Trying to fill my first ever Southern Zone Wisconsin fisher tag. I am on the northern edge of the southern zone and haven’t connected on a fisher after trying the last 3 or 4 years. Today I found a location that has an old dike that follows a waterway and butts up to a lowland tag alder area and an older aspen stand on the other side. I put a set in on the bottom edge of the dike that had a good little travel way going. Anyone have any luck ever with fishers following old dikes like this?

Sounds like a great transitional spot. Usually good for anything.

I wouldn't obsess about actual water being nearby. It is usually a great break or transition factor, so if it's there great, but I've personally caught more fisher in hardwoods or edges of hardwoods to thick stuff and edges of clearcuts than along waterways.

Good luck!

Joe Holland just uploaded a 'Fisher Trapping Movie' on YouTube. The video is shows his locations and his thoughts on what to look for. Very informative I thought!

I will take a look at this! Thank you

[quote=Rusty Axe Camp]Sounds like a great transitional spot. Usually good for anything.

I wouldn't obsess about actual water being nearby. It is usually a great break or transition factor, so if it's there great, but I've personally caught more fisher in hardwoods or edges of hardwoods to thick stuff and edges of clearcuts than along waterways.

Good luck!

Good to know. I haven’t looked at setting edges of clear cuts yet. Maybe something to look into. I found an old bear bait while grouse hunting today that has some type of rock wall running through the woods nearby too. I have heard those rock walls can be a good place to set as well? It’s near a trail and not too far from a parking area though so I may wait to set that until after our general rifle deer season here as I feel that it may get a lot of traffic

bear bait sites that were used this past season are always good too. If you can pre-bait, keep it freshened up!

It's not the rock wall that keeps the fisher there, its the smaller critters that live in the rock wall the fishers want to eat. Same goes for fresh cut areas with log piles, piles of tree tops, huge stumps, etc.

Fisher here like the hemlock trees, if there’s a stream at the bottom of a hemlock ridge and you can set between the stream and the ridge it’s paydirt.

As Fisher here are moving into semi populated areas rapidly where most parcels are owed 5-40 acres my most productive locations are crossing areas over state and county hwys where there is 1/4 ml or more undeveloped brush or wooded areas across from each other where they travel. Most of the roads sides are cleared fields, pastures, residences or ponds so when there is enough cover to cover one each side it draws them to cross there. We also have alot of small public land plots that come to roadside and makes easy access and most other trappers ignore because of size. winter tracks have shown me that they use these crossing habitually every year as they run their circuits like otter. And like with otter each of those crossing will have a fisher use it but our season has been so short in the past that they may not in the time allowed. We have a longer season now but also deeper into the winter when weather can den them up for for week or more also. My point is fisher are not as much a deep big woods fur bearer as in the past. They are very opportunistic and adaptable beyond our old trapping thinking.