? for steve and other winter coon trappers

[mattduncan]

well we've been blessed by the lake effect erely this year 10-12 inches wet snow on top of near a week of heavy rain large waterways are just starting to recede smaller ditches are almost back to normal levels with nighttime lows in the 20's and teens how would you go about setting up a coon line and how much movement do you see during weather like this

[garman]

I have not trapped winter coon as much as Gappa, but let me tell ya they do run just not near as much. Set closer to dens and open water, use good bait and lure, 220 buckets work, watersets work, and when you get a warm up, especially one that you hear water drip all night...get prepared to skin. Not to push someones lures but...I liked Blackies blend fatal attraction bait as well as his boars delight lure in colder and later season. I am also sure that there are other lures that work just as well. Pockets sets, t-post sets in shallows work great that time of year.

[mattduncan]

thats kinda what i figured on doin garman i'm hopin for one of those nights like your talkin about i guess i'll go and start rebuildin a line tommorw

[trappnman]

the first cold and the first snow- big snow that is- usually shuts them down- its like the first shock of winter......

but they will move again, and they will move quicker I believe after each cold/warm spell.

and once that snow gets a crust, they will move more

open water near denning areas- thats key for me- I have sets freeze up, sometimes for a week or more before I can get them open (legal here, under ice no check limit) but when I can keep them open, they produce.

but a caution- you won't take big numbers this way unless you got a few concentration hotspots- but in addition to mink, rats, beaver etc- they provide a steady stream of fur- slow, but steady

Once the true shutdown period starts- this is just a bump- dec and jan- I firmly believe that bait lacks appeal, and best to go with loud smelly lures- even coyote/fox urine is a good winter coon lure, skunky lures as well

[mr. finch]

skunky? really? i would have never geussed that one. but that makes sense i geuss

[walkingstick]

two winters ago we had an open winter and not bitter temps. I caught a good number of big boar coon on ridges in cat and yote sets.....I had a cat permit that year....coon were my biggest catch....Mac~

[mr. finch]

once sets freeze in the ice do you bust them back open again? or do you just move to water that is allready open?

[trappnman]

the secret is to set whwere the waer stays open the longest- on banks facing the sun; in deeper faster edge water; pipesi nstead of pockets, etc.

you need creeks that have some open water at all times- those creeks that freeze solid with 10 inches of ice, forget them. Not necesarily open water where you are setting all the time, but you need running water to reopen streams.

a few years running a winter line, wil show you what areas stay open-

now, you need these open areas to be somewhat close- and close can mean 1/2 mile or more depending on the area- to wintering areas. THese CAN be denning areas, but not always.

if its ice on a contiunuing real cold spell- you can either pull or leave until it opens- seldmon does it go longer than a week, until I can bust the ice- Bust the ice in as big a section as you want or can- make the set obvious in the middle- spash the snow until its bare bank around set..........

[mr. finch]

do you feel pvc out produces pocket sets?

[trappnman]

no- but pvc has 2 advantages- the pockets don't crumble- a problem here on some creeks with freeze/thaw-

A pipe stays open longer with no dead water in a pocket-

[thebeav2]

Small streams large streams they will all have some shelf Ice along the banks when it gets cold enough. In shallow streams use PVC and place traps between the shelf Ice and the pipe. The shelf Ice acts as a guide. This system will keep you going a lot longer then depending On pockets.
If your not dealing with shelf Ice use both methods.

[trappnman]

Small streams large streams they will all have some shelf Ice along the banks when it gets cold enough.

100% false in my country-


I have at least 11-12 creeks locations that it can be 25 below, and absolutely no ice on the water-

when 36-38 degree spring water is majority of flow- it doesn't freeze

[thebeav2]

Well when you don't have spring feed creeks and most of your streams flow through shaded areas you do have shelf Ice. We don't all live In the Banana belt Of MN. So most of us will encounter shelf Ice If we stay at It long enough.

[mr. finch]

Nov 21, 2008 19:46:49 GMT -6 trappnman said:

no- but pvc has 2 advantages- the pockets don't crumble- a problem here on some creeks with freeze/thaw-

A pipe stays open longer with no dead water in a pocket-

easy way to fix the hole falling apart is to save up all the empty toliet paper rolls and wax them when you are doing your traps put them in your pockets to keep them from falling in and the will degrade on there own since its all natrual

[mountainman]

I like to find those good spring locations on creeks and on the big water. They produce and seem to have an attraction for otters but then otters are attracted to the mink gland lure I use in some of those locations.

The Magicians Steve hooked me up with, back when he was still selling them, will work very nicely when I can get them in on vertical structure w/ or w/o shelf ice. I made up a number of 52" & 70" rerod stakes to use w/ them. The tall stakes should do well in deep water locations that can be set with waders. So many times I passed up those locations when it wasnt possible to build up a shelf.

[mountainman]

Some of my pockets tend to crumble in freezing weather. I try to dig into solid banks and clean up the outside edge good enough to prevent most of that. Sometimes I place a few rocks to divert the current so they dont wash out.

With proposals scheduled for no limit coon and otter seasons in WNC I may be making more changes soon. I'll start saving scrap pvc and keep the tile spade handy for when it might get more use. This season I may get a limited number of coons in another district and will mostly set 110s for mink to avoid coons where they cant be taken. I just got through tagging 74 new 110 Dukes and I'm about finished going over the rest of the outfit.

[trappnman]

Im sure I don't have the only spring fed creeks in the world- but all I said, was NOT ALL-

[mattduncan]

steve how much snow do you have when you're running your winter line ?

[RiverRat]

I believe that a good prepared bait with antifreeze is very attractive. A frozen hunk of fish or meat is not. I often add a good shot of fox urine to my fish oil mix. This seems to really pick up the catch on cold nghts.

[trappnman]

agreeo n the fox urine-

snow- varies from a few inches to a few feet- snows not really the problem, its the density- a crust over the snow- and it doesn't matter