Except the 1/2 submerged thing....we do a lot alike bogmaster.

Daniel, like you I always try to find deeper water if possible to set up half-submerged 330's. Sometimes it just isn't possible though. Also like you, I usually try to camo the trap as much as possible. Long grass and brush tops work good. Although I know it isn't always necessary to camouflage them, there's just something that bugs me too about an obvious 330.
K. I usually only use straight castor these days when I know I have a shy beaver.

good to know. i just relured some shy'd ones today with straight juice.. maybe have one tomorra

The other thing I hate about a long shallow approach is that you end up with a beaver laying for the world to see....including buzzards, cats, and other beavers.

I much prefer they were under a couple feet of water...but it doesn't always work out the way I plan it!

you guys got any shy'd beaver summer tips for me?????

i am in the middle of a lake job now and they're kick me arse

Daniel,while my half submerged 330 may be in shallow water,many are in 2,3 or even 4 feet of water.
Tom

Mine too Tom. I never let deep water keep me from making a set in a good location, even with 330's. I usually try to put in footholds when the water is deep enough to drown, but someplaces you just can't get one in. Those deep channels, instead of putting in a dive stick and blocking it off above and below, I just set one half-submerged. Seems to work just as well as blocking the whole thing off. As long as they can see through it, they will go through it without diving. They don't know the bottom jaws of the trap are there anyway, so why should they dive? It's a whole lot easier and quicker to do it that way too. I've come to especially like the MB1216's in the wide channels.

Thats what I love about making castor mounds and using 330's--water depth is seldom an issue--as it can be with footholds.I also like dictating to the beavers,as to where I will catch them.
Better to be a dictator,than being dictated to.
Tom

Yep, totally agree Tom.

Lot's of times I've caught them in the spring in flooded grass and cattails with nothing more than a gob of lure on a cattail or grass tuft, with a half-submerged 330 a couple feet front of it. In some of the lakes and rivers I trap that's all you can do to get a set in.

Miller,

Unless you tried it already...footholds and bait! I go through this with trapping for the townships here all the time. I never know who was trying before me so the beaver may laugh at a 330 set no matter what type or how deep you set it up.

Blind sets with footholds will work too. Sometimes it is hard to find a good location with enough water for the drowning wire though.

Good Luck!

That is all i use never had any better luck with commercial lure than with just castor.

If I run into beaver that know what a 330 is, I keep my castor mounds (with 330's) lured,and hide totally submerged 330s in access points to my castor mounds.Even though the beaver may know what those 330s are at my castor mounds--they cannot resist checking them out on a regular basis.That is where your hidden sets shine.
Tom

Tom,

I'm talking specifically about a shallow approach, with the 330 on bottom, and half sticking above water. That set has proven to be a marginal producer on my line. It's also more work to camoflage, and more likely to leave the beaver sitting where it can be accessed by other critters. I much prefer a deeper approach.

Also, even when setting a deeper approach or channel...what do I need 5" of 330 above the water line for? Beavers don't swim with half their body in and 1/2 out of the water. When I see a beaver swimming, he's got maybe the top 2" of his head out of the water. So, I prefer 2/3 - 3/4 submerged opposed to 1/2 submerged.

I agree that you can't always find a perfect approach to set a mound with a 330...and while I'll continue to set shallower than I like on occasion, I do try to find a deeper approach whenever possible.

When I say 1/2 submerged Daniel I actually mean 2/3-3/4 underwater, just like you. The regs say our 330's here have to be at least 1/2 submerged at all times. In the spring, after the snow melt, our water is often falling too, so we have to plan for that.

Agreed--half submerged is a generic term(legality).We must have a lot dumber beaver,they seem to give up themselves quite easily--half submerged or 3/4.
Or maybe its just the lures.LOL
Tom

Tom does make a good lure. Both #1 and #2.

do you guys worry about them crawling over it w/only an inch sticking out of the water or do you always use a dive stick across the top

Like Tom I will always cross sticks above a partly submerged trap to prevent that and in a case where only an inch were to be exposed I would dig it down a bit so the jaws are a bit below the surface and use a big dive stick (2 1/2 inches or thicker if possible) and if you can't get it deeper, cross the sticks over the top so the beaver can't go over it.

I use whatever is on hand at the set. Sometimes a stick, crossed sticks, rotten log....whatever is handy!