Rather steamed about it. Weird thing is I have several others set up in the area and those are all untouched, except for the one with a beaver in it that was touched by a beaver, obviously.

I talk to the local cops pretty regularly so I'll mention it to them but I don't think there's any chance I'll get it back. Definitely was a human that took it though cause I staked the chain ring using a wooden pole and you'd have to lift it about 2 feet straight up to get it off without moving the pole, which is exactly what happened. Nothing else in the area was disturbed either, including my stabilizers and guiding sticks.

Update: After checking several times hoping that a critter had indeed just had a bad catch and managed to somehow slip the ring off my stake and would eventually float to the surface somewhere, I changed up my approach and approached the dam from the underside in my kayak with a big flashlight on a dark night. There, just below the dam break stuck between two branches I saw the glisten of the trigger wires. A few minutes of fishing around the area with a crook managed to dislodge it and I pulled it back up to the surface, 40lb beaver in tow.

I double checked my stake afterwords and realized it didn't move unless you pushed it hard in the exact direction that I found the 330, and that if you let up the pressure the weight of branches would immediately snap it back into place giving the illusion it hadn't moved. Long story short I will reconsider how I attach dam break sets if I do more in the future.

Thanks to everyone who weighed in with concern and advice. I'm sure I'll need more in the future.

Sad Deal

Best to report it so if the thief resets it in an illegal set, you don't get nailed because they didn't remove your name tag. I hate thieves!!

He’ll float in a couple of days. You forgot to stake it down.

No tags required here in Alaska so I didn't have one on it.

Could a large 4-legged critter have grabbed and pulled straight up? My gut feeling is it wasn’t someone but something that got your beaver.

Its a good idea to wire or cable off the trap rather than use a stake through the ring unless you are using a tbar stake. Sometimes it doesnt take much effort to pull hard enough to bend a stake and the ring can slip off.

May take more than a couple of days. In our ice cold water they take a week or longer to float.

I'm thinking a bear took your beaver, trap and all.

Given location I would agree with bear

BUT

You said the guide sticks and stabilizer looked untouched so hard to rule out 2 legged vermin

Poor staking is my first thought ! Bear is my second.

I’m with you fellers

We learn from these experiences

Did you feel around in the water with the hook stick? If it was a good catch, could be in there somewhere.

I tend to agree with others, you have a dead beaver in the water nearby. Do you have access to a magnet you can slush around in the water?

Bear

Not a lot of bears running around in the biggening of April in most of Alaska. Still mostly winter.

I swore up and down..that someone stole my 330 too

So I staahted looking around ...then the sun shined on the water...and there was my 330

With a beaver in it...FORGOT TO TIE IT OFF

I also swore someone stole my 330 , almost gave up looking .
Then I noticed air bubbles under the thin ice , all in one area .
Upon closer inspection, I noticed my first ever caught otter laying on the bottom with my 330 attached!
That otter twisted the wire off , while he was hip caught and could fight to escape .
When he finally got to deeper water , where he drowned, and I found him .

Sounds like you didn’t have it secured well enough. A thief would have taken more than one, especially if you had catches for them to find. You’d be surprised how well a trap ring slides up a stake when a beaver or otter is thrashing around

Id fish around with a long potato rake