i looked in the archives, didnt find the one i was looking for, anybody have pics of ones they have made/used with any degree of sucess? all would be appriciated, i have a creek to trap this year that has a few in it, i havent seen them, and there isnt alot of sign right in my area, but beaver chews are constantly floating by while i was fishing, i know there are some upstream, were i dont have permission to be, so i cant pinpoint thier location, but i thought if i could build a float they might find it and investigate should they happen down stream, the creek has a pretty stiff current, the muskrat floats i made last year were worthless in the creek because of the current, hopefully somebody has pictures of theese so i can see what i need to construct, thanks again

I have a packet with pics,list of supplies you will need, and detailed instructions on how to build a float for beaver. PM your address, and I will get the info to you.

The design of your "floats," those for muskrats and those proposed for beaver, will have to be V-shaped to function in the current that you mentioned.

The configuration of your beaver float design will depend upon if you plan on using a bodygrip or leghold trap on it.

Jonathan

thanks guys i really appriciate it, what i was actually looking for was a pic i saw on here that had several logs in the shape of a V, but it was just logs and no boards, i want to make just 1 or 2 beaver floats, as i dont yet have a 330, and dont plan on useing them enough to justify buying a dozen... i also had a special smaller version in mind for 110's, but i wanted to make it just a scaled down version of the beaver float i had seen, but i guess im gunna hit the shop and build my own just make my own design

how do you guys go about baiting them, and whats your favorite placement for the bait?

Wcrose,

I'll be back in a little while with some pictures.

And some of the answers you're looking for.

Krusty

thanks krusty, ill be off and on this evening, building weasle boxes, and cookin supper, but hopefully ill see them tonight

330,

You're a man of few words.

I'm not.

Wcrose,

All I have is a crude example I made, and my pictures aren't very good, so I went searching.

I love beaver floats... so I often get involved in these threads.

Here's a couple pictures of Mncoontrapper's (Mnct) floats.





He built his almost exactly like I would build mine.

They are solidly connected with plywood on the bottom and on top (this is where I'd make my one and only change, and I'll address that later).
And they are set up to be poled or anchored.

Let's talk about some differences.

On 330's floats, the springs are held in at the coils. While Mnct has his in narrower slots, and held closer to the eyes and the trap.
With the trap held in Mnct's way, it will be fired out of the float.

The one thing I would change about Mnct's design relates to your question on bait.
I would use a short piece of plywood on top, just enough to cover the "joint", and leaving room to "bait" the float.
And I would use a slightly longer piece on the bottom, to give the float a higher more stable ride.

To bait I take a few fresh pieces of cottonwood, 2" in diameter and 18" long or so, split them and nail them on inside the "V" on top of the float (like fishin' poles laid in the bow of a rowboat).
The bright white, freshly split, wood is a great visual and scent attractant.
And a blob of lure goes, high and dry, on top of that (and smeared in good).

Whether you use a pole, or an anchor, back it up with a bank line.

If the water is fast, the added drag of the beaver will pull the rig downstream, or if the water level goes up it can lift the anchor and float away.

I wouldn't jump in the spot I used floats last year, because it would wash me away (4-5mph, and way over my head deep), but the beavers had no problem swimming in.

Krusty

330, i love it, and im sure it works well, but, im looking to make mine with logs, pretty much just because the first one i saw was made from logs, and i really liked the concept, but yours might be more practical if you were useing any number of them

nobody is supposed to be on my creek were i trap, the problem with that, is that everyone who sneaks back there is looking for trouble and im trying to stay under the radar as much as possible, i dont know were in the creek most guys use them, but i plan to put mine next to a snag, so the log blends in, im going to substitute split wood and big nails for the top peice of plywood, but plywood on the bottom seems like it cant hurt, after i get done dying my traps im gunna pour the nasty water over it and it will sit near the creek to weather untill season

krusty,thanks alot i appreiciate you not being a man of few words as im quite dense and need lots of instructions, im not sure ill have cottonwood branches, my thought, and i havent delt with any beavers, so i really have no idea, but i thought maby on the bottom plywood peice i would make a castor mound more or less, in the back of the V but low enough it really wouldnt be visable from behind or the sides, as im afraid they will crawl up the sides or the back, but then again if i can find a cottonwood tree in the area to donate some branches i like your method, i built a scale model, "muskrat" float, but i split the back 2 peices of wood at angles to negate the need for the plywood, not sure if thats good or bad, but ill take some pics next time and see if i should take them full scale

thanks again to everyone who helped so far

Wcrose,

Whatever you have that beavers like, or any light colored wood will do.
It's as much or more, the white color, as the smell of wood.

I was taught making a castor mound was a waste of time and effort, unless your float is running WAY high and dry, the castor mound is doomed to erosion.
And it adds to the weight of the rig, and threatens to drown your float.

The sticks are for eye appeal, and the castor lure is for his nose. You don't need anything else..

*In fact, the really good trapper who taught me to catch beavers, very very rarely makes a castor mound.
He told me something that fits your situation exactly, "We don't have to go to the beavers, the beavers will come to us".

A good lure will bring a beaver to where you put it, you just have to guard that lure properly.

Krusty

thanks again krusty, my problem probly isnt as much float constuction as it is beaver knowledge, i just dont know enough about them to say either way that i have a good idea or a bad one... my modified castor mound, the idea was more of a castor ball, a wad of grass and mud the size of my fist just above the water but below the top of the logs, with a hint of castor, but i hadnt planed on makeing a huge mound or anything... i have alot of willow trees, i had planned on useing them the same way you described useing cottonwood, i used to think i had alot of cottonwood trees around, but i was mistakeing sycamores for cottonwoods, im supposed to be getting a shipment of experamental lures from a guy on here, i havent ever used manufactured lures before, but im pretty sure he is sending me some beaver stuff, ill have to try it out on my floats

dose anybody else have pics of their floats? i was pretty sure there were some from alaska that i had seen, but its been a while i could be mistaken

now that there is a trapping only forum, should this be dragged over there? id like some others inputs, im not sure were to put it so people will see it

Wcrose,

I'm no expert, but I can tell you your idea for a modified castor mound isn't necessary.
Not a bad idea, just a job you don't need to do.
The trap line has enough "jobs" to keep you busy, don't add "make-work" on top of that... beaver trapping is already HARD WORK.

Put a blob of lure the size of your thumbnail on the bait sticks, and smear it in a bit... that's all you need to do.
You bait sticks are nailed on, and not likely to get washed away, or knocked off.

The smell will waft up and down stream on the slightest breeze, and beavers WILL come to investigate.

I say it so much, it'll probably end up written on my gravestone... "If I only had one #330, and I wanted to catch as many beavers as I could, I'd use a float on the river."

Krusty

P.S. I searched for a couple other float threads I was involved in, but they were not archived, or lost in the last crash.

I think you will find in our area mullberry is about their favorite . Soft Maple is next in line and it stays white longer once you peel the bark .

I have caught several on rat floats with no lure only ear corn . If someone was educated one to a castor based lure that may help to get you out of trouble . Snares are another option but oughta be on another thread IMHO .

Be aware they can and will destroy a float at times so anchor like they will .

Drifter

Found this in a older trapping magazine and has worked good for me. Jim

drifter, thanks alot for the local info, there are mulberry trees right in the creek, if that works for you it will be easy to try, there is a corn feild 40 feet away, so corn is also an option... i agree i can probly find snare info in the archives, unless there is a way to modify the float to use snares in which case this is the perfect place for those ideas pics and stories

JIM!!!!! thats the one i was talking about, im sorry i thought you were from alaska, thats what the little one i built looks like with a 110, i put my nails inside the logs, it looks like the top would work better thanks alot, cant believe i didnt find that in the archives, its my favorite float of all ive seen, thanks again Jim

Krusty, my floats set up with the 330 coils in the slots-still fire out over the beavers head.

I have sat in the evenings and watched what beaver do , especially the dominant one on the pond and they do not attempt to swim under and up through a float... the small 3-4" gap with the wider float dosen't allow for a beaver to swim between the wall and the trap.

Krusty the design i used i got from Jim and i love it, it is very stable on the water. They are heavy but if you have a 4 wheeler its no big deal

Would this work for otter and if so what could I use for bait. They just opened a otter season here and I might get a chance to trap them

330,

My mistake, it looked like the trap would not fire out.

I can say it will not fire out with the same "authority" as the trap in Mnct's pictures.
My traps would fire out so hard, out of the water, that they jerk on the 36" cable that attaches them to the float.
A full suitcase catch was not uncommon.

***NOTE; For this reason... NEVER EVER stand behind a float once the trap is set, and the safeties are removed... bumping or jostling the float can fire the trap, and nobody wants to wear a #330 as a necktie!***

I used my floats where there was a good current, so "submarining" definitely isn't an issue.

Mnct,

I drive a Suzuki Samurai, the best 50 state legal 4-wheeler made.

I set the floats in the river the day my problem permits open, and I don't take them out again until it closes.
So there's not a whole lot of carrying them around to be done.

WildCat,

One of my favorite things about this trap is that it is very species specific.

While you might be able to catch an otter with it, there are several sets that can be used more effectively to catch beaver and otter.
The "submarine" issues we don't have to worry about with beavers, would be exactly why these would make a poor choice for otter.

Crossovers and funnels are good sets to use for beaver and otter.

Krusty