Finally had a check like a man haha 145 out of 250 traps good enough for me! Haha

Up and running now!!

I finally got on here this morning and must say CA is a beast !! Picked up 11 rats from 36 traps yesterday, about what I expected. I will be pulled up by Thursday in that spot the way it looks. See you have a different truck this year CA, the red Toyota give up the ghost?

Mark

we're busting through ice up here

Fishdog I dont know about any red toyota haha it's the same truck I had last year this is a new one I rebuilt an engine for this summer 83 might run it a little and get my 10 mpg haha already earned its keep hauling all the coon carcasses to my guy who takes them in Portage was about 2000 pounds





Yeah it's not looking good for weather maybe the highs will be enough to keep it open? But I doubt it

Keets - I'll be about 1hr NW of you tomorrow, I guess I should take Open Water Otter off my agenda

I got about 20 sets in yesterday, a little challenging with the wind blowing the canoe around, but not too bad checking today. Managed 5 rats, all pretty good sized. Going to have a couple for dinner and save the others for fisher bait.



Also saw this behemoth frog yesterday while I was setting. It was sitting up on dry land, seemed like he was full of water or something. I tossed him into some shallow water and he was still there today. Still alive. That's a 20 ounce soda bottle for reference.

Hey tiguy, you by a power plant????????? That thing is HUGE!!

That frog has lived its entire life on the pristine waters of the bay of Green Bay!

Very good catch CA! Just got back from our 2 check trapping expedition. We scouted south John where you were the past seasons and found zippo for rat sign. We traveled north and yes we had ice while setting and checking.

Did okay in one place and poorly in another. Wound up with 146 rats in two checks with about 200 sets. Early season rats so they are falls and smaller but it is a nice trip with a trapping partner. We have a small house to use to warm up and shower so that makes it cleaner and nicer. Want to set my flat water here but with 20 degrees I don't think that will thaw much and that would mean a 1 night check!! Life is what is happening while we make other plans!!

Bryce

Nice catches everyone, made about 20 sets after duck hunting yesterday- ended up with 11 rats

Eagleye, some wet coons and a dry one. The larger one looks well furred. I see your rats look similar to ours. We had several medium to smaller rats. I don't know if there was later breeding and litters this year or there is just less calories for the rats to eat but the average size is smaller. I know if one waits they will grow some but one traps when the opportunities come.

Bryce

Day 2 good day again got 120 up to 309 now got to keep it going !


Glad you got out and got some Bryce at least you had some success it sounds like you guys have fun at least

This guy is a machine!!!

EAGLEYE...just the water in my little ponds around here get the shell ice....anything with movement should be ok

Day 3 another good day at 123 puts me at 432 but now the weather's gonna get me so tomorrow I'm gonna pull to the dike and hole it opens back up!


T

Cold is going to ice us up quick by the looks of the forecast!
Nice work, though!

Chris

Bucks are on the move and so am I, traps are pulled and packed- heading north to bow hunt and see if I can fill my otter tags & Fisher tag - keep after them guys!
Bryce- I hoping that dry coon was the one taking a Yo Man dump in our duck blind (worried about the feces with the dog)- we set the DP in the blind when we left on Sunday, the Blake & Lambs held the other small coon fine on houses - thanks to your bamboo stake idea.
Ended up with 6-1/2 rats yesterday- well on the way to surpass CA's first day catch numbers for my season lol.
Pales in comparison to tlguy's massive frog - but I found a 4 legged octopus.

Wouldn't that be a "quadopus" then being it only has four legs?

Glad to hear the stakes are working for you. I am sold on mine. The new ones I bought from Home Depot that are listed as 5/8 inch are fantastic. They are bigger on the butt end then the 3/4 inch and about like the 1/2 inch on the top so they taper and are strong. My 1/2 inch I originally bought for marking rat sets and setting through the ice I have used for rats for 3 years. I have held 3 small beaver with them but these stakes break a lot easier and I am losing about 5% per year. I like them as they are light but I will get more of the larger diameter and if I have to go back and get another 25 or so I will.

Set up a local slough yesterday. This is a very difficult place to get into and it is just plain hard work but close to my house. 45 sets in and 18 rats and one coon all in the 1 stoploss traps. That is the best I have done percentage wise there in 5-7 years. Will pull early Thursday as we are looking at 20-21 Thursday night! I only set half of the place and none in my two smaller sloughs. It looks like soft water trapping is about over here too and I will wait now until I can walk on the ice. Good luck up north. I see less and less fisher sign every year grouse hunting. I actually found an area with a fair amount of snowshoe hare droppings and other activity. We go up for 2 days to deer hunt. This year with the hip replacement I did no scouting at all so this will be a blind hunt this year.

Bryce