Just wondering if anyone has ever used one of these traps when they were legal or where they are legal to use.

They're still legal in many areas and the proper name is a slat box fish trap.

BTW, never used them as they required tagging and licensing in Alabama and limited to just four and only in certain waters while trotlines were unlimited and allowed on a standard fishing license.

Fish traps are not legal to use or own in some states. Out colony muskrat traps are limited in size for fear of people trapping fish and saying they are trapping muskrats. I say bust the people trapping fish, and leave trappers alone.

why not just open up commercial fishing again?

They should but everything has become "trophy" fishing.

No one is using the trap just wondering if anyone was every used them when they were legal or where they are legal. They look like an interesting piece of work and would make a nice conversation piece.

The best wood for them is white oak as it's rot resistant and flexible. The best bait is cheese trimmings followed by cottonseed meal. You pack the bait into the throat area. They need to be soaked to waterlog them prior to use otherwise they want to pop to the surface. Best used in slack water just off the current pointed downstream.

Used many a slat trap in Louisiana for catfish. The ones I built had a large opening front throat of wood slats and a secondary smaller opening throat a little deeper into trap. They work very well in the right areas.

They are made in both round and square with the round often referred to as an Alabama style. Technically the "state" style actually refers to the legal opening size required between the slats to allow smaller fish to pass.

There seemed to be regional preferences as in my home state of Alabama they were more common in the Tennessee Valley and Tennessee River drainage than in the rivers south in the Mobile drainage.
With the advent of chicken and hog wire fish basket traps seemed to push put the slat boxes.

Another thing is the bigger hoop nets and unlimited hook trotlines were preferred by folks like myself who sold their catch as slat boxes are limited in how much they can catch by thei size.

During the spawn leave a female in it and you can fill it up.

Now you're giving away the trade secrets. LOL

Thanks a bunch learned a lot about the slat box fish trap . I never have used a fish trap but I have had old timers tell me about trapping fish. I actually have heard that before about leaving a female in the trap during spanning time. I never really know if that worked or not but I have heard that before.

Catfish are cavity spawners and seek out hollow logs, bank dens and the like. This is why folks can noodle for them.

^ It always amazes me how much I have learned from you folks here. Some more expert experience!

Yes, I have used them. During the 80's I comm. fished in Tn. on the Cumberland and Tn. rivers. Caught many 1000's of lbs of catfish in them. Actually this time of year was best. Set them with cheese right along the old river channel and we would at times catch 5-6 hundred lbs in each trap on a 2-3 day soak.

Lost a few also. If the current jumped and we didn't have them set with enough weight or a large enough float to mark them they would wash away. Sometimes a tow boat would get them also.

Warrior is correct, white oak was the preferred wood with poplar a close second. An older fella in the town I lived in made them and his was considered the best. A lot better than any store bought I ever used. Getting the throats the right size with just the right amount of spring was the secret to them working really well. He hade both round and square. There are times one will out fish the other believe it or not. Takes awhile to learn which to use where and when.

I bet they get heavy to handle if a good catch was had. The soaked up wood is heavy in itself.

It's definitely a hard learned skill to make them and get that throat just right. Same for using them. Just from my limited experience it takes lots of time on the water to learn to "read" just where and when the fish were. And it varies by species. I could almost always tell you whether I'd have blues or flatties on the lines on any given day by the weather and how the river was running. I never bothered to target channels as they ran small and the areas they frequent aren't as good for the other two. While flatties are my favorite I primarily targeted blues as blues are schooling fish like stripers while flatties aren't.
If I were running baskets or slat boxes I would probably target them towards channels.

most of what we caught were channels. We caught a pretty fair share of blues at times also. Every once in a while we would find a flattie in a trap. Most of the fish we caught were what we called "fiddlers", small fish in the 2-4 lb. range. Which at that time was what the markets wanted. For the larger fish I used bait lines and nets.

The traps wouldn't weigh much. Till ya cleared the water with them.....LOL It will work ya pretty hard trying to pull 500-600 lbs over the side of a boat. I was by myself a lot of the time so I pulled them up to the boat and started getting the fish out and into the fish tank instead of fighting all that weight. I can tell ya, when the current is running it can get harry out there in a river. Worst time was when I would get a net, line, or trap up and a dang barge came around a bend. Ya gotta work real fast or drop it back and wait.

hardest job I ever had, but I loved every minute of it.

^ that is interesting!!! I like what you said, "it was the hardest job I ever had but loved ever minute of it". I have found out that same thing in life. The harder the challenge the more love you have for what you are doing.

Thanks, sounded really fun and exciting job.