Abstract: A waterfowl decoy assembly in which a reel is positioned in a downwardly opening cavity in the forward end of the body of the decoy and an anchor line is wound around a central hollow hub of the reel. A strip of spring steel is positioned in wound condition within the hub member with the inner end of the strip secured to a fixed axle on which the reel is rotatably mounted and the outer end of the strip fixed adjacent the inner periphery of the hub member. The parameters of the strip of spring steel are chosen such that, with the anchor line tensioned by the weight of the anchor, the steel strip functions to controllably resist the unwinding movement of the reel to allow the anchor to seek the bottom of the associated body of water, whereafter the spring steel strip functions to preclude any further paying out of line and to tension the payed out line so that the decoy remains directly over the anchor.