Our rivers broke-up last week so day before yesterday I set 9 floats. Between setting & the check my rivers rose 3'+ and it's always dicey with the steep clay banks! Today was 1st check with a catch of 4 out of 9 floats. I started using floats 2 years ago and spent considerable time revamping my float design until I was satisfied with the balance & current control. My river bottoms are for the most part too rocky to use a vertical float rod so I use a 10' fiberglass rod horizontally from the bank. Works great for me! I took a few photos today and did quite a bit of video recording.

Seldom, will you show us your final float design out of the water?
I am always impressed with the level of thought you put into everything. Thanks.

Sure, I started as most do with a squared-off front end but quickly learned a good pointed front rides the current better without the wide waggle. Also, the tether can be hooked to a side where it will swing out in the current like a planer board. The balance of the float is critical to me because I want the biggest trap “window” for the beaver to line itself with. Too low of a window and the beaver can & will try to climb over the jaws!!! I have a pond near me where I’d take my float & trap to see how it floated so I could make adjustments in the floatation. You’ll see in videos where people mention needing to add weight to the front of the float inorder to get the window higher!

I’ve tried and tried to use floats from our fall, open water winters and spring and I never have had any luck

Thank you, I have my first float build out right now, but it floats a little low in the back with the weight of the 330.

Here in Michigan floats work very well on the migrators. All I need is permission from one property owner (one of a hundred plus) that will allow me to set a float rather than going door-to-door asking for permission “just to look for beaver sign” as I did back in the mink Dioxin Project! I let the beaver come to me rather than search out where the beaver are! A friend of mine mentioned that floats catch a lot of little beaver, I do catch little beaver as in today’s catch , a 15lber but I also caught a 44.5lber! Last year I caught a 68lber so who knows!

Does painting your PVC (lure holder I assume) green help with attraction? I left mine white.

LOL! I’m a “green-man” from my muskrat days but probably the white would also be a good visual attractant!

Beaver Floats take a little work on setting out in rivers, creeks.... but after that it is literally rinse and repeat....over and over again. Trapping non flowing water a necessity as well, but the replenishment of new beavers with rivers/creeks very efficient. Was able to get to 420 two years ago - not sure how many the floats claimed, as a lot of these were taken in other types of sets including under the ice... but guessing 75 or 100 at least that season

I understand completely, Infact, watching Utube videos will bring that up time after time,that is why I spent so much time testing and adjusting the floatation on my floats because I wanted that “window” as high as I could make it. I took small pieces if 1” foam with me when I’d go to test a float and tack on pieces until I got what I wanted!!

The biggest problem I have is getting permission on both sides of the rivers! All of my river’s frontages are private and the general flow is west to east so I know I’m missing beaver with floats only on one side but it is what it is!

Have a close-up of your horizontal rod set-up?

Sure, tomorrow is check day and I’ll take a photo. I’ve got several on my orv trailer right now so If you wanted to see something specific, I go out and take a photo for you.

Yesterday I had a float on a horizontal rod that got hung up on a heck of a big Cottonwood limb. That limb was close to 8” at the big end by 15’ lg which was jammed into the bank catching my float about mid-way on it’s length. My stakes held the rod OK and my float was as well but that fiberglas rod was bent beyond 90* holds everything in a heavy current.

I made my terminal ends out of 1/2” sq tubing with an old swivel body welded to one end. I then drilled 2 holes for a couple of 3/16” bolts and just peened their ends.

Always been intrigued by these, but Maine law requires our 330s to be completely submerged. Haven’t figured out a way to make a float for a submerged trap.

Hmmm . .... now there's a challenge. Longer arms on the float. A dive stick across the mouth with something like a KB stabilizer attached to the underside of the dive stick that would guarantee your #330 would be fully submerged 24/7.

Then three lengths of threaded rod that would extend above the float to wall off any that want to crawl up, as well as extend down into the water to allow just one opening through the #330. Washers and nuts top and bottom. One at the point, one each at the end of the wing.

Then . . . a fella could take a length of burlap, width cut to the distance the rods hang down in the water, length enough to attach from one rod near the trap to wrap around front rod and back to other rod. Hmmm .
.clamps on the burlap to keep in place? Same for three rods on top.

Now . . . to keep things simple, the three rods and burlap could be transported separately from the floats. Each rod could have a two nuts positioned at the right location so when the rod is shoved up from the bottom through the hole, it will be at the right location top and bottom. Two nuts cinched to keep them in place. Then a third nut could be spun down from the top to keep the rod in place. Floats could then be stacked.

Sounds like a cluster. . but at least it's a place to start. I do believe once you figure it out, and are successful, you'll progress to an improved model. IMO, it would be worth the challenge.

One stake for the anchor and one stake for the fulcrum point for the rod to bear on.



During this mornings check.

good stuff there, Seldom

Thanks for the pictures appreciate it.

For those of us in states that require total submersion of BG's, do any of you set up floats for foot traps? I think the setting is no issue, but wondering about how you send them to the bottom. Cable, addl weight on the chain, rebar?
I'm going to make one for a mb750, thinking of a 3' threaded rod through a board directly under the trap on a lock (nut and washer on top of board). I'm not sure how far up a beaver will climb onto a float, but some of you have said they will climb over the sides. Maybe just need a shelf for the trap, where you would put a 330, to target front foot. I'm sure someone has done it, but I couldn't even find a utube vid for floats w/foot traps.

This is a good conversation that brings up the reason why I added 1x2 fencing along the sides of my float. I’ve seen no evidence of this happening IF THE FLOAT WAS FLOATING FREE! This brings up another design factor of how to keep your floats away from the bank as the water recedes! If you allow your float to get itself hung-up on the bank as the water goes down, I have had beaver climb over my fencing and a hung-up float will almost guarantee raccoon will climb on your float and destroy the fake castor mound AND clean up all lure. These are just a couple reasons I gathered from experience as how I needed to design my floats to keep them always in the water all the time so everything has to swim into the float! The fencing really appears to deter beaver from climbing on & over it as long as the beaver is swimming.

Great float thread worthy of the archives Seldom!

I can catch a few smalls and mediums but they are mostly to smart around me.

I haven't made a trapping video in at least 3 years but this year with using the floats, I decided to start making a few. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/0Qf54-TKT64?si=jepcNsdma39_SnPI

Good post and video will need to make me some floats

Great video good info.

A video with an explanation of my float design-
https://youtu.be/j9J3KKRNdeE

Great video how tall is the wire above the wood?

Thank you! 4”

Ok thank you iam going to build 1.do you think its critical to have the wires of the trigger underwater so its more open for them to go thru.

Yup, I do.

Thanks

Thank you for sharing. We have a small river that is only about 10" deep and has a rock bottom these could be a great thing to use there. It will give me another project this summer. What type of foam do you prefer?

1”styrofoam , just what they sell at Lowes or Home Depot and I use Gorilla Ultimate glue in the caulking tube.

Thank you sir

Seldom . . I took some time this morning to watch your float videos. Very good explanations along with developmental history of your current design.

The planer board analogy was excellent in all respects.

Nice job.

Thank you for taking the time to watch them and the compliment!

The beaver float videos were great info!

Thanks for posting Seldom!

You get my brain in gear more than anyone on Tman!

[quote=Swamp Wolf]The beaver float videos were great info!

Thanks for posting Seldom!

You get my brain in gear more than anyone on Tman!
Thank you SW! I’ve always said that I don’t make videos for instruction or entertainment, I mean how many bouncing coyotes or dead beaver do people want to see. For me, as you said, “get my brain in gear”, that’s why I make videos!

Once again, great vid Seldom . You’d make a great instructor. Loud, clear and easy to pick up what you’re laying down.

Thanks Shakey, I certainly enjoyed your video as well.

The only thing I would add is the need for an underwater catch/deflector on the front of the float to keep debris from plugging/firing the trap. And this would depend on the moving waters you trap. My floats have remained functional for several days just fine(but most times beaver get into them within a day or two). Some waters are flowing so full of trash grass/sticks that are fully plugged within hours that they fire or are pulled from float by current. These waters a deflector has solved this though they are a transporting pain. Mine I screw to each leg underneath before I put them in and place trap. Here I like them as they can placed into the large concrete culverting that has replaced the old brides under major roads out of sight of the thousands that pass over them each day. Keep them against the wall of least current or culvert of least current If multiples. I burry a concrete block in the rip rap that is used to back fill most of the ones here and attach a 20' piece of 1/8" cable my garage doorman friend gives me for free when he replaces doors. I coil cable up between seasons and hide under a rock and no ever knows they are there. Its kind of like beaver trot lining. Really secure trap to float or as I do attach to float cable. Floats are bulky but they have their place for me. I really like how they ride the water level well.

Do your traps hang below your float? We just had a significant flooding where I couldn’t get near my floats for several days. Out of 12 float 2 traps were sprung due to clumps of Red Willow firing the traps and I did have a couple with a pitchfork or two of debris on the tethering cables but traps were still set and functional. I also had a couple floats with large limbs caught by the tethering cables and bow of the floats but the floats were still set & functional.
Here is a photo of the USGS data on one of the three rivers I have floats on that I watch daily. I set 2 floats on this river 3/13 and the floats rode this flooding out very well and each had a beaver in them when I was able to reach them. By looking at the graph, I’ve caught 6 beaver with the 2 floats from 3/13-3/23 and no flood debris sprung traps.

Tough going. Good luck.

In the waters you trap that have a lot of debris make sure your trigger wire is on top not the bottom.

For those of us that 330s are not an option due to full submersion regs, I made this (over the last few days, what a pain in the ......). Anyway, the Blake and Lamb #3 wasn't working, so switched to an MB750. The B&L would have been easier with the chain on end of frame. The D ring and crunch proof swivel on the 750 gave me fits. But, it's firm with no wobble, it fires and it drops right to the bottom of a 3' threaded rod. Obviously will need more than 3' of water to float it in. The stearn is a bit heavy, so some ballast may be needed. I haven't tested it yet. Rod and trap will disconnect for travel.
Of all the searching and utube vids I've watched, not one had a foot trap for beaver on a float. Hopefully the trap is under water enough for beaver to use it as a step.

Seems like the board the trap is being supported by when bumped by a beaver swimming into the V, shouldn’t they drop their front feet down into the trap? Sort of like what foothold beaver trappers have described as “breast sticks”.

Cool idea to tinker with Brian.
That idea is kinda heading towards the under water tray set that Swampy uses. I bought that Annihilatation Of Trap Shy Beaver video where the guy just uses trays. They’re the opposite of KISS, but incredibly effective and pet/people safe.

Pulled my 9 floats today due to back pain. I probably had tears in my eyes from the pain but still caught 3 in the upper-30# range. Hurt to bad to weight them! I found out that 14 floats(did get out 13) are way too much for me to handle and I’m way maxed out really with 9. 24 or 25 for the 2 week float run with only 3 dinks!

Good job no matter how big they all count.

Yup, since I’m targeting migrating 2-year olds, I expect that poundage. My back felt well enough to weight them this morning , 42#, 41#, & 36#.