Jack Mackerel ?

[calvin]

No beav...took your word on the Pro coon...or your dogs reaction anyhow. Good enough for me.

TC, Didn't say it was "Natural". Don't know. It did taste good, though....real good. Like pancake syrup with berries in it. I immediately thought "now I need a stack of pancakes". Of course only a tad on my tongue just to get the flavor in case something in there that might kill me...as beav states.

Now, I/ve noticed Lenons rat lure has NO taste that I can tell (just slippery).

[trappnman]

I had no doubt you'd disagree beav- and well you should, as your experience on your line tells you what works for you.

All I can say, is I've tried both ways, and personally see no difference.

If your objection is that you cannot get lure/fish oil under the trigger- then you are wrong. its very certainly not only possible, but something I do all the time. holes in the bottom are mostly plugged up with JB weld- I set lots in water, and don't want that hole.

so if they get the procoon and fish oil taste, they are gone? why then, doesn't the squirt of fish oil and lure I run down either the set tree, or a nearby tree at about every set- or down the bank at water sets, not deter coon? and if its doing so, and I never saw tracks in snow to show me but lets assume- its not enough to matter.

the plain truth is, a lure that kicks in some response other than food, isn't a one time shot like bait often is- they WORK a set.

insofar as coon working the traps and not getting caught in Griz's, never been a problem for me. in my humble opinion I believe its because they KEEP working, trying to get the source of that smell.

and if given a either or choice of lure and bait for coon, I would not even hesitate, to choose lure.

heck, i did that even without being forced.....

but each to their own, and as ChrisM says, if it works for you, then you are doing it right.

it works for me.

[calvin]

Like said, what works for one doesn't always work for the next guy. Many factors that change with the years or location or whatever. The debate is a good one, however.

3 years ago I was trapping the local river along beside one other guy...who catches very well. Knowing we were both going to be using pockets primarily I decided to take a different approach. I also knew he baited his pockets with fish...So I went strictly lure in those pockets W/O bait. Now, we had pockets at the same locations...many closer to each other than 2 guys should. After check #2 it was real apparent that I was WAY behind on the numbers... Talking 8-10:1 stuff. Started chucking fish in the pockets and back to about 50/50. Now, one can always argue the wrong lure (I think I used 2 different lures as 2 pockets per location) or that-that lure per that particular year wasn't the ticket. However, I didn't have time to sit and try and figure it out as the coon were getting thinned out fast by my competition so went back to the fish. I have learned that coon can be very finicky. More so than many give them credit for, SOME years or time of year.

Last fall I had some real finicky coon or so I thought: Wouldn't work a DP or even a pipe. Tracks up to the pipe then walk off. I was using some older homemade baits...in different flavors. I had switched out 4 or 5 baits and had a friend do the same with limited results. Just pawned it off as not hungry or whatever. As the year progressed (far too late of course) I realized they were very interested in the fresh chunked suckers with some shellfish in the pipe, some w/o. This produced where my baits with and without lure did nothing.

This year trapping some coon in a sweet corn field I decided to test my bait against a smoke fish bait I bought at the convention. . Apparently I wasn't bright enough to toss them out last fall. Two DPs side by side at several locations with my bait in one and the commercial bait in the other. Every coon that was caught was on the commercial smoked salmon bait that was palatable. Left a little on the rim of the DP just to get him started. Mine smelled good, too...just didn't produce.

I have heard the statement that you can't mess up coon bait. Well I can. I/ll stick to fish, ground fish strictly as a base. I have found canned cat food (in fish flavor) to be a real winner (for me) as well...cheap, effective and sticky. Even in barge traffic I have found that cat food holds up pretty well.

[blackhammer]

Sept 17, 2011 20:53:02 GMT -6 calvin said:

No beav...took your word on the Pro coon...or your dogs reaction anyhow. Good enough for me.

TC, Didn't say it was "Natural". Don't know. It did taste good, though....real good. Like pancake syrup with berries in it. I immediately thought "now I need a stack of pancakes". Of course only a tad on my tongue just to get the flavor in case something in there that might kill me...as beav states.

Now, I/ve noticed Lenons rat lure has NO taste that I can tell (just slippery).

Calvin you have got to quit eating all these lures.You are going to puke. :)I actually wondered about Lenons rat lure which I have used on coon.Now I know

[thebeav2]

so if they get the procoon and fish oil taste, they are gone? why then, doesn't the squirt of fish oil and lure I run down either the set tree, or a nearby tree at about every set- or down the bank at water sets, not deter coon? and if its doing so, and I never saw tracks in snow to show me but lets assume- its not enough to matter.

Because It's a call lure In that case they aren't EATING It. If you go back and read my post you will see where I'm using a lure In that same way but It's NOT In the trap.

I would be a bit hesitant to fill up the drain holes In the DP. I can see freeze up problems In wet and cold weather.

When I set In the water the trap doesn't actually set In the water. I set mine like a fish stick type set with the trap out of the water by 4or 5 Inches. You can either zip tie the trap to a stake to accomplish this or you can a make snap ring out of a piece of 1 1/2 PVC. To do this cut 2" long segments of pipe then cut out about 1 1/4 slot In the side now you have a piece of PVC that looks like letter C. Now you can bolt or pop rivet your snap ring to a wood stake or a angle iron stake. This stake Is just used for stabilizing the trap. With this system you can keep the trap out away from the bank and you can adjust the height off the waters surface. You can also jam It In the bank so you can place the trap In the horizontal position. The nice thing about making the fish stick type set Is your lure/bait Is leaking out of the trap and leaving a oil slick on the water.

The more I use these traps the better I like them. I think they might just re place my foot holds In the water. And I was never a pocket setter for coon just to much work for the results. The only reason they won't replace my 160 trail sets Is I still like DEAD coon along the roads. There are lots of places I will use them along with the 160 just due to the fact that you get a fair amount of refusals In those wide open trail sets.

[thebeav2]

Calvin you have got to quit eating all these lures.You are going to puke. :)I actually wondered about Lenons rat lure which I have used on coon.Now I know

Black hammer there was a big run on lenons rat lure after Arnold Groehlers rat demo and I got some , but I was not impressed with the odor strength. It's probably because It's blended with a petroleum base product which hinders the release of the main Ingredient. Never was to impressed with Lenons lures. But will give It a try.

But I'm not eating any

[blackhammer]

Beav why don't you just set them on the bank?In an ideal situation I would use the dps for coon,colonies or conibears for the rats,and a pocket set or two later to pick up the mink, at each location.This isn't always practical but it is my mindset as a general rule.And of course I love those dead coon in conibears as well.A perfect spot on a small ditch or stream would have a couple dps on each bank,a colony in the channel, a pocket or two and maybe a high bank 220.

[trappnman]

beav- its a call lure, but the SAME in the pipe or pocket or griz- so what is avaiable to them on the bank, or tree- is "free", yet, they go to the set-

there was a period, when I tried most of the popular coon lures, and found them to have varying success rates. Nothing i used, even approached the success I had when I tried Hardcore- a bitter bitter lure i'd imagine to taste, yet Hardcore outproduced all the others by a longshot, and i thoguht I'd found thel ure I'd use til I died. but it had one bad property- it gave out little scent, when temps were below freezing. But even so- was still the best I had used.

Procoon is the same type of lure, but will not freeze- and that put procoon into a whole different class.

my honest opinion, is that edible is more of a concern for trappers, than coon.

as far as plugging drain holes and freezing- not been a problem

[calvin]

I don't have much experience with Lenons rat lure. I tried some in SD this spring but that's a different deal and doubt any lure had much in the way of catch increase. "Heard" it was a decent coon lure. Have used it on squirrels pretty successfully, however. Yes a slippery petro/vaseline type base. Lost the jar cap on the rat lure in SD this spring. Rained most days. In the morning I would just dump the water out of top of the jar. The base never thinned as the water just beaded on top. I can see benefits of this type consistency.

I sell my skunk musk to Asa so have a pile of his lures. His Natures call lures (On scent posts) and his Bobcat past lure work really well on coyotes for me. I wouldn't have got the Bobcat lure. He sent it to me and said "try it". Now I have enough for two lifetimes. Some things you never want to run out of.

[trappincoyotes39]

Beav not impressed with Leonons lures?

His bobcat lure is awsome stuff and so are his coyote all call lure. Doesn't need to be over bearing as a coyotes nose is far better than either of us can imagine. I have caught coyotes in sheep pastures with it. His coon lure is great and plenty of good talk on his rat lure. These lures have stood the test of time for many,many years. Same with Laugmans lures not many are over powering but some of them are top notch for sure.

I too will be using his muskrat lure this year, haven't rat trapped in years but will be using it as it works. The best rat lure I have ever found was Victors rat lure amazing stuff and super long lasting, but no where to be found anywhere. Same with the victor coon lure the rest of it not so amazing but those two I wish I could find it I would buy it by the quart!!!!

[trappincoyotes39]

Chris thanks for the idea next grocery store trip I will buy some mackerel and grind and add glycol and try it on the daggers as well. Cheap enough and close locations should work well, I mixed some procoon with fish oil a little goes along ways, some lure get washed out by fish oil not so with procoon and I also mixed up some hard core with fish oil. F&T had fish oil last month for 13.95 a gallon that should go quite aways.

[robertw]

TC39,
Get some of Leggetts rat lure, (I think) it is the same stuff / recipe developed by Pete Askins.

[thebeav2]

it Is what It Is 39 I have trapped a fair amount of coyotes for the live market and Lenons lures just didn't do It for me.
I'll let you know how the rat lure works. It just doesn't have a very strong odor. Now Dobbins rat lure at least has some glands In It. But we will see how It compares to my own rat lure.

[ChrisM]

Your welcome 39 but not my idea. I got it from a fellow with many thousands of coons in DP's

Never used Lennons rat lure, but have had excellent results with both his coyote and cats lures. I hate the runny consistency though!

[trappincoyotes39]

chris I too didn't like the break down when warmer I have added lanolin to various lures to thicken them up, doesn't seem to change the ability of the lures and makes them thicker. I have done it with various makers with good results. The latest was carmens circle maker lure, added a little lanolin awhile back and made a nice differance didn't run all over my hands and still caught coyotes. Lenons is good stuff for sure.

Robert W so Leggets muskrat lure you think is the same receipe as the old victor rat lure? I will be getting ahold of some and see then, I can remember the color and smell of the victor stuff that was some awsome lure for sure. Super long lasting and very pungant.

So is the sweet coon lure he makes also from Pete A or something of his own accord? I remember the victor coon lure intense smell and if you got it on your hands even a drop or two you could smell if for a few days. Very dark colored and oily had tremendous staying power. Caught alot of coons and was good on grey fox too.

[mustelameister]

Interesting discussion.

There's an older fella in the area that bought a couple dozen Grizzs several years ago, then bought another 2 dozen the next.

Last year he added Duke DPs to his arsenal.

Anyway, his mojo for 'coon on river banks is a chunk of carp (obtained earlier in the year, chunked, frozen, thawed for the trapline) under the trigger and a shot of Kaatz Ulti-Mag Cherry oil on top of that. And another piece of carp on top of the trigger.

He doesn't seem to care whether or not it leaks out the bottom when asked.

He did take to sliding pieces of surgical tubing over the trigger after I suggested that might increase percentages. Haven't talked to him since last season to find out if that upped his catch or not.

For what it's worth.

[blackhammer]

Lenon's canine lures have a great reputation.I have used it and still have a bunch and thought it was fine.But I;m not a big canine trapper.I have used his rat lure over the years but who knows if lure catches you more rats.But it is a good coon lure.I like handling the paste type lures.

[trappnman]

mike- at my coon demo last week, A guy mentioned a possible problem, with the tubes.

I've never had it happen, but he said it happened to him- where the tube came partially off the trigger, and got wedged against the trap wall by a coon, trap didn't fire, and he had a heck of a time getting it freed up.

so something to keep in mind to check that they are on good, and maybe only cover 2/3rds of the trigger. I definitely feel it makes a difference, esp when not using any thing solid in the trap.

[thebeav2]

The problem I see Is getting the tubing all the way on the trigger. It's a tough job sticking It on from the mouth of the trap.

But with the Beavs new and improved Duke Dp design It's real easy. It also makes baiting and cleaning a piece of cake.

[trappnman]

back in the heyday of water trapping on the upper mississippi pools, with muskrat lures like victors, hawbeakers, lennns available, none of the marsh trappers used lure. There was simply no need for it- a rats not like a canine step once and gone, that little bugger touches the same places hundreds of times over an evening. its not that rat lure doesn't work- its that it doesn't give you any more rats. Rats WILL be attracted to it, but that same rat would be caught whether that lure was present or not. In my opinion, of course.

I have not run spring rat floats- so if rk or calvin, kelly would tell me it made a huge difference in side by side unlured vs lured sets, I'd not disagree.

but fall/winter open water marsh, river and stream trapping, 50+ years of rat trapping says it does not matter.