Ditto. I have never known 14 gage wire to fail in 1/2x1 mesh. The 12 gage is for those who know they are particularly rough on gear and are prone to throw things around. The positive setting with nosecones, baitless, has made my life in ADC much better for the past dozen years. We all get calls about a problem skunk, chuck, raccoon only to find out that the client has already tried bait and wait with a single door trap to no avail for some time. Nice to just to drop in a double door with a nose cone and have their critter on the first check.

Coons do the darndest things. We had Rocky to visit our porch, knocked things around and chewed up anything with scent, terro ant bait, ect. . .

Time for him/her to go. 1st nite, Rocky entered the 9" x 11" wire triggered trap and ate the sardines, left. What ?? A brief exam showed the wire triggers not pushed forward toward the bait, rather they had been pulled back toward the entrance almost 45 degrees, just enough for Rocky to get his head past and enjoy a midnite snack on me. The trigger was on edge, other words if he had of sighed while snacking, it would of gone off. The door would've dropped with about 15 degrees forward movement, but it required 45 degrees of backward motion to drop. A little dremel grinding (be sure to deburr) and fresh sardines. 2nd nite, set 2 traps by the 2 screen doors and in the morning wha - la, a double; got the coon plus a possum.

As for the trigger wires getting mauled,why not make the trigger wires spring loaded so once fired they get pulled back flat against the cage wire instead of dangling loose in front of the animal?

For a time the top short rod on the swing bars (about 7/8 inch long) were made a bit long. Some went out from the factory for a short time quite a while back before we caught it. Not wishing to have a short trap fire too quickly, the traps were made so that the trigger would purposely travel to allow the animal to get into the trap deeper before it fired. If the trigger travel is longer than desired, a quick file or grinding on the top of the short rod on the swing bar will make firing quicker with less trigger travel (can be filed at a 45). If a longer trap is used the travel could be made to near zero if that's what you wanted. Traps can be modified to fire with little more than a bump.

Had some little ground hogs going through the trigger wires on the comstocks without setting them off. Threaded a piece of 1/2 x 1 wire on the bottom two trip wires. Worked great. Piece of wire we used is 2 in. high by 7 in long.

My little ground hog fix was to lay the trap on its side. Make oval loops for your trip wires
The little guys cant get by that.

Lots of ways to accommodate baby animals. I have sometimes placed rocks in the bottom and or sticks through the wire to narrow in such a way so as to force them in. You can add some dirt to the bottom to push them into the wires. Also, if the traps are set with the doors closing from the side and trigger wires coming up from the bottom there is just about no way they can get through. I used a 9x11 chuck trap for a baby raccoon the other day. It was an older trap, set upside with trigger wires coming up. Got one of the little buggers, gloved the second one, reset a swing panel trap using the others as "bait," went to the truck and made some calls, came back and had the last.

5-6 pound flathead in comstock today...already got 2 beaver at this job...one in a comstock castor set and other in a 12x16 submerged in creek between 2 ponds

What am I missing? Is setting a submerged "live trap" somehow preferable to a submerged 330?

Much safer when in populated areas that have many non target canines

Your not missing a thing. A 330 is in most cases the best trap to use under water, even in populated areas.

If there is a chance of hurting some one or catching a non target, just don,t make the set. I have caught at least 13,000 beaver and probably over 2000 otter, using a 330. I have never killed a dog or house cat with one. I trap right of ways, homes, farms and cities and have for over 20 years.

In most cases I use a cage trap because it is the best set for the situation, because of climate and the areas I trap. Most of those are land or exposed sets.

If our state required only cage traps, that is a different story.

Great job on your catfish catch! Looks like supper. I had a nice catfish the other day too and a couple of turtles, a small snapper and a painted. Had a wood turtle on the outside of a cage recently, just sitting there at the door??? I use cages every day I have a beaver job, beaver #723 today. A swim through cage trap has proven to be superior to conibears, 280's, 330's, 660's, standard and self supporting, magnums or regular, whatever. My experience with conibears since 1966, regular, magnums, many different brands was followed by using cages almost exclusively since Oct. 29, 2010, the day I began using them in ernest. Once I started with swim through cages I never looked back. I don't even bring the other stuff with me, snares, Hancock, CDR or conibears unless there is a specific need, which is quite rare. The speed, ease, safety, versatility and effectiveness in cages is unequalled. Having had the concept for 20 years before it came to fruition, I'm happy to share our experiences and most import love to listen to what others say before I verbalize our position in a trap that began in 2003. What we are hearing more and more from those using swim through cages is what exactly what we have seen. Others have dropped the conibears entirely as they too are experiencing better results with cages than they had with conibears.

Another nice thing about cages here in iowa is that since iowa is a fully submerged 330 and a cage can be set dry on a crossover if needed or half in and half out on a castor or channel

It is a big plus to have beaver traps that can be set under water, in water or on dry land safely, as safety is always a factor because you just never know when or where pets or people will show up in what would seem to be very unlikely places, peace of mind. Water levels can change quickly. I had a dam blow out of a 6 foot culvert the other day right after setting two cages under water. The water was over the culvert when I set the cages, so the dam was holding back quite a pond. Came back the next day, no pond, just a small stream with the cages high and dry. This appears to have been a natural occurrence. The highway department said they did not pull it. In these cases its nice not to have large conibears on land, especially 660's or 1216's. In the past I have had dams pulled by highway departments, leaving conibears exposed and dangerous. Not only are large conibears not legal when set on land in many states, it's just plain scary. And, when either highway departments or a land owner unexpectedly decides to wander down to the pond to pull all or part of a dam, its nice to know they too will be safe.