• The chase boat -- This boat is, as its name says, the boat used to chase downed birds, transport hunters and decoys, tow the layout, and watch the gunners. Basically, any well-built, rigid johnboat with at least a 30-horsepower outboard will work. It should be deep and seaworthy.

• Decoys -- The makeup of the spread is really up to the hunters; use as many or as few as you want. Just remember that you're in the middle of a large body of water and you need to show up. Large, bright, decoys are best. I seem to have the best luck with oversized foam decoys. Any species of diving duck decoy will work, and if they're legal on the body of water you're hunting, goose decoys and even swan decoys show up clearly from a distance. All you want in layout hunting is to get the ducks' attention. You're in the middle of the lake where ducks feel comfortable. Get their attention, and they'll come to check you out.

• The tow bar -- A piece of equipment unique to this style of hunting, this is just a frame that sits above your transom to which you attach ropes to tow the layout boat. Don't just throw ropes on a bar you construct and expect to go hunting. Rope length and frame height might require some fine-tuning before you're able to tow your boat. When your lengths are correct, the layout boat should get up on plane just like the boat and follow behind the boat as fast as you want. (A word to the wise: Don't slow down too fast -- the layout you're towing doesn't have brakes!)

• Camouflage -- Well, kind of. Layout hunting requires some "special attire." I usually hunt in blue jeans (weather permitting) and grey sweatshirts. You want a shirt to match the boat color, and battleship gray with white and black ripples is the standard layout color scheme. I also wear a black or white hat, which at a distance looks surprisingly like a diving duck moving around. Bear in mind that when the temperature drops, you're at eye level with the water, and the spray and wind can be cold.

LAYING IT OUT
The two basic methods of rigging your layout boat spread both require one crucial element: a solidly anchored layout boat facing directly downwind. The boat must be facing downwind in order for the fast-flying divers to come upwind right into your lap. In order to set the boat correctly, just throw out an anchor attached to the stern and let the wind right the boat. Once the boat has turned downwind, attach another anchor to the bow.

Now come the decoy spreads. There are two main ways to set up decoys around a layout boat rig.

In the first method, which I prefer, you attach your decoys to lines somewhat as you would hooks on a trotline. I run five lines, one -- what I call the "main" line -- attached to the front of the boat and run downwind. It's about 20 yards longer than the four "outside" lines, which run parallel to the main line, the farthest outside line being no more than 30 yards away. I use 3-pound weights to hold the lines in place. They must be straight; if slack's present in the lines, they'll curve into C-shapes and thus make this setup ineffective. At the base of the layout boat I throw out about 15 "singles," individually strung decoys that close the "runways" created by the lines.