This year has been very dry, which makes it better for dam setting beaver. There have been some wet years recently that were awful. When the dams are overflowing they care little about patching until the rain stops and the water drops back. Some years the rains seem to be hours apart, keeping the water high for weeks on end. This year with two weeks with no rain they don't want to lose any water depth. All you have to do is pop a small hole in a dam and here they come. This year has truly been a joy compared to the years with the monsoon like 3 inch rains that came a couple of times a week. They don't move as much during these dry times, so there may be fewer jobs until the fall rains, but easier to catch in the dam break sets.

In this case would you break the dam enough to put your large beaver trap in the hole?

We have three sets we use with the cages on dams.

Sometimes we put the traps parallel to the dam, in about a foot of water, where the water is shallow and there is a tight spot. We break holes in the dam on each side of the trap about 10 feet each way from the trap. The beaver patches one, then heads for the other to get caught.

Second, a very effective set can be made using the swim through cage with one door closed. We put the trap upside down on the dam so that the opened door is just an inch or so under water. We cover the trap with sticks and junk, then open a hole under the trap to leak through. The beaver will swim into the trap to check out the leak and get caught. Also, because the door is just under the surface, floating debris that drifts towards the leaking water will remain outside of the trap, collecting above the door opening, which means the trap will not get plugged with drifting leaves, grass etc. The hole we make is not large, just enough to make noise and a little current without really changing the water level.

The third set is really simple. We make a good sized hole, about 12x12 and usually put two cages on the bottom about 5 inches apart, out from the hole in about two feet of water or deeper, perhaps six feet out from the dam. Beaver brush in the hole, but dive under at some point and swim through the cages to get caught. They may have put a bunch of sticks in the hole, but end up in a trap.

Been dry here also. Big help for shotgun-at-dusk method in the ditches where they easy to retrieve. And of course dam breaks.