How to Make a Duck Decoy Jerk Rig

Growing up, I loved going duck hunting with my dad. We mostly hunted farm ponds or the local public lake. If there was one thing I learned from hunting with my dad, it’s that calling doesn’t matter nearly as much as motion in the decoys.

My dad was not a master of the duck call, nor am I by any stretch. However, he consistently harvested ducks because he found a way to implement natural-looking motion in his decoy spread.

I’m about to divulge how I’ve modified his approach to meet my needs and the needs of many other waterfowl hunters. This cheap and easy jerk rig has been responsible for more ducks down than hours of me practicing my calling, so listen up.

Cost & Supplies

As a lower-middle-class family, my parents learned to save money wherever possible, especially with our hobbies.

The first time my dad made this jerk rig, he used things we had in the garage or that could be purchased cheaply at the store such as rope, a boat anchor and a decoy. It was in college when I began to tinker with his design but being a broke college student I had limited funds so I had to be creative.

Supplies

I kept it lightweight and simple with a decoy, paracord, ½” PVC pipe, and a ½” PVC Tee fitting. After testing my design, I’ve settled on a more expensive PVC-coated steel cable as the pull cord, but paracord worked just fine for years.

Cost

The overall cost for the supplies should be around $50 but this will make multiple jerk rigs. The price per jerk rig will range from $15 to $25, depending on the materials you use.

How to Make a Duck Decoy Jerk Rig for Duck Hunting

As I said, I kept the design simple. I’ve used automatic jerk rigs with bungee cords and dealt with the tangles. I’ve even used the traditional jerk rigs and the motion doesn’t look natural and they also tend to get tangled. With this design, you might still deal with a few small snags but the natural motion is unmatched.

Step 1

Cut the PVC pipe. I prefer 1-1 ½’ long; so I can carry it in my backpack.

Step 2

Glue the tee onto the pipe. It’s critical that you place the fitting onto the tube and still be able to see through the pipe and fitting. You should have a hole at the top and bottom of the pipe and a hole perpendicular to the pipe.

Step 3

Run your line through the holes and secure it to the front of the decoy. If you don’t have an anchor point at the front of the keel, I recommend drilling a hole towards the front of the keel to tie the line.

I use a 10’-12’ long cord and then tie a carabiner clip to the other end, so I’m not dealing with 100’ of line every trip. I recommend keeping a 100’+ cord on hand because you never know how far away you’ll need to be from the decoys.

Step 4

Paint the PVC. I prefer to paint the pipe brown or black to help it look natural and blend in better, especially if I’m hunting in clear water.

Beneficial Variations

As I’ve used this jerk rig through the years, I’ve found there are a few situations that require a couple of adaptations to optimize performance.

Boat Anchor

The most obvious drawback is that this jerk rig doesn’t work in deep water, super silty bottoms or rocky locations. When hunting in these conditions, I bring a boat anchor instead of the PVC pipe. A three-pound grapple anchor works but I recommend using at least a 5lb anchor.

PVC Coated Cable

I also mentioned that I began my design with paracord, and I still have a couple of rigs that use it. However, I’ve found that PVC-coated cable works better and tangles less.

5-Way Tee

I’ve dabbled in using multiple jerk rigs with one cord, and though I don’t believe I’ve perfected it when using PVC-coated cable and a 5-way tee instead of a 3-way tee, you can connect multiple rigs together.

To do this, simply make one rig with a 5-way fitting, run two other rigs through the openings and tie them to the pull string that comes back to you. This will allow you to create natural motion in three places by pulling on one cord.

Angle the Pipe

I always cut a point on the bottom of the pipe to help it push through the mud. While this isn’t necessary, I have noticed it makes it much easier and I believe in the work smarter not harder philosophy.

How to Use this Jerk Rig

Now that we know how to make this cheap jerk rig, how the heck do we use it? Thankfully, the simple design also makes it very easy to use.

1. Determine where you’re going to place your decoys and place the jerk rig in the middle of the decoys.

2. Setting the jerk rig requires a little balance because you need to hold both ends of the cord to make the pipe stand up as you step on it and push it into the ground. It’s critical that the top hole is pointed straight up at the decoy and the perpendicular hole is pointed directly at your blind. This will help reduce the amount of friction the cord and pipe create. Setting this jerk rig using an anchor is as simple as dropping the anchor directly below the decoy.

3. Test it out. Get back to your blind and make sure you can pull the decoy under slightly and it will pop back up.

4. Get to hunting! Because this jerk rig looks more natural, you don’t have to be as cautious with it when the ducks are circling. Just be sure they don’t see you moving! Because we tied the cord to the front of the decoy, it should look like it’s dipping its head under and splashing a bit. Pull the decoy under more if you want to create bigger waves. If you only need slight ripples just make it bob. 

I received many questions about retrieving the pipe or anchor without getting wet and the answer is simple. Grab the decoy and the line that you pull and pull straight up. There’s no need to stick your arm into the water to get the pipe!

Last Pass

I love this design because it’s adaptable and cheaper than buying other jerk rigs. The simple design means anyone can make and use it. It doesn’t require a unique decoy and you likely already have most of the supplies you need to get started.

I am still waiting to see a jerk rig that creates a more natural motion on the water than this one. Check out the YouTube video above for a visual aid for the building process or to see it in action.