long chains in water

[trappnman]

have had little experience with these- my main setups are drowners for coon, but have such rocky relatively shallow creeks that it takes a lot of effort to set up be it weights, stakes, bags, etc. my best alternative has been heavy coyote drags on 8-10 feet of chain, but then you still have the weight to carry, and any beaver/otter you could be in trouble- works great however for rats/mink/coon.
so this year decided to use staked long chains for locations where I expected good coon numbers.

so far, am very pleased- my setup is 10 feet of #3 chain, and then a 30" rebar- chain is on stake simply with a universal

it allows me great latitude in where to stake, and by leaving head of stake up a couple of inches, I'm getting lots of dead coon tangled up at the stake- simple matter to unwind chain and reset.

I'm thinking I might change to this on all my coon orientated sets (I still like fiberglass posts or rebar pushed down flush with bottom depending on creek and area, been using them for 25 years now for rats/mink) next year

any others got experience with such> yea or nay in long run?

[wayne]

seen a guys set up with chains and all the sets were damaged fur broken legs high on the leg , i suppose if done right for coon it would work but this guys sets were to say the least deplorable . i love a good clean kill animal dispatches itself and its all good . may take alot of time to set up and not as many sets available . you will have to show pictures before i leave the drowning sets .  better add mostly i have to check them late in the day into the dark so choices are made how long do i want the animal in the trap .  you know what i am saying if i could check in the am every day i could use different sets more often .

[wayne]

thanks steve got the concept now . guess i am gonna have to give it a try , next season. thanks for the advise will post pics if i get one .

[trappnman]

good luck Wayne- you might hope you don't catch a coyote because you might get hooked!

[blackhammer]

I at times in the water will use long chains and drags. Coon don't get far or anything else usually. Two problems, frozen ground they will get farther and may be hard to find, they get in burdocks. Early season coon don't usually get ten yards Another issue could be a coon taking trap on private ground. I have a hodgepodge of conditions to stake in. Use drags, rerod, drowning rods. Really hard when you have straight rock to stake and if you can it is very slow to get sets in. I like lots of chain . For the most part thogh a line of pocket sets with drags , can be set in a hurry. Of course mink or rats don.t move the drag.
Bud Hall the great Iowa minker used a drag he also shoved in like a stake. Drags really save on the wear and tear on the body that pounding stakes all day does and I don't believe I have lost a trap and drag all year. Once in a blue moon you may have a coon get a ways from the set and pullout and make the trap impossible to find. But a stake gets pulled once in a great while as well/
Checking daily foot damage no problem. Three day checks on rocky creeks is a problem no matter what you try. Late season many times I got a real good idea where and when coon will run. For rats and mink drags sure are slick on those winter creek rat lines.

[trappnman]

I use multiple things as well, but would like to simplify to 1 method, that covers all bases, and involves the least labor possible. Making ever setup I have in water a true cable drowning set either staked/weighed is a lot of work, and a lot of stuff to haul around.

I'd most likely use lot more drags in water, if I had a lot of drags, but I don't have a great many. All small creek types- and never where I had beaver because I thought might get tangled up too deep. out of sight, etc. But on those small rocky streams, they are ideal. I run 10-12 feet on the drags, and am able to loop the drag around brush or something on shore- allowing plenty of chain to easily drown rats/mink.

I've never used drowning rods, considered them, but overall thinking of the type of locations I had, they would be difficult to use. for examples a staple of my water line is sheer banks, and any rod would have to be into the bank- and then its there til spring. But I can see in the right areas, or maybe even in most areas, they would be the ticket.

another factor is I walk almost all my water lines. Typical is park, walk several hundred yards to the creek, and then walk down the creek varying distances. Even with both of us, its a lot of stuff to carry. Drags are nice because you each take 4-5 in a bucket, and its an easy set up.

I am using the long chains in one set up. Its a place where I usually catch a doz or so coon, a mink or two and a few rats- overall, a nice stop. I was wishing I had more drags, to make this a drag stop, but had them all keyed for other spots, so decided on trying the long chain. I used rerad, with just a universal on it, stretched out as far into the water as I could- in 5 checks, have taken 6 coon, all but 1 dead- some wrapped around the stake (I left them about 4" up so swivel would work). and that one was just caught and was in the water. no foot damage, 1.5 traps. and I would think that while it might not drown an otter, it would certainly keep him there because otter are the strongest thing I've seen when trapped, they will pull coon stake setups that no coon or beaver would ever move

I'm encouraged enough to try more next year- primarily in stops where coon are a possibility- pure rat/mink I still like the fiberglass poles

[blackhammer]

For walking in late season rats trapping I'll many times grab four traps and drags and maybe a colony trap. Set them ,drive down the road and do something similar at the next spot and so on. Works really well but much more fun when those rats were all a ten dollar bill. Still it nice peaceful trapping and many times I would rather not even catch a coon and mostly won't set for them. Like you Tman I have an inventory of locations I know really well. Must say this rat boom really honed my skills and knowledge of muskrats.

[Trapperman2]

I have been running long chain for almost 40 years.I run 3-5 feet of chain with 3 swivels.I was using this setup for longlining mink,but I caught a pile of coon,otter,and a few beaver.The only time I have a loss when the coon could get a hold of something soild on the bank. Watch out for those otter on 5 foot of chain there a lot of fun to deal with.Arlo

[trap4fun]

I trap mostly from my canoe and don't have beaver or otter on this stream, my standard set up is 6 feet of welded chain with a 3/8th grapple drag. mink and rats are usually on the bottom. I still stake them when I can, even in the rocky stream bottoms I was surprised that the rerod goes in but they do and don't have to do much to hold since the critters pull from the side.

[trappnman]

Those results go hand and hand with what I've been finding. Matter of fact, just set up a few weds, and had 2 coon yesterday on them and thought again, this is the way to go.

[braveheart]

I would be all long chain except traps have to be on a drowning device for a more than 1 day check in Iowa.

[trappnman]

our law here Marty is a little more lienient- it states "traps that are capable of drowning" can be checked every 3 days. by staking st out from the set, and leaving the top 4-5 inches of stake off the bottom, most all (but not 100%) are dead when I get there.