Hello everyone! First post. I've been trapping coyotes/raccoons for a couple years. A neighbor contacted me yesterday with a beaver problem and I'm going to go over there and have a look soon. This would be my first foray into water trapping. I'm considering No BS beaver traps with a drowning set, 8 foot fiberglass rods with Hagz ends and drowner, 24 in t rebar stake. Question: how deep does the water need to be at the end of the 8 foot rod to have good success as a drowner set? Thanks for any info.

4ft for a backfoot catch.

And that varies with the length of the chain from the lock to the trap. Shorter chain can get by with less water.

I'm in the same place- been trapping coyotes/coon for a few years now. My mailman has some hunting property under water and as a trade off for some dozer work I told him I would try to catch some beaver. I am going with the MB650s chained drowner sets.

What lure is recommended?

4ft min. Have drowned em in 3 ft of water traps have very short chain and plus I set them going for front feet. But deeper the better. Good lure is wood chipper and back breaker.

I've drowned them in 16" with front foot catch, but you want more. I like 2 feet min. if you are setting for a front foot only and 3 1/2- 4 foot for back feet. I've drowned quite a lot in 18-20 inches with front foot catches, because that was as deep as there was in some of these mountain streams. But Especially for a newby I would want 3 1/2-4 feet, without the experience you might manage a back foot catch even when trying for a front foot, and better safe than sorry. Short chains from trap to drowner are a must, I usually run just a couple links, enough to give you room to bed your trap. I run drowning wire, not rods, so you can cut to whatever length is necessary, and much easier to pack, but rods will work fine. If you are using center swiveled traps, remember you will need a little more chain so you don't have the rod under your trap, and consequently a little deeper water to drown them in.

I've drowned beaver in a foot of water-under the ice.

Probably aint gonna do this ^^^^ in South Carolina...

If the water is shallow use a 4' to 6' chain. Stake it in the water away from solid entanglements. Try to target a hind foot catch, 15" or more. Fiberglass rods can cause you trouble go for steel. The Haz bracket is the best. On a 1/2" rod they wont give an inch. Pauls Backbreaker, in the South anyway, can't be beat.

You can forego the drowner , add a couple of foot of chain . You will have to dispatch but they don’t seem to fight the trap as long as they can get back on the bank. I caught quite a few beaver like this last year and liked the results on dam sets with no entanglement.

Why would fiberglass rods cause trouble?

Urodawg, varmint may have had a bad experience with fiberglass rods but they are excellent for drowning beavers. I’m not the best beaver trapper out there but I’ve killed hundreds of beavers in single seasons on them and the only problem I’ve ever had was where the ground was too rocky to drive the rod into it.

I’ve not seen any problem with drowning rods of any kind And if your in a spot where dispatch might be an issue ( i e. Nosey neighbors) by all means send them to Davy Jones locker.

I'll bet he probably did. He makes his living trapping beavers, like I have, and has had years of full time beaver work. I can't comment on using rods, because I've never used one. Varmintshooter will be the one taking over my big contract starting on Monday. My 30 years of full time beaver'n is up this Friday. Then it's full time Dobbins' Products.

Dang, Paul, I bet your Tacoma is going to be jealous. Lure and wine making it is!

The old girl will turn 720,000 miles tomorrow. She probably needs a rest.

Are you going to turn to the high dollar coyote market Paul?

Lol , have a long and happy retirement!