Im planning to run a road line for you real road line guys youll probably laugh but its a 34 mile round trip ive marked 10 stops on 3 small creeks and one bigger river in my area . Im wanting some tips or stuff you wish you had known for road line or anything else you'd recommend for a first timer

If you are using drowner cables and bags I like to have the bags set out in the truck with a cable, trap, stake and have the trap attached to the cable. Just have to grab a bag or bags, setting gear and lure. It helps to have an idea from preseason scouting, how many and what type of sets at each stop.

Agree with Marty.

If going thru brush or low limbs, wear safety glasses.
Carry the lease amount of gear when checking.

First off - make sure it is legal to do. In many rural states/counties the adjoining landowners own (by description of the deed - title to their property) to a legal survey boundary (sometimes the road centerline). Permission is probably needed on this private land EVEN THOUGH "right of use" may have been granted to the county or township. That way they do the maintenance and certain upkeep of the road but it is still private property. Highway and interstates have been purchased and are OWNED by the State. Vehicle laws may (and do) restrict stopping along limited access highways to bonified emergency conditions and pleading a trap set to a patrolman won't go very far. The state here DOES NOT grant permission to trap their ROW's PERIOD (you wanted experiences). Maybe you have covered all this but its worth repeating as IA and SD are exceptions to the vast majority of states for fur harvesting on ROW's. So if you are legally ready - consider all drowning sets to keep captured quarry out of site - out of mind. BG's or 1 way slide drowners are the way to go. I have some experience in NE, IA, MI, and MN from 1970 on and being legal was the the most important aspect to making and keeping a catch along a road. Reading sign and making sets with modern day tools and techniques is a wash with today's technology/media so preventing accidental catches of domestic animals along a roadway is the best tip I can give you. ..................the (wish we could set a long or short line of traps like we used to) mike

I have checked the legal part and am good to go on that i planned on drowning rigs but with rocks as weight we have a lot of them in the Ozarks how often do you all mix up sets or would pockets and blind sets be best

My boy had a little line last week on the way to school I think he had like 13 stops with 19 DP set and picked up 21 raccoons in a week. Just did DP with cereal in them. Sure makes a fast way to add some fur to the years total. He mainly set 1 trap at a location. A few had 2 but it seemed it was easier to be able to just check one side or the other and keep it moving. Used a Death Ray since he was headed to school. Got a few thumbs up from guys driving past when he was checking

If you are driving 34 miles round trip, you should have found WAY more than 10 locations. You are overlooking a lot of furs. You could be setting a lot of high and dry locations between those creeks and bridges as well as small culverts and such with just a trickle of water. I don't think there is any one mile of road around here that I couldn't find at least 4-5 good locations if there is any cover nearby. If you are only setting 10 locations then I'd advise 4-6 or more traps/sets per location, and set on sign, look for their track and set there.

To your last question, pocket sets are always the biggest producers on a water line, bait them with a big chunk of fish or 1/4 of a muskrat carcass and squirt a big rainbow of fish oil over the pocket so its running down into the water and leading every critter down stream to your sets. Set on the denning side of the road vs. the feeding side, if you can tell, and you'll beat the competition to the furs.

Good luck.

Thats every trickle of water with the exception of one place that only has water when it rains a lot. Most of these are rural roads where the fence basically stops at the road edge and so even if there was a spot to trap I couldn't pull over

Gang set every stop. At least 4 sets, setting both sides of the creek. More if there is room and the sign is there.

That was my plan 4 pockets and 2 bottom edge sets at the bridges

If you have the traps set at least 4 sets on each side.

Let us know how you do. Good Luck!

Pull over as far as possible turn on your hazards and get to work, 5/10 minutes a stop less after your up and running if your in good shape if not you will be in a month