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Post by coalking on Dec 13, 2007 18:40:28 GMT -6
Bad ice came early this year to southern Iowa. What do some of you folks use to bait your conibears under the ice? Coalking
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Post by thorsmightyhammer on Dec 13, 2007 19:08:52 GMT -6
Whats your definition of bad ice.
If you have any aspen or what we call popple its hard to beat for a bait. Better yet if the rivers and streams are mostly lined with willow, ash or cottonwood. Popple is like candy to them,
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Post by coalking on Dec 13, 2007 20:14:20 GMT -6
I'm sorry I am trapping rats. Bad ice for me is cloudy, mixed with snow, covered with rain , freezing again, so you can't see what's going on. coalking
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Post by foxtail on Dec 13, 2007 22:28:32 GMT -6
In other words, regular ice.
The only time I ever see that awesome, clear ice it the crap I have to bust up to get my traps back after one of those wonderfull cold snaps that ends my season.
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Post by mountainman on Dec 14, 2007 1:20:19 GMT -6
I always used a slice of apple on the trigger of 110s, run a long forked stake through the spring, staked in the bank under the ice and tried to set between dens and feeding areas where the most traffic is. Where rats are feeding and traveling bits of cattail root or whatever they're feeding on will float to the surface. After a while air pockets build up under the ice where they swim the most. In my area the ice never gets real thick so usually isn't safe to walk on.
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Post by irnhdmike on Dec 14, 2007 7:22:10 GMT -6
Apple or carrots or parsnip for rats. For beaver try a piece of white PVC.
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Post by thebeav2 on Dec 14, 2007 8:41:19 GMT -6
Styrofoam works, It all ways stays bright white while the other baits mentioned will lose their color after a short time under water.
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Post by mountainman on Dec 14, 2007 9:51:07 GMT -6
I always wondered about using an artificial bait. A trapper I met in the boom told me pieces of plastic from milk jugs would work and rats couldnt smell anything underwater.
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Post by primetime on Dec 14, 2007 9:53:54 GMT -6
I've tried the styrofoam and it works. Not great, but as good as apples or the like. So actually it worked better, because you didn't need to keep refreshing it. Like beav says it will stay white.
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WIF
Tenderfoot...
Posts: 17
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Post by WIF on Dec 14, 2007 9:56:40 GMT -6
My boys and I have run into the same situation - cloudy, thick ice earlier than previous years for under ice rat trapping with 110's. In good years with clear ice, we run 110's in trails (bubble trails) and den entrances through the ice. Last year was about as easy as it gets, this year about as difficult as it gets. We have some success with baited 110's using baby carrots. Much higher success ratio with the baited 110 placed near feeder huts versus den huts. Even with this, the catches per trap is much lower than with clear ice and non-baited sets in bubble trails. Lots of work for marginal reward (especially for $2 to $3 rats), but I figure it beats having them in front of the TV or video game. My 7 year old daughter probably enjoys rat trapping through the ice the most as she watches us chisel the ice and waits to see if we've caught one.
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Post by mountainman on Dec 14, 2007 10:02:54 GMT -6
Apples do have to be changed out regularly or lose their color. I'll try some styrofoam and white plastic next time. Back in those younger days I tended to stick with the first thing that worked.
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Post by gcs on Dec 14, 2007 14:07:09 GMT -6
You guys must have hungrier rats, I've never caught a rat in a baited conibear , ice or no ice, Oh I've tried, ... apples, potato's, parsnips, lure, no lure, but nothing, not even a snapped trap.
I'd catch them in runs, etc, but never with bait or lure, go figure, lol.
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Post by trappnman on Dec 14, 2007 14:12:56 GMT -6
gcs, me too- I've caught them, but such a low % that I gave it up.
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Post by musher on Dec 14, 2007 15:18:23 GMT -6
Or the trap is sprung and empty.
I've never seen clear ice - except in a drink Even then there's some cloud in the ice cube.
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Post by trappnman on Dec 14, 2007 15:31:08 GMT -6
I've never seen clear ice
I've seen it a couple of times- once as a kid, it froze solid crystal clear, and dad took all us kids ice skating as he checked unerice rat traps. We could see rats, fish, turtles swimming below- really cool. I remember "dad, dad..theres a rat over here.."
like he could do something..
and he'd say "we'll get him tomorrow..."
man, my one regret is dad died before I got into yotes- he'd love it!
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Post by PAskinner on Dec 14, 2007 18:46:24 GMT -6
I've caught a few by using a half ear of corn on the trigger of a 160. Also got a few beaver that way using a 330, only wiring a whole ear to the bottom jaw.
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Post by trappnman on Dec 14, 2007 20:40:39 GMT -6
tried that- good mallard set.
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Post by foxtail on Dec 14, 2007 21:01:21 GMT -6
tried that- good mallard set. That's great. Too bad we can't do that with these damned geese.
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Post by trappnman on Dec 14, 2007 21:07:21 GMT -6
went to a creek yesterday- hundreds of honkers getting up 14-20 feet away.. late goose season, but you can't hunt them on water? Huh?
Had to release a few during the otter program- a real wet, splashin pain in the butt that is....
once you got their wings in that one hand 2 wing grip, they were ok- but they sure can beat you up
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Post by coalking on Dec 15, 2007 6:46:53 GMT -6
Thanks for all the good info.. About twenty years ago I used strips of Chlorox jugs on the triggers of 220's. 110's didn't seem to work. I had great success. Not working this year. Corn is not working either. Back to the bad ice. We usually get a good start and then this mess. This year started a mess. Also this is the first year in many we had any rain to fill the farm ponds. So we have rats. And it is better then doing nothing. By the way I did get an inch of good clear ice this week . It's on the trees that are on my house, in my yard, and on the power lines that are on the ground. Coalking
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