I'm planning on trying to trap beaver on the Mississippi river. I'm in northeast Missouri and up until now all my trapping has been in ponds and small creeks. I have access on land so no boat required. I see some beaver sign that looks somewhat fresh, but not many active slides that I've seen. I've watched them swim along the river in this area, so does anyone have any advice for trapping a big river like the Mississippi?

Be darn careful and have fun ! Is the best advice I have for you .

Learn to put in sets efficiently. Corp controlled water means water level rises and falls constantly.

x2

You'll be messin' around near some DEEP water. Be steady on your feet!

Beware of undercut sandbars.

If you can run snares...id set them on any slide that looks active. I try to stay out of the water on the bigger creeks/rivers here because flooding is bad once beaver season starts. Mostly snare the tops of the slides, occassionally the middle on very tall banks or if there's a middle bank.

Running rivers in boats is what I do. After you've run enough bigger rivers they're almost the same when it comes to beaver. First go to the NOAA website for river levels in your area and treat that like your bible. Second, if water levels are rising hold off...wait until they're falling. Third, set on fresh sign. Lots of marking of territory on big rivers. Especially pay attention to slough entrances or areas of backwaters. If they're are crossover points to ponds or ditches that is always sweet too.

Big rivers tend to have really nice beaver populations and little or no lodges or dams.

Best of luck, sounds like a lot of fun.

IF . . . . you have fluctuating water conditions and IF . . . you have no thieves . . . go with floats and #330s.

Do you have pretty good success like this? I tried one once on a creek, but gad all the beavers in foothold and runs with bodygrips.

I've had good luck using floats especially on bigger river systems. Use a good lure, a piece of bait and have sides on the float. I like to wire them offshore to a stump or overhanging tree if possible.

I’ve trapped beavers in sloughs on the Mississippi in the fall and used active runs with conibears and foot traps. We did it out of a boat. But spring beaver trapping is, as several have mentioned, a bit different when you have to contend with rising and dropping water levels.

Most of my beaver trapping in the spring is done with 330s or snares. This spring my partner wants to do floats on the Mississippi and the bigger streams. This will give us a 3-day check and should keep us in business even if the water goes up several feet.

Good luck with your venture. Wear a life jacket to be safe.