I'm about to put them together now,I just have a qustion.
First when you put it in the mud how far down do you push it?

2ndwould 7 feet be enough?

Shove it as deep as you can.. 7ft is plenty when you have steep drop offs. Shallower drops youll need longer.

Thanks alot.

I built mine with a stop about a foot from the "deep" end and with provisions to double stake at the bank end. Even if they manage to pull it out of the mud on the deep end, they can't escape... And the double stakes prevent them from swimming back to the bank... Most of the time. Had a big 58 lb male bend a 1/2" rebar drowning rod into a horseshoe. But he was waiting on the bank for me when I got there.

I wound up having to haul everything back to fix that one. Neighbors were probably wondering what I was doing out in the yard... Had that bent drowning rod in the fork of a tree bending it back straight.

Never a dull moment on the beaver line.

Mike

Don't stake the deep end. The beaver will swim around for a while and tire out and It's lights out. I always liked to add about 5lbs of weight close to the trap.They don't swim very long with all that weight hanging off that leg. Use lots of swivels.
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One stake at the bank and one about 12" down from the first stake. When checking pull the second stake rotate the rod back to the bank and remove your catch and re set.

Couple years ago doing a nuisance job, had a beaver refuse to go down the rod and instead jacked the top stake and was just wondering the top of the bank. Luckily i managed to grab the rod and the stake was still attached, jammed the stake back in the ground and ran back to the truck for my 22.

I would not make my rods 7'. Most of mine are 10'. You want the beaver underwater as soon as possible. They drown quickly when fighting the trap. I've timed some and it averages about 5 1/2 minutes. If they can come up for air it gives them more time to fight. With toe caught beaver you want them dead quickly. It takes 4' of water for a rear foot caught beaver to be underwater. With a 7' rod, you're not likely to get the end in 4' of water, giving the beaver more time to escape.

I made mine 10 feet long and welded a large washer about 24 inches up from the bottom. I straightened and welded a regular stake swivel on the top end. I use a single 24 inch t-bar stakes but have never caught a 56 lb beaver.

If you don’t have them long enough so you can push them in the bottom as far as possible this can happen
Fortunately this time the 74# female was still there on the opposite side of the dam she should have been

Gravelly streams can b a problem

7 feet is kind of short, but what works would depend on your conditions. I find it’s usually easier to deal with a little extra length than it is to not have enough.



I push my submersion rods as deep as I can then give it one last shove to get to the point that it feels solid. I don’t want them pulling up the deep end if I can help it.


Mine are 10 feet with a slide stop about 18-24” from the end. I used to use (2) top stakes, but now I just use 1.

My first drowning rods for beaver were chain link fence tensioning rods. Found them in a scrap pile at work. They were 6 ft, has a lock on them already and a little extra bending and they were ready made drowning rods. Worked great in spots that went straight down. They dont get much work now because i dont always have those kind of spots. Got a bunch of 10ft rebar and fiberglass and 8ft fiberglass rods now

All mine are 9ft due to fact I can lay them diagonally in my truck bed and close tailgate and they ride OK in my SxS bed without bouncing out.

The 10 footers stuck out the bed and bounced out of SxS due to overbalance.

Rubberized tie wire tied off the corner gear tie anchor is great for keeping those long rods from bouncing.

I bought 10' and put them in my bed behind the driver side maybe a few feet was sticking out ,I was able to close the tail gate.

If you’re referring to “gear ties”, those things are awesome. They’re one of the most useful tools for trappers that I rarely if ever see mentioned.


As far as securing trapping equipment to the rack of an atv, there is nothing better. Bungee cords don’t come close to gear ties. I use them to securely fasten everything from shovels to rods to drivers, traps, and stabilizers when I’m using my 4wheeler to trap.

Yeah...at 9ft mine are lying on the bed of the Tundra and not on the closed tailgate.

Yep, they run under several names. Course if you're an electrician or know one, you can get roles of heavy gauge electric wire and do the same thing

And they really shine for transporting fishing rods

At 10 feet, mine do lay on the closed tailgate of my truck but the rear window on the topper keep them from bouncing around when I am trapping in the truck. When trapping with the SxS, the rods are hauled on the trailer and then held in the removable racks with bunge cords, Biggest downfall is not being able to open the passenger door but I am usually by myself anyway. The other inconvenience is the racks have to stick out past the side of the SxS. But the racks are easily removed when I do not need to haul rods.

Nice setup.

I also use 9 foot, smooth cold finish 7/16”. I buy 12 footers (I hear they are way more expensive now than when I bought my last bunch) cut 3’ off each one, and I built couplers so for very soft conditions on the bottom end, I couple a 3 footer. I also have 1 and 2 foot extensions. This way I use the full 9 feet of the main rod and the extension is what is shoved in at the bottom. When needed of course. Sometimes 9 is enough feet. I also made adjustable stops for the bottom. These are my favorite steel rods so far.

I finally went to 10' fiberglass rebar this year and steel is a thing of the past from now on for me. Welded washer on a piece of metal conduit and hammered it on the top end for T stake, put slider and chain on, and hammered an annealed nut up from the bottom end for a stop. Works slick, someone on here came up with it, I just copied what they did.

Where do you find fiberglass regarding at?

Google tree stakes fiberglass, several options.

You want the ones with the plastic veil wrap.

Fiberglass smooth rods can be bought from Geotek in Mn.

I finally got some pictures of my drowning rod holder. I put a short rerod with a washer welded half way down into the square tubing on the front of my Ranger. Then put the washer on the anchor end over the rerod. Put the other end in the pvc pipe at the rear. I can then open both of my doors.

Four, ten foot drowning rods sticking out the back of an eight foot bed. They or at an angle.

Rebar comes in 20 ft lengths if your buying it, cut in half gives you the 10 ft . I scrounge mine from construction sites, not cost effective to restock leftovers, they're usually glad to get rid of it, and even let me plug in a chop saw to cut them to size. Road/bridge work is another way to get free bar.