
By the time late season arrives, puddlers have survived many gun volleys over big rigs of same-species decoys. As a result of having their tails burned so many times, they become decoy-shy of decoys of like species. However, they'll usually join geese.

This is a spin-off on the time-tested confidence-decoy theory, but here you're not rigging goose blocks with mallards, you're rigging them instead of mallards. Geese are wary, and puddlers know that. They also know that they haven't been sky-busted when they've swung over geese. When rigging divers in big water, try placing a knot of one- to two-dozen Canada geese ahead of your diver spread and closer to shore. Allow a pocket between the two species so they appear separate. You'll also have a great chance at adding a few honkers to the day's bag.

If you don't own goose decoys, paint some magnum duck decoys in goose patterns. Don't worry about the body shape not being anatomically correct, ducks will key on prominent color patterns. Remember to set your goose blocks in an area large enough to accommodate real geese. In other words, they need a big landing zone -- this trick won't look realistic in that tiny, timber-lined puddle-duck hole.

SMALLER SPREADS FOR CERTAIN DIVERS
While most sea ducks and many other divers, such as scaup and canvasbacks, need huge spreads for reliable tolling, some bay ducks commute and feed in small groups. You can enjoy great action on buffleheads, ringnecks, goldeneyes, mergansers and even oldsquaw by setting a knot of decoys in the right spot. Small islands, bars, points and pockets are good places to try rigging in open water.

If, for example, the divers' feeding destination is a big bay containing shellfish beds, that area may be too large for a shoreline setup and not offer any other blind possibilities. In that case, rig a dozen black-and-white blocks off a nearby point or spit that the birds are trading past. Your blocks will draw curious divers for a look, often within range of your blind.

Don't neglect the better-eating puddlers. When shallow inland waters freeze, puddlers are forced to non-traditional water bodies, including big lakes, rivers, bays and sounds. A spread of mallard and black duck decoys rigged near shore and separate from the divers often produces bonus birds. Now that you have knowledge of a blind position and decoy pattern, you're faced with what type of ammunition to shoot for maximum efficiency and cost.