Trap line style

[Devan S.]

Gonna be a hard winter for him.....probably better off being offed.

[Johnsfolly]

10 hours ago, wily said:

Devan..you never caught a muskrat?  Heck that’s almost like a rite of passage.  I hope you get one this year...

i don’t mean that bad...but shoot I remember catching them when I was young...just a teenager in the creek behind my parents house.   

Best thing about a muskrat is how easy they are to skin...good luck

They celebrate the muskrat out here in MD. Have festivals with muskrat dishes and skinning contests. it's a big deal, but when you are completely surrounded by as much wetlands like there are here, you are going to see a lot of those guys. Also have some beaver and otters. Have a lot of red fox.

[Devan S.]

Checked this morning and blank on both my traps. This is day 2.

Both are pocket sets with a hole into the bank. Both use lure(shellfish oil and mink gland lure). 

One hole was natural and too deep so I had to build it up to get my trap closer to the water surface.

I'm in a really good area. We camp along the river often and see mink almost every time. 

 

If I don't have something tomorrow I may have to switch things up. Thinking I may throw some more steel in the ground Wednesday if it doesn't rain a bunch. 

[BilletHead]

19 minutes ago, Devan S. said:

Checked this morning and blank on both my traps. This is day 2.

Both are pocket sets with a hole into the bank. Both use lure(shellfish oil and mink gland lure). 

One hole was natural and too deep so I had to build it up to get my trap closer to the water surface.

I'm in a really good area. We camp along the river often and see mink almost every time. 

 

If I don't have something tomorrow I may have to switch things up. Thinking I may throw some more steel in the ground Wednesday if it doesn't rain a bunch. 

            Do you have any 110s or 120s? Can be set in hole or runs with no need to worry about water in front. Can bottleneck down with guides or grass/brush. Good luck

[Terrierman]

This is a great thread.  So nice to read about what's a dying tradition.

[Devan S.]

3 minutes ago, BilletHead said:

            Do you have any 110s or 120s? Can be set in hole or runs with no need to worry about water in front. Can bottleneck down with guides or grass/brush. Good luck

I do and have considered. Have access to some mink boxes too.

Biggest problem is that the river has quiet a bit of access to trout fishermen although this spot is private land the river is not. I don't worry so much about the fishermen but I do worry about the ATV traffic. The specific spot is also very close to national forest and have tons and tons of ATV traffic as they come down off national forest into what they still think is a public play ground. 

between my check yesterday mid-afternoon and this morning early a clan of ATV's have cut tons of donuts about 30 ft from my traps(on the other side of the river on the gravel bar). I'm just afraid anything obviously above water may disappear in this spot.