Woke Up at 4:00AM To Pouring Down Rain. It's 8:20AM and It's still Raining Hard. I bet an Inch has fallen which If It keeps Up, things will be sporty on The Marshes, Rivers and Creeks For The Muskrat Opener In The Morning.

Don't Mind the Wet, But Stained Or muddy water makes it difficult to find denholes and Runs visually.

Farmers Will Be Hard Pressed to Get The Rest Of The Corn Out, but It will be Good for the just planted Winter Wheat.

Here's hoping the rain lets off and stops before too long or opening day may be a washout.

Glad I'm Not Land Trapper & Playing in The Dirt (MUD).

Good Luck On Opening Day New York Trappers.

walleyed

about a half inch here just across the border but the winds were crazy last night.go get em Walleyed and all you others.

Mr. Walleyed,

I'm as anxious as you to get trapping, but just do not understand why everyone is bent on catching blue fur.I'm a mink a trapper, but I hold off at least until Nov.1 because of blue pelts taken now. Also, I hold off until November 15 to trap fisher for the same reason. I know, if I hold off someone else may catch them before me, but I prefer to have better quality. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking you, each to their own.

Well AL,

I trap The Eastern Lake Ontario Marshes Where West Wind Storm Surges (Lake seiche)typically Raise water levels Two to Three Feet on A 20 MPH West Wind.

The Wind Blows Unbated Across The 193 Mile Length Of Lake Ontario and Hits The Low Lying Marshes & Barrier Beaches Like A Cannon Shot.

I Trap From A 16 Foot Heavily Laden Canoe at Least A Two Mile Paddle Down In The Marsh from most access points and It's A Very Dicey Situation in Windy Conditions in Warm Weather.

It Is Also a Very Physically Difficult Exercise In Fair weather.

Add In Cold Weather 30*F or Lower Temperatures, along With The High Winds, and It Is usually a Near Impossibility to Effectively Trap My Marshes In Mid To Late November.

If We get A Sudden Cold Snap and Get Iced In Like Happened in Last November with 100's of Traps Out, It's A Living (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) Risking Your Life Getting To Iced In, Stranded Sets to Either Check Or Pull.

The Lake Seiches Make Safe Ice An Iffy Proposition due to multiple Ice layers and constantly Changing water levels so Winter Trapping is out.

Also, A Huge Percentage Of Our Fall Rat population Typically fall victim to Winter Kill Due to Our unique, adverse conditions so It is a Use 'Em Or Lose 'Em Proposition.

If you Came out Here and spent a week trapping Our marshes, you would Quickly realize it is NOT Your Typical, Inland, Stable Water Level Rat trapping conditions.

It's A Totally Different World Out There In An Unprotected, Open Marsh Environment.

Nothing Like an Inland Adirondack pond, lake, Or Small Marsh Setup.

There are a Half Dozen, Experienced, 30 to 60 Years Of Experience Rat Trappers who have The option of waiting farther into Novenber to start trapping These Marshes and NONE of them do because they have only to experience 1 Season Holding Off To trap once, and they all Never Did it Again.

I'm Sure there are Some Other Upper Great Lakes Rat Trappers trapping places like Saginaw Bay Could relate to Similar Conditions like I experience here.

So That's Why I Trap Blue October Rats.

w

Do you have any of those over 20" Jumbo rats there that New York is known for on your line?

Three Or Four Every Year.

Usually All Scarred Up And Beat to Heck & Back, Though.

w

Good luck Walleyed! No water trapping here until the 10th so going to get some land sets in to scratch the itch.

Thank you for the explanation. I live near Lake George on eastern side of Adirondacks and we do not have enough rats to say so. Years ago trappers rented marshes along Lake Champlain, but those rats are now long gone.Certainly we do not have the wind and water conditions that you describe. I wish you good luck with your trapping.

Is it really some mad rush out in those marshes Walleyed??Just wondering what prices has done to competing out there.Plus the diehards must be getting old.Sounds like a nice workout to go trap rats,but have fun.Hope the weather improves for you

good luck bob and stay safe out there

I will be 50 miles north east of you in a week. Stay safe and keep us informed. We all like your posts......jk

And the The Great Northern New York Trap Thread 2017-2018 has begun! Woot!

I am looking forward to reading about your adventures this season Walleyed.

Good luck to all trapping.

Most Years Yes, Last Year No, But The Bad Weather with Ice, Cold, & Wind Made Up For It.

I Have No Idea how Many Trappers I'll Run Into Tomorrow.

All The Creeks flowing into The Marsh Are High & Muddy Right Now From This Morning's Heavy Rain.

It's Going To Be An Almost Total Marsh Pond Set tomorrow Till The Creeks Drop & Clear.

w

Well. Sounds a lot like tidewater rat trapping, welcome to my world.

Well,

The Answer To That Question This Morning Was YES !!!!

I Arrived At Salmon River Estuary At 6:00AM and loaded up The Canoe, Launched, and slowly paddled my Way

Upstream To where I'd planned To start.

Since The 7:00AM Season Opening Time means a Half Hour Of Setting In darkness, I decided

To Prestake the Heaviest Clusters Of Rat Dens To Make Things go quicker Once Legal Time commenced.


I had quickly marked around 30 Dens by 7:01AM when I spotted The Lights Of Two Kyacks paddling up The

North And South Shorelines toward My Position, Quite Obviously the Trapping Competition.

I Quickly started Back Downstream to The One Island where I Had Prestaked when suddenly The Southern Kyack

veered offshore to My Prestaked Island actually beating Me To My First stake. The Guy Hesitated, and then

pulled out one of Those 110 Conibear stands, and Jammed It Into position beside My stake. I paddled past

him To my Next Stake and Dropped A #160 down on to It and Squirted Ahead To The Next Stake and repeated my

#160 Slam dunk while He cut ahead to my next Stake.

As He Was Attempting To Deploy his Rig at My Stake, He Snapped The 110 attached to The Stand Onto His Hand,

and while He was fumbling with It, walleyed passed Him Exclaiming: "Don't You Hate When That Happens" ?

and Then once again, walleyed Squirted ahead and performed his #160 Slam Dunk, and so On Down The Island.

At This Point, The Competition finally Conceded Defeat, and Paddled Off In A Huff.

Walleyed then Finished The Pre-staked Island, and reversed Course, and headed downstream, and then Up The North Channel.

Dawn Had finally Broke and walleyed quickly over-took the other Trapper #2 Who was the cousin to The First

Trapper, exchanged Pleasantries with Him, and continued upstream to another Island which had a Heavy cluster

Of Denhole activity quickly plastering it with #160 Steel and stakes, and then crossing To The Southern

Shore Of The North Channel, Reversed course, and started working my way back down stream toward trapper #2.

Just As walleyed completed setting the distance between himslf and trapper #2, Trapper #1 appeared from

Upstream, and began powerpaddling Toward trapper #2.


Walleyed surged downstream, passed trapper #2, and continued Down-stream to his First Island of Prestaked

Clusters of Denholes, and then Strung-Steel Heading west until He Ran Out Of Rat Habitat and Den Holes.


At That Point, With 79 Den Holes set out of 150 prescouted Locations identified, walleyed conceded the

remainder To The trapping competition, Loaded His Canoe, and Headed Out To Colwell Pond On Lakeview Marsh

for the next adventure. The Time was Now 10:00AM.



Colwell Pond was Deserted and Empty Of Competition, and though The wind had come up considerably, walleyed

another 38 sets were added to the day's total.

At That Point, It Was 2:00PM and Walleyed's Back Pain called A Halt to Further Trap setting after nearly

eight continuous hours on My Knees In The Canoe.

Total Traps Set: 117

Day One Is In The Books.

Thanks For Looking.

Stay Tuned

walleyed Out

Wow! That really stinks having to trap under those conditions; sure takes a lot of the fun out of it. I spent the day enjoying being out of doors in the mountains.I did claim some trap sites because of my competition by placing unset traps there, but I respect particular sites that I know others set every year. I don't plan to set the traps until Nov.1. Enjoyed the read,please keep us informed and good luck.

AL,

How Would That Work As Far As That Trap Being Un-Set: "Shall Not Disturb A Legally Set Trap"

Would The ECON POLICE Consider That to Be A Set Trap, And Thus Stake Your Claim To That Site ?

Or Does The Trap Have To Be Set To Claim Legally Set Status.

My Pre-stake Trap Stake with No Trap On It Claims Exactly Nothing As I Am Well Aware.

Just wondering What Your opinion Is.

w

Here no one is allow to pre stake DNR land .
Any other land that is pre staked does not legally reserve the site for the person that staked or marked it .

Only my opinion, but I believe it is illegal to claim a trap site prior to the season. I believe that I have done nothing wrong; the traps were placed after the season had opened.If I look at them within 48 hours I believe I am legal and frankly since the traps are not set I think it is not necessary. It would be very hard to prove wheter I checked or not.
Frankly I raised my eyebrows when I read that you had staked dens prior to the season opening.Of course there were no traps attached, but isn't that claiming the site prior to the season? If I was another trapper and I saw those stakes I would avoid the site, believing it was already was taken, however I would be pretty mad if I knew the claims were made prior to the season.
Years ago beaver trappers in my area would visit beaver ponds, put in a stake, attach their name to it and claim the site, prior to the season. The next guy would come along, see the stakes, and would figure the first guy had it.Consequently some ponds never did get trapped and I believe was reason for the pre claim reg.
A question for you; every year I shut down my trapping and go the southern tier for 3 or 4 days deer hunting. All traps are sprung, but left in place, incapable of catching an animal. I do leave the fisher baits and know which traps have been hit when I get back. Is that breaking the law?I always thought that I was staying within the law. What say you? Some interesting points here.
One year I sat in my truck, in the dark, at one of my favorite mink streams. When 7:00 came I entered the stream only to find numerous traps already set. Ticked me off, but I did not turn him in.That was when mink were bringing a lot better money.

The Only Mention In The Law on The Subject Matter Reads: "You May Not Set Or Stake
A Trap Prior to 7:00AM On Opening Day".

Pre-Staking is Not Specifically Mentioned.

We have a Guy who races around the marsh At 7:01AM on opening Day jamming stakes in The marsh bottom with a trap attached but not yet set.

He Typically covers hugh amounts of territory tying up trap sites before returning at his leisure to set the trap and complete the set.

He contends that the Stake & UNSET TRAP he positions after 7:01AM lays claim to the trap site.

I don't agree with him and although I haven't ever challenged him on it, I contend that until he actually sets the trap, I believe He has no claim of a legally set trap and therefore no claim to the site.

This same character, Ironically, claims that Pre-staking is Illegal and Un-ethical.

Go Figure.

My Personal Reasoning for pre-staking is at 7:01AM, I want to SET TRAPS just as fast and efficiently as possible and I contend as Long as I don't have an Expectation of a Claim to a Trap Site, Then It Is Legal and there is nothing wrong with It.

Prestaking is Pretty much widespread practice around here and I lost out on a lot of trapping sites in the past by Not Practicing It so I figured if you can't beat them, join them

In fact, every trapper who finds my Pre-stake has a much easier time locating & setting the pre-staked site.

I have had lots of stakes of mine used by other trappers, or thrown into the cattails.

It's a gamble, and you are taking a chance that it will be turned against you, but It pays Off big time if you can run back through and set traps at prestaked locations once the 7;01AM season opens but before the sun has fully risen during that half hour of Pre-dawn darkness.

The same Guy who started setting at my pre-stakes has prestaked before me in the past using subtle but none the less visable sticks to mark den entrances.

I use Orange painted 36" to 48" road grade stakes and If Somebody Starts setting at My Pre-stake, I have never said One Word to them or tried to verbalize ownership of a site.

Like It Or Not, We face stiff competition for trap sites on Public ground and Until DEC & Encon Police addresses It with a Regulation, It's going to continue to happen, and I'm not going to be the one without a muskrat in my Canoe while the other guy has a Boatload because he prestaked a few den holes in the dark.

Many If Not Most Fisher trappers around here leave their cubbies on site year-round every season, and Then Pre-bait & Lure weeks before the opener all over Tughill Plateau.

It's The same Thing as prestaking a muskrat den, but you don't hear any one cater-walling about It.

Lots of Preseason work goes into putting up a good catch including digging dirtholes, setting cable stakes, all with speed and efficiency on opening day in mind.

Prestaking a muskrat den is no different.

AL, I believe you are well within the law by leaving fired traps in the field while taking a break from trapping and you need not be checking an unset trap.

w

Apparently no one is getting pinched where your at or you would hear about it , legal or illegal.
If it's that way , it's just as easy to set next to someone else's set spot also .
Glad I don't have to deal with such things .

Bob,
Thanks for the response. Pretty interesting stuff.Apparently things are done differently in different parts of the state.
I am an avid fisher trapper and very outspoken about the regs and season.Are those fisher cubbies on state land? I believe those on state lands have to be removed each year. I don't care if they leave them, just another bad DEC reg. We can't legally leave boats by Adirondack Ponds.
Actually I only have one bad apple mink competitor that has no regard for the law and has been ticketed numerous times. Most of my mink trapping I have no close competition.Same with fisher; I figure that I'm pretty lucky; most of my trapping in wilderness areas and I just do my own thing.
Good luck with the rats, stay safe, and have fun.

Al

Arrived at Salmon River At Dawn And Started Checking Traps, and Adding Sets At Sites I Missed yesterday Due To Canada Goose Muddied Water.

No Sign Of The Competition As They Must Have Checked Before Dawn as There Was Nary A Rat To Be Seen In Their 110's.

When The Smoke Cleared at Salmon River, I had Added an additional 35 traps for a total of 114 Sets In The water for Night #2.

The Salmon River Catch Was An Even 40 Rats.

Pulled Out and Headed To Colwell Pond On Lakeview Marsh where I picked Up another 13 Rats Including A Beautiful Jet Black Rat.

There was Another Trapper Setting the East Side of The Pond Stretch that I passsed Up Yesterday Due To Lack Of Rat Sign and Being Unduely Exposed To The Prevailing West Winds.

So The Total Catch For The Day Was 53 Rats out Of 117 Sets.

I Now Have A Total Of 156 Traps Set & Soaking For Tonight's Second Trap Night.

I'm Now Waiting For The wind To Dry The Rats Out Before I Start Skinning.

Took A Few Catch Photos, But Can't Post Them Due To The Photobucket Debacle/Etc.

It's Going To Be A Long Night.

Thanks For Looking.

Stay Tuned.

walleyed Out.

Glad your enjoying the season Wally. Stay on them.

Always enjoy your posts.

Too hot to trap here.

Congrats on your catch. How long does it take you to skin that many rats?

Thanks for the update, good day over all.

joe said he mite be heading your way

Just came In from skinning 17 rats, about 2 hours to do those but I'm very slow and rusty.

Most aren't completely dry yet so It will be awhile. Hands Hurt from depressing #160's.

Running out of daylight now.

I'll do 11 more and then leave the rest for the morning.

w

Go get'em Walleyed!! Your journal entries are a hoot, I still think you should write a book in the off season! Personally, I think its unethical to use someone else's pre-positioned rat stakes even if its lawful. They had equal chance to set their own stakes ahead of time but didn't. Maybe I'm just too old fashion or competitive enough. Good and safe adventures this fall Walleyed!!

walleyed Finished Skinning At 10:30AM this Morning And Headed For Salmon River.

Checked The Traps and Added Another 10 Sets For Total Of 127 Sets Soaking Tonight.

Picked up An Even 40 Rats Out Of 118 Sets for the 2nd Day In A Row.

Checked Colwell Pond At Lakeview Marsh and pulled All Sets As There Were Only 6 Rats Out Of 38 Sets.

The Muskrat-ometer Is Hovering at 99 Rats in Two Days......One short Of The Century Mark !!

There was an Offshore Wind Seiche Out Of The Southeast so The Pond water Level Had dropped By Over A Foot and Stranded Dry Many Sets.

walleyed Is having A bad back day so I'll postpone skinning Until The morning.

Thanks For Looking.

Stay Tuned.

walleyed Out

Lugnut and i were talking about you being on your knees for 8 hours in that canoe.hats off to you and good luck on your adventures.

walleyed Skinned Rats This Morning Until 11:30AM And Then Headed To Salmon River. The Plan Was To Pull The Whole Line Ahead of The High Winds & Torrential Downpour Forecast For Eastern Lake Ontario Region.

It Was Hard Pulling Traps As It Seemed Many Traps Held A Rat, But Walleyed Stuck With The Game Plan and The Final Body Count Was 34 Rats Out Of 127 Traps.

It's Already Raining Here So The Muskrat are Laying before the Drying Fans Drying Out For Skinning In The Morning.

That Makes 133 Rats in Three Days, Or 44.33 Rats Per day.

Last Years Three Day Total Was 123 Rats So we Are 10 Rats Ahead Of The Pace

Thanks for Looking.

Stay tuned.

walleyed Out.

nice three day avg

Yep walleyed, your famous enough to have been a topic of discussion as PCR and I walked along the Osweyo River casting for, of all things, walleye and discussing things in general. If your ears were ringing last Monday (10-23-17), that would be why.

Keep the updates coming, I really enjoy them.

The Osweyo River Near Shinglehouse, Tributary Of The Allegheny Rver ?

The one and only.

Walleyed...thank you for your post and sharing your rat trapline with us. I GREATLY APPRECIATE IT! It brings back a LOT of great water trapping memories for me. In MT as a kid and in TN as a young adult. I really admire what you said about how you deal with other trappers concerning your stakes without a trap. My hat is off to you sir! PLEASE keep us posted and PLEASE add some photos, if you can? Thanks again.

Happy Trails and God Bless! Cary

yessir,showed him the worlds largest bait set for beaver.lookin forward to doing a little rat trapping myself but i couldn't hold a candle to youkeep the updates a comin,i look forward to them.

Good Morning Swamp Fox,

Can't add photos as No photo bucket and And computer won't allow me to use other methods.

I can e-mail them to someone else to post but I can't do it myself.

w

Way to go, Walleyed! Best of luck and health out on the water.

I don't think I could deal with that kind of dealings going on on my trapline too many guys and if someone touched one of my stakes I would be waiting for that guy when he returned.This is why I won't indulge in that kind of trapping good luck!

it reminds me of opening day of mink back when they were worth good money.i almost miss that opening day bridge stakin competition.ALMOST.set 150 mink traps opening day and never saw another minker all season last year.gonna add more to that if its the same this year.

Walleyed...good morning to you sir. I understand. I am 55 and this computer stuff can get on my nerves! LOL I didn't grow up with them and I am still learning. Thank you for keeping us posted. It is appreciated. Be safe and have fun!

Happy Trails and God Bless! Cary

P.S. I sent you a P.M.

hope the wind isn't as bad up there as it is here this morning,be safe.

Time to switch gears wally and put up some coon.

Wind was rough in the woods today, but every day in the woods is God's gift.

Wind & Waves Were The Order Of The Day Today. It Was Sunny For A Short While But Now It's Raining Again and The Cold & Rain Pushed Me Off Tonight's Deer Watch Early.

Lots Of Deer Will Be Swimming Ashore From The Marsh Come Sundown To Escape THe High Water.

Talked To Two Kids Who Pulled A Double On Does That Had Just Waded In From The Cattails.

Whacked Them Right Where I Was Planning To Go While I Was Off Doing Laundry !!

Gave Them A Double Thumbs Up.

w

brace for the water walleyed,im about 35 miles south of you and the black is rippin.passed a pasture today and about a foot of the fence post were sticking out of the water along a small stream.i measured 3.5 inches since yesterday morning.

Good to see your thread on whacking rats again this year Bob. You need a pic now and then for effect....;-) If you want I'll PM you my email and when I can I'll see if I can get a couple up for you.

Thanks Mac,

Got Another Trapper Working On It, But If He doesn't, I'll Pm You Some Pics.

w

Youse Guyz Are Way Too Weird, And Creepy/Funny Lookin' !!

Kinda Like Steve Bucemi's Character In That Minnesota Movie Cult Classic: FARGO

w

sure doesn't look like that now.

Yeah, I imagine it's raging with all the rain you guys had up there.

I sort of see it...




I love that movie! LOL

can't believe you'd pick on your 2 biggest fans although i do resemble that comment..

I'm Grumpy From Being Denied Access To Lakeview Marsh Due To High Water, Wind, Waves, And Cold.

I've Got To Do Something Constructive To Occupy My Down Time.

It's Getting Ready To Snow/Freeze Here And I'll Be Froze/Locked Out !!!

w

The Creeks And Ponds Of Lakeview Marsh By Yesterday Morning Had Dropped Well Below Their Upper Banks And Were Only A Day Or Two Away From Being Trappable.

But Yesterday Afternoon It Started To Rain Again In Earnest and It's Pouring Hard This Morning.

The Rain Gauge This Morning At Belleville, N.Y. Announced That 9/10ths Of An Inch Had Fallen Yesterday Afternoon And Last Night Sending The Local Streams Nearly Over Their Banks & Muddy Once Again.

Things Aren't Looking Good For walleyed's Timely Return To The Marsh Any Time Soon.

Stay Tuned.

walleyed

Good luck to you. Freeze up is underway here right now, and tonight it'll dip to 18. When this weather leaves here, it heads in a general direction towards you. 13 on Sunday night .

10/26/17 53 rats
10/27/17 46 rats
10/28/17 34 rats
posted for Walleyed

Thanks For Posting Those Photos, Swampfox.

w

My pleasure Sir.

Well I almost left today but was told the roads are closed due to predicted flooding this afternoon and I guess they were right. Pretty soon I will be frozen out, but I am packed and ready to go to Tug Hill area.....jk

Due To Be highs in The 50's thru Sunday, And It's supposed To Rain Every day.

There are some roads And bridges out But plenty Are open.

Call The Township In The Area You are going to trap and they will fill you in on what's what.

w

Another 1.5" INCHES In The Belleville, N.Y. Rain Gauge Since Yesterday Morning, and It's Still Raining Hard Right Now.

10 Days Since I Pulled For The Flooding.

This Is Starting To Get Irritating.

w

rains suppossed to stop here this morning but the temps are gonna drop into the low 40's days.will it get cold enough up there to start freezing up this week about the time the water gets down??mink and rat for me this coming Saturday,Good luck and be safe.

Hows it going Bob?

Water In The Marsh Is Extremely High Due to The High Lake Level.

Creeks Are Still High And Muddy Today But May Be Trappable Tomorrow,

Just In Time For The Freezing 18* F Temperatures Forecast For the Weekend.

Can't Decide: "SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO" ?

w

It's no picnic up here on the river mainly trapping the sand pits cause the cornfields are still flooded. Hope to see you at mannsville, keep at it my friend.

The Sandy Creeks Water Levels Have Finally Dropped, The Water Clarity Cleaned Up, And The Air Temperature Climbed To An Acceptable Level So Yesterday Walleyed Strung Out Some Steel.

50 #160's in Den Holes On South Sandy Creek Yesterday, and Found Additional Den Hole Spots For Some More.

This Morning's Check Yielded 23 Muskrat Out Of 50 Traps Which Was A Pretty Good Trap To Catch Ratio.

Walleyed Added Another 20 #160's This Morning So We'll Hope For Another Good Catch Tommorrow.

Thanks For Looking.

Stay Tuned.

walleyed Out.

was figuring you would be about ready to be back out,good luck.

Any freezing issues Wally?

It Was Raining, With A Stiff Wind Blowing Out Of The Southwest When walleyed Left His Compound And Headed For Coffee At The Diner In Belleville, N.Y.

The Owner Of The Coffee Shop Fore-Casted By I-phone No Significant Rain Until Noon And A Southwest wind not to exceed 16 MPH But Switching To The Northwest and increasing to 25MPH after 11:00AM.

She Lied, As At 7:15AM walleyed launched Into an Environment that was Raining, Hailing, and Sleeting with a 25th MPH West Wind already In Evidence.

walleyed began pulling and stowing stakes and traps with a vengence and when the Final Trap was aboard near The Mouth Of South Sandy Creek At Lake Ontario, He was 28 Muskrat To The richer (Or More Likely To The Poorer)

walleyed was Soaked, even under His High Quality Gander Mountain Guidewear Raincoat (Sarcasm) so I Went Home, and Took a Cold Shower as It was now Discovered Much To My Dismay that The Heating Element on The Hot Water Heater was Kaput.

The Even The Rat Catch was unusually water-logged Today and are still under The fans as we Speak.

Someone, Probably The Fur Fairy, Gifted Me A High Dollar beaver

I guess We'll Skin Them All Tommorrow.

Thanks For Looking.

Stay Tuned.

walleyed out.

Does anyone know how to get ahold of Glen Bold? Need a pack basket from him.thanx.

how is the rat trapping going

Was Going Good For Two days Till I Pulled again due to the weather forecast.

Will Reset soon.

w

November16, 2017 28 Muskrats POSTED FOR WALLEYED

November 15. 2017 23 Muskrats POSTED FOR WALLEYED HOPE THIS TURNED OUT RIGHT WALLEYED, IF NOT I WILL CORRECT IT> THANKS AND WAY TO GO ON THE RATS!!!

No Muskrat Meter this year?

hey Walleyed,other than a little wind today it looks like the weather might cooperate for a few days here,how bout there????i've been spending too much time across in NY trying to shoot a deer but enjoying myself for sure.could of shot a dozen doe yestyerday with the snow but not even a single spike.good luck

Nice job on the rats walleyed. Always enjoy seeing how your season is going, and I appreciate your sarcasm. It's an art, much like rat trapping. You have a knack for both. thanks for sharing. Be safe out there!

Since I Pulled My Traps Last Thursday, It's Either Been Pouring Down Rain, Heavy Wet Snow, Or Bone-Chilling Wind. Or It's Been A Combination Of The Three.

I'm NOT Trapping In Any Of Those Conditions Based On Where I Have To Go To Reach The Muskrat Populations In The Marsh.

That Plus All The Creeks Are Pumping Muddy Water Into The Marshes Putting Visability To Zero

I Sat On Deer Watch This Morning For An Hour In The Damp Cold And Wind And Was Barely Able To Tolerate The Cold. Was Told That The Plavix Blood Thinner I Am On Inhibits One's Ability To Withstand The Cold.

The Edema In My (Calf) Have My Legs Too Swollen To Fit In My Hip Boots, So Trapping In Too Cold Of Weather Without Hip Boots Is Out. Can't Find Any Hip Boot That Will Fit My Calf Muscle.

If There's A 3 Day Stretch Of Warmer Temperatures, and No High Winds, I'll Reset Somewhere As There Are Plenty Of Rats Available, But If The Conditions Are Bad Weather Wise, Count Me Out.

w

very understandable,i consider my trapping right now "puttering"but after ny and pa deer we will see.till i stop enjoying myself i'm not lookin to change much.

Just found your annual thread Bob! Don’t get a lot of time to get on here anymore. Looks like your season has been similar to ours. Complete washout! Did get my first legal fisher in the new southern season. The deer gods blessed me with a couple Steuben county bucks this year! I’ve had fun with that. Scattered 4 dozen rat traps yesterday and we came home with 28 today.. Had a great time in the swamp, but with leaky waders and gauntlets, it was a little chilly today! Keep the posts coming and be safe out there!

Bob,

I too am on blood thinners; have a couple of heart stents. Cold and particularly wind bother me too.Not bad while trapping as I'm constantly moving. Deer watches kill me, but I'm thankful that I'm still above ground and goin'.

My Apparent Heart Attack In March And Then 4 Stents Installed In August Plus Other Health Issues Are Keeping Me Pretty Much at Idle Instead Of Full Throttle This trapping season.

Still Going At It Slow and Steady with A Fisher Box Out And A couple of Beaver Traps Soaking.

w

The Stars, The Moon, And The Planets All Aligned Perfectly Yesterday For walleyed

with Warm Temperatures, No Wind, Rain, Or Snow and No Doctor's Appointments to Deal With So walleyed Skulked

Off To The Stony Creek Estuary.

Before Mother Nature Could Conjour Up Any Bad Weather To Spoil Things, There were 30 #160's Nicely Situated At The Mouths Of Promising Muskrat Den Holes Along With A Brace Of 330's For Beaver At A Exclusively Cattail-Constructed Beaver Lodge.

This Morning We Sat The 2nd To Last Rifle Deer Season Morning Watch For Two Hours But The Deer were Conspicuous By Their Absence.

Started Checking Traps At 10:00AM and when walleyed Returned To The Launch Ramp he Had 16 fat December Muskrats Riding Along.

That Puts Us At 201 Rats so far For the Season.

Hope To Get Some More Tommorrow.

Thanks for Looking.

Stay Tuned.

walleyed Out

good to see ya.set a dozen and a half rat traps today myself to go along with the 140 trap mink line and the 3 coyote sets on my farm.i'm kinda looking forward to some cooler temps and a little snow as they are forecasting for the beginning of next week.good luck and be safe

Sat The Morning Deer Watch And Saw Nada. Went Home And Hitched Up The Canoe Trailer, and Headed For The Stony Creek Estuary.

Shuffled A Few Traps Around and Set Another 10 #160's for The Last Overnight Soak Here.

We'll Pull All Tomorrow.

Ended Up With 50% Less Rats Than Yesterday's 16 Coming In with 9 Fatties.

My 2 Beaver Sets Sit Idle. Wondering If Someone Has Already Whacked Them as The Season Has Been Open For A Month.

Hoping To Set The Lower Black Pond WMA If My Back Is Up To It As It Requires A Bit Of Canoe Drag In.

We'll See.

Thanks For Looking.

Stay Tuned.

walleyed out

Pulled The Stony Creek Sets This Morning With Just 7 Rats Out Of 40 Traps as Is usually The Case After Three Days In The Water.

Wanted to Set Lower Black Pond today But I have A Morning DR's Appointment Tommorow so I'm Going To Hold Off. Bad Weather Is Supposed to be Moving In Tommorrow or Wednesday.


Stay Tuned

w

Posted for Walleyed. December 3, 2017- 9 Muskrats

Posted for Walleyed. December 2, 2017-16 Muskrats

Well,

It's Been A Long Stretch Of Time Since walleyed Has Had Any Traps In The Water; December 3rd, 2017: 82 Days To Be Exact.

I Had Been Eyeing "The Secret Creek That Never Freezes" Since January But The 3' To 4' Foot of Snow On The Level That I'd Have To Drag The Canoe Through For 300 Yards Kept Me From Doing Anything Stupid.

That Plus The Fact That The Unfreezable Secret Creek Had, In Fact, Frozen Over And Kept Me Away Until Today.

walleyed Loaded 20 #160's and 10 #1.5 Victor Stoploss, Plus Stakes Into The Old Towne Canoe, and Made The Long Drag Into The Marsh To The Creek.

The Whole South Bank Of The Creek Was Still Shrouded In Ice But The South Facing North Bank Was Ice Free.

Walleyed Found Enough Sign To Deploy All 30 Traps At Bank Den Holes, On Feed Beds, And At Rat Toilets.

Walleyed Also Slapped A Brace Of 8" X 10" Duke #330's Over A Dependable Otter/Beaver Culvert Pinchpoint That Had Finally Thawed Out.

Hopefully I Will Have At Least A Few Muskrat To Skin In The Morning.

Stay Tuned.

walleyed

Good luck on the secret crick.

PS., talking in the third person is gay.

And You Are Aware Of This Homophobic Factoid.......How ?

Must Be You Have GayDar !!!

w

Hippie just thought you'd like some feed back on what hippie thought when he read that. Hippie thought it sounded gay.

Lugnut doesn't think you should talk to walleyed like that.

rats should be great right now good luck

You guys are killing me. The rats here are committing suicide on the roads.

walleyed Woke This Morning To Driving Rain And A Vicious South-East Wind Blowing 30 To 40 MPH Sustained Making Checking Traps Out In The Exposed, Open Marsh Impossibe Until The High Winds Subside.

walleyed Instead Proceeded To His Pinchpoint Culvert Otter/Beaver Spot Where He Immediately Noticed His 48" 330 Bodygrip Stand Was Missing From The Mouth Of the Culvert.

Donning His Polarized Sunglasses, Walleyed Peered Into The Murky Waters Of Upperv Black Pond Swamp But Was Unable To Discern Any Sign Of The Missing Conibear Stand, Or The 330 Duke.

After Fishing Around in The Murk With A Long Alder Pole With No Success, walleyed Reurned Home To Retreive His Tater Rake, Hip Boots, And Raincoat Necessary For A More Prolonged & Realistic Search.

Hopefully, What Ever Beast Carried Away The 48" Bodygrip Stand And 330 from The Trap Site, Will Be Found And Brought To Justice.

Stay Tuned.

w

Walleyed Returned To The Scene Of The Case Of The Missing 330 Stand and Trap Wearing His Hip Boots, Raingear, and Armed With His Tater Rake Along With A 10' Foot Hardwood Pole/Bronze Boathook and Began methodically Working Over The Depths Of The Plunge Pool In Front Of The Culvert All The While Listening For The Unmistakable Click Of Metal On Metal.

10 Minutes Of Raking Within 6 Feet Of The Culvert Pipe Yielded No Satisfactory Results Except For An Old Tire.

The Water Was 4' to 5' Foot In Depth So Wading Further Out In Hip Boots Was Not An Viable Option.

Therefore, walleyed Deployed His Antique 10' Boat Hook and Stretched As Far out As He Could To Rake A Fresh Search Area.

On The Third Pull A Click Was Heard And Felt, and Soon a 48" BodyGrip Stand Was Brought Up From the Muddy Depths, But No Trap Was Attached !!

Another Pull In The Same General Area Produced Another Click, and A Huge Male Otter Clamped In

The 8" X 10" Duke With Circle Trigger & Belisle Dog Popped To The Surface.

The Otter Had Carried The Whole Rig About 14' Feet Out From The Culvert Before He Expired.

The Beast Measures 44" Inches From Snout To Tip Of Tail. I'd Weigh It And Expect It Would

Easily Tally Well Over 20 Lbs, But My 4 Sets Of Berkley Digital Scales All Have Dead Batteries.


I'm Happy To Start This Round Of Trapping With An Somewhat Exotic Catch For My Immediate Area.

I Took Pics But Can't Post Them As My Computer Is Mostly Junk.

Thanks For Looking.

Stay Tuned.

w

Great catch and recovery!

Walleyed made a nice catch, congrats to him.

Sounds like some nasty weather he endured.

any rats today

breaker breaker for that Walleyed,got your ears on good buddy.