Slow going lately on the line

The last couple days have left me scrambling for new areas for both rats and coon. The water levels dropped 2 nights ago and left traps high and dry and also making areas difficult to get to. One of my better producing areas is quickly running out of water and I ended up pulling all the traps from there. I suppose I could still get in there, but it would be a lot of pulling the boat through knee deep muck. So, today was a day of desperately looking for areas that are not being used heavily by duck hunters and also areas that do not already have traps from other guys. The last 2 days I have managed 7 rats a day and that is not good enough.

The coon line is up and down. If I could figure these river coon out on a more consistent basis, I would hang the rat traps up and concentrate more on the coon until ice up. It seems the coon are running in areas that are all but impossible to hold. What I mean by that is, the ground is to wet and soft and I can’t get a stake in the ground that will hold them until I get there.
I kick myself everyday for selling my Beavertail mud motor. If I still had that I could get into a lot more places that I can now.
Hopefully tomorrow will bring a few pictures of some river coon. The rat numbers will be pretty low tomorrow since I have half of the traps in the boat waiting to be set somewhere tomorrow.

Wats you should toss your shot gun in the boat and poke some of those big flocks of Mallards that are swinging ya!

Well, even with constantly trying to find previously untrapped areas as well as areas that I can actually get the boat into, the last few days have been terrible as far as catch rates go. Today was the worst by far with only 3 rats being caught. I think I am going to pull everything this Friday to take a break and regroup. I may even have to wait until the ice forms to make another run at it.
Beaver opens on Dec. 3 and I do have a goal of catching 2 beaver this year. Since this will be my first year attempting to trap beaver, it should be interesting. As long as the ice doesn’t get here by then, I have 4 colonies I have been watching and the sign looks good. The next challenge will be getting there before the other trappers do.

Man the ice came quick in the backwaters. Open Thursday froze pretty good by Sat. am ………….

Hope that does nt hinder ya

I have the line pulled for now. I was seriously contemplating putting the traps back out today. But, after looking at the forecast, I may be better off waiting until the ice gets here.

Today…Partly cloudy. Highs around 35. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight…Mostly cloudy. A chance of snow in the evening…then a slight chance of snow after midnight. Lows 10 to 15. West winds 5 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 40 percent.

Tuesday…Partly cloudy. Scattered flurries in the morning. Highs around 25. North winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the east in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night…Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Lows around 15. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Wednesday…Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs around 25. South winds 10 mph shifting to the west in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night…Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Scattered flurries. Lows around 10 above.

Thursday And Thursday Night…Partly cloudy. Highs around 25. Lows 5 to 10.

Friday Through Saturday Night…Mostly clear. Highs 20 to 25. Lows around 5 above.

Sunday…Mostly sunny. Highs around 20.

This should put around a 1″ to a 1.5″ of ice on the smaller ponds around home. Might even get out this weekend?

Temps like that should put walkable ice on any pond by Sunday.

I had the boat all loaded up with traps for a run this morning. That was done yesterday when it was a nice warm day. Then I looked at the weather forecast last night and the sick feeling swept over me. I can’t stand the fact that it is trapping season and my traps are not in the water. But after going through what I did last year with thin ice, I may be better to wait for good ice.
Last year while using the duck skiff, I carried a push pole, paddle, axe, and 2 rebar spikes. I needed every one of those tools just to get to the traps I was able to slide on good ice for awhile, then I would break through and then have to use either the push pole or the paddle to get back to the good ice. Once I got to the edge of the good ice, I used the axe to stick in the ice and pull myself and the skiff back on the ice. By then I was usually saoked with sweat and I hadn’t even got to the traps yet I may play it a little smarter this year though
The way it looks, my shot at beaver trapping this year are pretty much done. If the ice is solid by Dec.3rd, I don’t think I will be able to get to where I had intended to trap. The air boats will once again have the place to themselves