So for all of you going after those late season prime coon, whats your favorite DP bait that doesn't freeze up and render your trap inoperable?

I have been going back to basics with small marsh mellows with a couple (like maybe two)of the top ones coated with a little old bear bait jam.

DPs don't work for me as well in very late season, like zero to maybe twenties temps in late December. Dirthole with gland lures do wotk and so do 160s in trails. Here the bigger boars coon start to have other things on their mind in late season. If we have a warm spell coming where temps push back up above freezing I put some DPs out because the working parts are up out of the ground. Cages I use too in late season. Urines and gland lures like coyote and fox seem interesting to coon that time of year. Blind sets with 160s are still my best bet in late season though I get way more coon in those sets.
Jim

molasses coated dry dog food

Dp's are always hard to get enough scent out of to call in a coon as far as I'm concerned.
Even more so when its cold.
I always use a diagonal cut 1/2 gallon milk jug as my cover. this does 4 things.
Keeps snow and rain out of the trap #1
Has great eye appeal#$2
Provides a great spot to smear a stronger call lure and keep it out of the weather#3
Serves as good confirmation indicator that something nudged off the jug and worked the set.#4
Agree with the 160's but do more old barn perimeter setting in Dec and jan so conis are out.

Hmm. I take your word for it works. I would of thought the molasses would freeze up solid though. Or maybe its a different kind of molasses then I know of ( thick and gooey kinda like honey)
???

I use a gland lure over the trap and couple inches to a foot, a none freezing lure on the lip and my Banana supreme or no moes bait down in the trap. but I don't try to pull coon more than 5 feet. also a flag really helps out with those late season boars.

Molasses won't freeze solid in a chest freezer, you should be ok in your DP trap. Not the best bait IMO though. A good dry bait works great if you can get enough smell out of it. Cheap squeeze strawberry jelly works pretty good in a pinch, the high sugar content doesn't freeze solid either down to 0 at least.

Any of the DRY baits, like Hals Berries or Seven Oaks Fruity DP baits..I think Clint makes one too.
It a no brainer that moisture invites freezing.

Let alone the muck to clean out eventually.

I do use a dry bait in my DPs. It's made with bag or two of cheap fish flavored cat food from Dollar general. Put it in large container and add molassis and the strawberry jello, and I also dump in a bottle of anise oil. Shake up the container and let that sit for couple months shake it periodically. The dry catfood absorbs everything over time and doesn't come.out wet after awhile and has plenty of zing. Just open thr lid and it has plenty of odor.
But in very late season a good gland lure seems to work better than food in about any trap set for coon for me.
Jim

Here’s what I have success with in freezing temperatures

Makes about one quart

6 cans of sardines
3 cans of smoked oysters
3 cans of mackerel
Glycerin

Get a large mixing bowl
Add sardines and mix well
Then add 3 cans of smoked oyster mash with fork mix well
Add the mackerel 1 can at a time mix well
The way I add the glycerin is add enough to make the mixture look wet too much doesn’t matter
I guarantee this will not freeze
The first year I used it I caught over 30 coon on a small line

DPs are never a trap I personally would use in freezing conditions past say 25 degrees. You are asking for a lot of problems. LLL

like the stake freezing solid.

I don't have much luck catching larger coons in late season, in baited DP's. I catch smaller ones during a warm-up spell, using baited DP's. Below 19 degrees and our coon don't like to come out of the dens, unless it's the boars going den tree to den tree, looking for sows to breed. Gland lures of almost any type seem to get their attention pretty good during this time, especially fox in my area. When freezing temps hit, the DP's are usually done for the season. Then, I just blind set the trails. Exposed sets, coons don't care, step sticks, a little guidance to keep them centered on the trail, if necessary. Easiest coon trapping there is in my opinion. Boars are gonna move, they follow the trails, sharpen your knife. Smaller double jaw traps really help prevent chew-outs.

I do make my own freeze-proof bait though, since I live in a freeze/thaw state. I grind crawdads up, mix in dehydrated shrimp (pet-food type), and glycerin. Put it in mason jars, in the bait fridge, and use as needed. Made and tried it for the first time last season. Worked very well. The same mixture works well in pocket sets, which is, in my opinion, the best set to use for coon. I still own several dz DP's, and they can be an effective tool, they just aren't the best tool.

Actually when the weather stays below freezing dp traps work good. It is in freeze and thaw conditions a trapper has to be careful.

I have a couple dz V2 Grizz traps. They have the swiveled stake, so even when frozen-in, the trap still swivels. With other DP's, I had the stake broken or bent badly. The trap doesn't move with coon, with most DP's that have the stake frozen-in. With the V2's, I don't worry if the temp is going to drop into freezing at night or for a few days.

We rarely have freezing temps that last more than a few days. We have LOTS of freezing nights and thawing days.

I have a friend who traps southern Iowa in late winter for coons. He uses DP's on drowner rigs when there's open water. Does pretty well. Interesting how the temp/regional differences are.

I feel that dp's will catch coon in early season, but they dont work that great after its below 30, and the ground is froze, have you ever caught a coon that was not able to pull out the stake because it was froze in, it is not good, the coon will break and twist his leg, or may not be there when you check. A dry bait is always best, dont over think your bait, keep it simple

I either pound/drill a pilot hole for the DP stake to sit in or use a 1-plastic pipe in a pilot hole and put the trap in that. Keeps them functioning when the ground freezes. I discovered this after trying to get a Griz out of frozen ground.

Yep pound in a guide hole and all is fine. Anybody who thinks dps don't work when it's cold hasn't tried using them much cuz I can assure you they work. Some days the few tile seeps with open water catch all the coon some days it's the DPS some days it's just buckets and some days everything works. That's just how late season coon trapping is.

That being said any open water you can find is usually your best option.

They will work fine just laying on the ground too, ie: Duffers.

Rubber tubing on the trigger and a bit of fish pellets (pond fish food) in the trap.

Use lure outside the trap if you feel the need.

Put the trap in the the right spot and you shouldn't need the heavy scent.