Hey everyone - I've started trapping beavers, and I was wondering if I should try a lure, or not bother. Any suggestions?

Many great lures out there. I sincerely believe they will all work in varying degrees. Buy 2-3 and give it a try. Once you get a Beav experiment making your own. Check out the archives.

Yea why not....there is a fella that lives in your state that makes ok beaver lures and has a trapping forum loaded with info

Castor...

I laughed...

Good one, I heard he makes one called Backbreaker that is decent, and really good on toast. And another called Woodchipper, that works ok too.

Wonder where you can it?

thank ya. got 2 without lure in 2 days, but nothing lately. kinda odd. i have some Backbreaker that i use for canine sets, but need more.

I keep the castors from all my beaver and take 1-2 from different locations and keep them in a peanut butter jar. Dip it in the water shake it up and pour it on the castor mound. Simple and effective.

Check out lenons lures off of f and t post really good lure catch all my beaver in castor mound sets with that lure.

what time of year do you find castor lure most effective?

Springtime when beaver are scenting.
If applied properly it will work other times of the year in open water.

Here in NC where the OP is from, we have nothing but open water all but maybe 2 or 3 days a year, then its only a skim.

You could purchase what ever bait and lure you desire. Like previous comments, utilizing your catches wouldn't be a bad place to start. Not hard at all to make a beaver lure. An old timer who did highway circuits beaver'n once told me...bait and lure is trickery at times, lots of folks purchase bait and lure due to tradition and trends...not solely for what is in them bottles...good trappers know it takes more than that and know the difference..and ended that conversation in a hurry. I tagged along for a couple of trap checks, started sun up and ended well into the evening and this man trapped them by the dozens on his own lure that was from his catches, and many without lure. His knowledge of the animal and their patterns by knowing what to look for took hundreds of beaver on its own. Confidence in your ability to set a trap in a good location will build up your success, bait.....or.....lure is up to you. You have almost everything you need to do a number on beaver already, the next phase is knowledge and experience in the field. You'll see what I'm talking about once you start to study them.