I can’t find the thread where this came up. I was going to ask the fella who reminded me about this set. Footholds in a spring that’s open water year round. Do you try and guide/block your trap with big sticks or small logs, or just kinda scatter them around under the water?
This set went in one ear and out the other when I read about it as I thought I wouldn’t find one where I trap. Found a beauty late last winter that was about 10-15’ in diameter, got one there in a snare at the end of the season.

If it's legal where you are, wire a piece of a hide to a post, and pound the post into the bottom of the creek, set your traps around it. It's like a pee post but without the need for urine. You can add scent if you like, but they'll get curious about a piece of deer/moose/beaver hide anyways if they're passing by

Sounds like a "tide pool set". Find a tide-pool within a few feet of the high tide line, put a pile of boulders in the middle of the pool, put a buck deer head in the middle of the pile with only the antlers protruding from the rocks. Set several foot-holds around the rock pile in a few inches of water.
If you don't have a deer head, use some rotted seal, or if in a pinch beaver. But don't have it exposed or you will attract nothing but ravens and eagles.

That may have been Spek. At least I know he did that at a spot on his line, and it payed off. I don't remember if he posted it here.

The fresh water one I am thinking of was a guy that runs a lodge in Canada. I forget his screen name but he takes hunting clients in the fall and trapping clients in the winter. Haven’t seen any of his post in some time.

He was from Alaska according to his info. He also said he usually didn’t use lure and blind sets were his go to because his wolves were heavily targeted….which would be similar to mine. These wolves don’t travel snowmobile trails for more than 50yds or so. They’ll walk right by an exposed frozen beaver and have had no luck with gland lure or the classic pee posts. But the open spring was loaded with tracks.
With the good weather we’ve had, I might be able to get back there tomorrow to check it out.

Saw one from a Canadian trapper that places four-five mb750 in the water on drags at a favorite crossover that the wolves use.

I think that’s the beauty of this idea. I got a bunch of 750s from a kid for a good price. I told him I’d rather spend $500 on 3 traps than 10 750s but I couldn’t turn the deal down. In the spring they shouldn’t freeze up, no snow or ice to bite through. I think they’ll be great there. It’s just in an open pool, who knows where they’ll step. I don’t really want to just scatter them like land mines, might try to guide them with bigger sticks in the water.

Yep thats the one I am thinking of also. Did some searching on here last night and couldn't find it though.

Could have been Yukon254 or Bushman but I think this one is more likely


https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/104934/tide-set-photos#Post104934

I think it was the Canadian guy I first saw doing it years ago, it's worked about as well as anything does. Sometimes better, it's a lot easier to make a scent free set under water.

I thought it was bushman or yukon254 also but couldn't find it on here under their names. It was a fresh water creek or spring and had great pictures and writeup on the set.

I do like that post from SEwaterboy, missed it way back when.

Found it. It’s from Super Wider giving info on log crossing sets….
https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/8256954/re-log-crossing-sets#Post8256954

“ I use the spring creek open areas to drop in Alaska #9's similar to a South East Tide Water Set. I just drop about 4 Alaskan #9's in the pools, two on each side. I set from in the water, in waders, yes in Alaska during the winter. I just position the traps about a foot from the bank, under water from about 6 inches to about 2 foot deep, right where they will enter or exit the spring pool. Most pools are about 10-20 foot across, up to about 3 foot deep at most. Most of the pools are 1-2 foot deep, perfect. The tracks in the snow show them using them, so I set them all up blind first. Thats why I use blind sets with big footholds on crossing logs for wolves in Alaska. Coyotes use them all day everyday up here, right after the wolves put in a good track across the log, coyotes follow in their tracks. Good luck, hope this helps you catch them.”

I went through my old posts and found it in there…

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/sYn1qBRQnLQ?feature=shared[/video]

Old video I remember watching. Deadly set.

Yea, that’s pretty much what I got except it’s a pool. I wonder if that’s Dave Van Dermeer?
Not sure if I’ll use a scent post, they’re onto my tricks now. A pack came close to my bait pile at another spot but wouldn’t enter the bush. Kinda like last Monday. Only 2 young ones entered and one got caught, the others including the big tracks stayed outside. Time to change it up…lol

I have a lot of open water springs during the winer along the major river I trap on. They are every couple of hundred yards apart. I can think of 6 of them in less than one mile. They are on the creeks on the side of the river. The creeks open and close due to the warm water in the springs. When they freeze over for weeks on end, the pools are still open water. Most of the animals are using the river corridor. Most of them are getting water from the warm open water spring pools. I put up some cameras to see if anything was around. The pools are loaded with animals. I put the traps under water where they enter and exit the water. That's it, nothing more, no scent, no bait, no lure, no urine, no attractors. Pure like I wasn't even there. No other sets for 1/2 mile at least.

I have two kinds of wolves. The packs are about 5-7 animals, up to 10 at most. And then mostly the loaner wolves, the few, the old, the smart. I spend most of my time on the loaners until the small pack comes back down the river. Coyotes and wolverine are always around everyday.

The wolves I have are loners, super smart old wolves, by themselves. They are not bold, they don't like bait, lure or urine. In fact they HATE them. They will run at the slightest smell of anything from me. The biggest thing I learned, is that they are afraid of one smell in particular. LOGWOOD, scares the heck out of them. They can smell my traps from a long ways off. So I stuck them under water where they cannot smell them. It took me years to figure out what was causing them to flip out and what smell it was. Any lure, bait or urine, in addition any traps that I boiled in LOGWOOD. But the logwood is the constant smell they don't like. Every trapper up and down the river boils his traps in logwood. I used to, never again. Battle Born cleaner and Sleepy Petes dye now. No buildup, clean like a gun barrel.

I have a pack of usually around 7 or less wolves. They will fall for regular tricks and snares. The loners are snare smart and will laugh at your ways. The spring pools are always working on all the wolves. I run Alaskan #9's on 15 foot long heavy chains with a big pointed drag on the end of each foothold in the spring pools. I put out a burnt log pee post, they see it from 50 yards and run the other way. Gland lure will make them do back flips. I saw where they would pee on a dog bootie but nothing else for a mile. I don't even lure the dog booties. I am afraid I will tip them off. These loaners would rather pee on a aluminum can that blew out of your sled than on my wolf sets. Pay attention to what they do over and over. Use that against them no matter what it is. Could be as simple as a 2 inch piece of bright colored stinky cloth laying in a trail of nothing for 50 miles. This is why I like blind sets first. Snares second. Maybe that cloth they keep peeing on will be third. Then back to underwater blind sets.

I'll find out next weekend. I couldn't quite make it that far yesterday. Sure hope we get some more snow!

That's interesting about logwood, but it makes sense. I boil mine with spruce bark/needles mostly, sometimes I get a wild hair and spray paint them white (I spray paint all my water traps, but usually brown or dark green), then I either wax or dip in FMJ. I'm still figuring things out around here and adjusting accordingly, this site has been a huge resource for that. Trapping most places in SE isn't the same as trapping near the road system, if you leave POW and Wrangell, you can set wolf traps bare handed without too many issues, they don't see humans nearly enough to associate us with danger, the further the boat ride, the more and more this applies.

Dave O Farrell
Grizzly creek lodge Yukon
He made these sets I believe handle here was yukon 254

His page came up when I googled this topic hahaha.
https://grizzlycreeklodge.com/the-art-of-wolf-trapping-tips-and-techniques-for-success/
He doesn’t mention water, but does say the blind set is his go to.

S/J Dave at trapping world,utube

Thanks grampy2! Here it is…

The springs and moving water in my area do not have hard bottoms, looncrap and very soft.

Now we just need to get you some wolf traps.

I must say, I don't think I have ever seen canine sets with traps so obvious anytime, anywhere. However, that sure shows how to make the setup in that particular riffle.

I watched that video years ago and thought the same thing. I don't know if they have since changed it or not, but I remember when they first opened a trapping season for wolves in Idaho, for some odd reason they made it illegal to make water sets for wolves, you could make water sets for any other animal it was legal to trap, but not wolves. They had a lot of odd wolf specific regs when they first opened a season and have since changed a lot of them, but having never been in a situation where I wanted to make a water set for them, I have never checked to see if that has been changed.

^^^^
If water sets are now legal in Idaho, I would definitely try them, the wolves have probably never encountered them.