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Post by Furhandler on May 2, 2005 8:58:21 GMT -6
If you could only use 1 mink bait with no lure or scents, what would it be?
Mine is Trout, but I can't get it in big quantities.
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Post by NattyBumpo on May 2, 2005 9:30:17 GMT -6
Trout are easy to get around here they stock small ponds with hundreds of them here.
Crayfish are the easiest if you dont have trout ponds in your area.
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Post by Mallard on May 2, 2005 10:05:04 GMT -6
If I had to pick one bait it would be fresh muskrat. If I could pick two it would be rat and creek chub or maybe whole frozen crayfish.
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mink99
Tenderfoot...
Posts: 25
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Post by mink99 on May 2, 2005 11:01:19 GMT -6
1-Muskrat 2-Muskrat 3-Muskrat
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Post by walkercoonhunter(Aaron L.) on May 2, 2005 11:50:05 GMT -6
well you guys will think im nuts but shrimp worked for me 2 years ago with a no fail percentage...but muskrat would be my #2 choice...
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Post by CoonDuke on May 2, 2005 18:16:24 GMT -6
Mallard, This is kinda off topic but you made me think of something when you mentioned creek chubs. A few years back, I made some test sets with creek chubs, river chubs, and fallfish. The chubs were always cleaned up but the fallfish were rarely touched. Kinda made me wonder because they are closely related species. A friend of mine catches more mink by accident in coon sets than all other coon trappers in the area combined. He uses nothing but fresh trout. Nittany Lion can comment on the effectiveness of trout after next season...
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Post by thebeav2 on May 2, 2005 19:03:26 GMT -6
Rats smelt bullheads
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Post by trappnman on May 2, 2005 19:03:55 GMT -6
What are fallfish? some odd PA sucker?
Here in MN- unless I read the laws wrong- its illegal to use a game fish as bait.
I do think a fish or fish bait is good early season- but...but...I'm just not a believer in bait early season. I never found any higher a % in blind pockets....as to baited pockets. I sometimes wonder if bait makes any difference at all- in the early season when times are good -harvest, warmer weather, etc....
flood conditions...perhaps, although I believe flood conditions are easy pickings for mink- the main reason they move in higher water/rainy nights...little critters are getting flooded out.
Yet- some trappers find bait makes a big difference early- I attribute this to difference i nhabitat. PA fro example, in the creeks around Port Royal- the creeks were hard bottomed, shallow, sparse vegetation edges. Contraast that with the lush grass banks our hill creeks have- a must to prevent major stream erosion. I could indeed see bait being a more important factor because here...
once it gets snow covered, and once it starts forming ice- the prey base gets very small- shrews a major source of food (reminds me the other thread about shrews- well, for sure, shrews major part of my winter mink diet.)...then bait starts having more potential. I make no apologies for mentioning Stef's Coon/mink bait- this is a potent fish/crustatean type fishy bait, that does not freeze- as such- it gives off a constant odor, much more thna a pievce of frozen fish. Just as effective, maybe more so in real cold sub zero conditions- is a whole mink or muskrat carcass. I use no carcasses early any more but in late winter- seldom waste a one.
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Post by John Porter on May 2, 2005 19:40:35 GMT -6
I would say that if I used bait(have in the past) muskrat or bullheads are my favorite. Now a days I use blind sets or just unbaited pockets. My son, who does more mink trapping then me, uses fish from the start of the season until the end. His mink catch is usually 3 times mine but he is only after mink when I head off for k-9s and marten. He also uses a lure that he gets locally that is full of glands...
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Post by fishadict on May 3, 2005 1:58:32 GMT -6
Shad seems to work well. Next year I'll use ciscos that are left over from pike fishing. Both have high oil content.
fa
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Post by Mallard on May 3, 2005 5:43:43 GMT -6
They seem to have a taste for those chubs. In the late spring when the chubs congregate in the holes, you can walk the bank and see evidence of mink eating them. I have also seen evidence of the mink eating a small eel we have around these parts called a chestnut eel. They get to be about 8-10” long. I can’t catch the eels, and may run into legality problems anyway, but the chubs are readily accessible, and are a staple fish for the mink year round. I can’t use trout, so I gave the chubs a shot and was impressed with the results. May have had 95% of those mink anyway with just the pocket, but they certainly don’t shy away from them.
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Post by trappnman on May 3, 2005 8:25:33 GMT -6
I agree fish is good early- by early I mean mild- but I personally have never had much result with just fish in very cold weather. I just never found a fish that in a chunk additives- gave off much odor. I know a mink has a better nose than I have- but when I get down to a hole and give a good whiff- and I can't smell fish, a mink with his nose inches off the ground isn't going to notice it much either- unless right up to it and then the pocket is as much an atractant as the bait is.
I've never seen a "bump" when baiting with fish in cold- like I do with rats or lure.
Am I right in assuming most of you that like fish all season and have success with it- are trapping before ice up and not in real cold?
Take Gerald for example- he uses 99% baited pockets. But his trapping is done in northern, central MN and often is a season of only 2-3 weeks.
We're turning this into a minky type of thread- so let me ramble. Its funny how one sets his style of minking. Growing up- coon were very rare- good houndmen would get 15-20 a year- and many a night never struck a track. The same areas now that abound with coon. My Dads style was blind sets, a few unbaited pockets, and his riffle set- when he could have used bait with little chance of coons if he had wanted. I imagine this was from growing up 20 years earlier where coon were more of a factor on the Delta Fur Farm (now national refuge)...
so he blind set and I blind set....
When I started getting serious about mink- I started setting pockets and blind sets (mainly step arounds, under roots and banks). I found that for me- for whatever reason- the blind sets were far, far outproducing my baited pockets. So I made less pockets and more blind sets...checking daily, coon weren't a problem. When I starting running 3 day checks- coon were a concern so baited pockets became a controll thing for coon. and I still catch a few mink on them- but still, not very many.
about then is when I started making "blind pocket" sets-(not quite accurate description, but close). I use it in deeper water situations- where the bank is a good grassy bank and looks productive, but the water is stright up and down on the bank to a depth of a foot or more. I go to where I'd LIKE a natural shelf to be- and carve out a small shelf- and then make a small pocket going off the center of that- the shelf is carved in a curve- and I find them excellent producers throughout the winter- no bait, although when very cold, I'll strick some mink lure or a chopped up mink gland, a rat here and there. btw- if you aren't saving every mink gland you get- start. Easiest gland to collect- very obvious under the tail. Cut so a little fat on them and you won't break them. I like to use them fresh or semi dried.
I'm curious to know how you formed your style of mink trapping
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Post by fishadict on May 3, 2005 16:51:40 GMT -6
Steve - Our season closes Dec 31. Next year we will be able to trap mink until end of Feb.
fa
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Post by CoonDuke on May 3, 2005 17:21:05 GMT -6
Fallfish are in the minnow family (cyprinid). Closely related to the chub. It gets tubercules on it's head like chubs do. It is the largest native minnow in PA. Also, it is a pain in the azz for trout fishermen...LOL.
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Post by NittanyLion on May 3, 2005 18:14:47 GMT -6
I do not use much bait for mink but, if I could only use one bait it would be:
female mink.
In my trapping area (Central PA) I don't use bait until the temperatures drop, the colder the better.
TroutDuke will have me trying something new this coming season. BTW, the PA mink season will be open in 200 days, time to get ready. ;D
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Post by Furhandler on May 3, 2005 18:22:11 GMT -6
I do not use much bait for mink but, if I could only use one bait it would be: female mink. In my trapping area (Central PA) I don't use bait until the temperatures drop, the colder the better. TroutDuke will have me trying something new this coming season. BTW, the PA mink season will be open in 200 days, time to get ready. ;D NL: Would you use 1 whole female mink or half would do, I'm thinking the anal half would have the most attraction due to the glands?
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Post by NittanyLion on May 3, 2005 18:35:45 GMT -6
I cut them in half, and so far you are right about the anal half. I should go on record as saying this. I do not feel I have caught enough mink using bait to make a determination of what bait is best. I've used male mink, female mink, and muskrats for bait. I would guess that I caught more mink using muskrat for bait but, then again I've used a lot more muskrats for bait than I used mink. I would say on a percentage basis, I have the highest success rate using female mink. Up until several years ago I did not use bait at all, for the past 3 or 4 years I've used more bait each year. I may go whole hog in the near future and really give the bait a big try. I think the bait is helping me catch more mink, I know the bait is helping me catch more coon. I also plan to expand my use of the bottom edge set in the next couple of years. That should put a smile on BK's face. ;D
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Post by Mallard on May 4, 2005 5:17:05 GMT -6
Have always thoght it's more of an eye appeal at the set once the mink approaches the pocket. Whether rat, fish, or mink...it seems to hold their attention a bit longer. On of my favorite eye appeals at a set is a whole cray fish 6 inches in, pointed out, and two big claws bent up in defencive position. I alway picture a mink not being able to refuse a fight for a meal. Now.....should you have allready caught that mink when he peeked? sure, but it doesn't hurt to keep him around working. Definately more coons using bait early on, but I get coons on bait/lure free pockets as well, although with a tad less frequency, so I figure what the heck. Now with coon prices the way they are, I'm thinking hard on no bait/lure in November.
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Post by Trapperman2 on May 4, 2005 22:00:04 GMT -6
When ever I see a mink post It gets my blood pumping,so here Is my 2 cents worth on mink baiting.I live In Michigans eastern UP.I have been a mink trapper for 30+ years and have tried alot of baits on mink.In my area no 1 Is smelt,no 2 Is whitefish.No 1 and 2 are early season baits.I use these baits from October 25 thur Nov.31 depending on the weather.If we get an early winter I go to plan 2.When winter comes I go to mink carcasses and pure mink glands.I haven`t found that It matters If there male or female,I catch mink on them at that time of the year.In the winter when the Ice Is on I make two pocket set per stream at spring seeps.One Is baited with mink the other Is made with pure mink gland lure that I make myself.I find that the gland lure really works well late In the season.The mink carcasses work real well late In the year,but don`t work early,when the weather Is warm.The best mink trapper that I ever met Is a guy named Bob Wilson from Sault Ste.Marie.His way of trapping mink was to use whitefish heads In a pocket set,with the head facing out with mink lure In the mouth.Run 400 traps and catch 100+ mink In 2 1/2 weeks.He would run traps twenty hours a day on three long traplines over a vast area.He taught me the value of using bait.So did my mother who was an real good dryset mink trapper.I have used alot of blind sets over the years on mink,but In the area that I trap,bait gets the mink year In and year out.Later Arlo
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Post by jim on May 5, 2005 6:01:48 GMT -6
Years ago i found where something(must have been a mink) had cached four or five chubs on the edge of a small creek. My mine says maybe if I use several small minnows or smelt a mink would act something like a dog at his food dish not really hungry but if another dog comes around he will hurry and clean up his dish. Used smelt for several years, they are hard to get now so went to whitefish, I guess the amount i catch stayed the same. I catch 50 to 60 a year in 2 to 3 weeks of time in the early season. I compare mink trapping to whietail rifle hunting, you have to get them in the first part of the season. If like Steve you had private land and streams that stayed open later in the year you could wait but on public land with competion you have to get them quick. Arlo, I trapped in the UP some to get the earlier opening date and met Bob Wilson up there, actually was a lot of competion at that time with mink selling in the $50 range. Jim
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