I've got one 155 Bridger and it seems fine to me, I've several 150s and they will work on marten but I would be leery of them on Fisher. I use 120s and they will take both quite well, but you will get some refusals from fisher. Which suits me fine since we can't trap them here.
It is the Bridger 120 that I always hear people complain about the small eyes on. They can be a pain but I am used to them and find them not to be a big deal. The 155s have a little larger eyes if I recall correctly.
A lot of people say to use only fresh bait, but I think I get better results with tainted bait. And yes frozen will work fine. I always take mine out a day or two before I set and let it thaw.

Thanks, guys. Got some ideas now. Main target is Marten, so Belisle 120's in a box sounds good. I've got a few 155's and 160's that I might use also, and a good number of # 1.75 and #2 CS traps that I'll set for fox/coyote/bobcat/fisher.

Once final question: Is an offset trap okay for fisher? I have a dozen 1.75 OS traps that I'd like to set in dirthole or cubbies but would hate to lose a fisher because the trap was not good for them from the start. I know that animals can sometimes pull out, but want to minimize that since we're only planning on a 7 - 10 day trip.

Thanks again!

Although I have never used them for fisher I would not trust them to hold a fisher. Fisher have a different (flatter/thinner) foot structure than canines.

Once final question: Is an offset trap okay for fisher?

I have caught many fisher in MB550 and 450 offset in my canine sets. I never lost one. As long as you have strong springs you will be fine.

I've caught two fisher on NO BS K9 Extreme Jr OS. No issues holding the animal.

Thank, guys. I caught one last week in a mink box, but had to turn it over to the DEC since my area doesn't have an open season. And, I forgot to look at its feet for the offset.

Caught a small female fisher this year in a Bridger 1.75 offset. No issue. Held just fine.

155 is a great marten/fisher combination trap thats primarily what I use here in Maine. And when it comes to bait a tennis ball size chunk of fresh frozen beaver or fish is my go to. My bait freezes eventaully anyway so ive never put much thought in if its frozen or not. But in my opinion fresh bait works best in Maine where in other parts of the country people prefer to taint their bait.

For fishah....I bend my triggah wires like this.

It allows them pesky red squirrels in and out ...without firing the set.

Plus there are no wires in the face of the fisher...and looks more inviting.

Plus the fisher gets into the trap deeper for a nice catch

That’s a 160

Jerry uses milk jugs..they stack inside of each other and are lightweight to cary..

Hers anpic of his set






A different set





He said the pine branches are more to hide it from hunters.

great pics guys

does the bent trigger wire go inside or outside?

Ebsurveyor showed me that bent wire trigger method and I tried a variation of it this past season as an alternative to coni-pans at quite a few sets. Always like to try something new and I'm glad I did. Very happy with it so far and may replace my coni pans with this method over time. I too like to catch the weasels!

Tried tainted bait for years with poor results. I start with fresh frozen meat (mostly beaver but also grouse and fish) and if it taints a little in the box so be it. It still works.....later in the season catch rates per trap visit go up anyway (less food in the woods) so that stinky meat seems to produce fine later on.

Success rates are so variable from year to year here that it is difficult to effectively evaluate different methods with unbiased results. Next year everything I did this year will probably be half as effective as the mast crop will be abundant and marten/fisher won't come to the sets as readily. This past year you could have caught them with almost anything late in the season.

Jeremiah

Also...with limits of 25 per trapper it can take a while to have enough observations to make a meaningful conclusion on what's working. Guys who put up a few hundred marten, if keeping good records, can learn a lot quick.

In my area the the best size fisher BG is a variable question. There are some VERY large fisher here. I caught one that was very hard to get back out of a 220! 67" long rug tanned. And I have seen others taken that were as big. But 95% of our fisher would get into a 160 if they wanted. I think one of the key things with BG's is to have them within a few inches of the bait so they will hit your trigger while working it no matter which trigger configuration you use. Farther away always had the potential of animal jumping thru for me, and more suit casing. It's circle triggers on most of my BG's now which I make.

The triggers bend to the inside of the box or wire cage ... towards the bait

I use a 160 for fisher and make a pole set with a cubby underneath it …. Put skunky call lure on the bottom of the pole …. Remember u can make a cubby on site instead of lugging boxes around …

Great thread.

Mac

Most of your questions have been answered but for footholds, if I were targeting Marten specifically, A #0 longspring (or jump) would be my first choice. A #1 LS causes excessive damage. Any fisher in a foothold is going to tear the heck out of your set and any trap used better be anchored solidly and have several swivels on it.

Bump