I've noticed that with Duke traps also, they always seem to generate discussion both positive and negative. I've got a couple duke 110s, the loop that connects spring to jaws is open enough to come off the jaws, I had to tighten it up. Some guys like them, even the bigger ones for wolverine, as posted earlier on another thread.

I will look into the BMI 280s.

I don't think anyone will deny that the only thing the Dukes have going for them is the price. But that certainly is a factor for most of us. For me, they work satisfactorily (so far) hence they do the same job for less. Besides the bigger ones, I have 10 dozen Duke 120s and yes occasionally a spring comes off and such things. But I will happily put up with that for $52 a dozen. Also, on the 120's the only other trap even remotely competetive pricewise is the Bridger, and I DON'T like them.

I'm no otter trapper, but did manage to catch one in a beaver snare this past winter. Not many otter in this area, but it's not uncommon for beaver trappers the come up with a half dozen otter in their snare sets.

Yep, thats the way a lot of them are caought here too. A nice bonus.

I read once about a Canadian trapper who set for otter using a typical snare set up for beaver but used both beaver belly meat tied to the dry pole and tinfoil shaped fish as bait anybody else read this seems like it was in the Trapper several years ago? As I remmeber the guy claimed to get quite a few otter this way

I seem to recall reading about a guy that wound beaver guts onto the trigger of a 330 and put it under the ice. Seems like it might be hard to keep the stuff on the trigger.

I have one of those old YK Delta Trapping manuals and in it, they describe using a pole set with snares and fish wired to the pole for otter. They also used fish on the trigger of a 330.

A guy from the Alaska Trapping Forum claims to use the rapalla fish lure minus the hooks on his trigger and takes a few otter. I bought the lures but never did try them.
I always wanted to try in an area that was hard to fence due to deep water. Someday.

I have used the foil wrapped around a conibear trigger submerged in a pool. Also the foil wrapped rock in the bottom of a bucket guarded with a 220 and sunk so that the opening of the bucket is up. In my experience, those kind of sets work occasionally if there is nothing better you can come up with, but I think that good blind sets are MUCH better.

I have to agree with you Joe the blind sets in the right location is the best bet. Just hate it when you see a huge toilet or sign and are in an areal that just can't be set up well for a variety of reasons. Man I missed otter trapping last year. I have to work on the skin sewing market etc and find an outlet. Just too many of those things out here not to be getting after them. But for $40 -$50 each it just seems too low. If I could get $80-$100. I think I could I could come up with 50-75 if I went after them. I got 30 last time just fooling around on weekends.
The country out here is just a pile of natural narrow leads from pond to pond etc that just beg for an otter set. No one targets them and especially now with the price coming down.
The other thing about otter is they are much easier to tan than beaver. They turn out consistently good. I would even consider tanning and selling them to sewers.
$30 tanning on top.
I wonder if a guy took a few samples of tanned otters to the craft fairs etc to show the skin sewers what you can produce if a guy could get some orders.
I think I will start to carry one with me just for advertizement.

Between 300 marten sets and a 200 otter sets it could keep a guy busy.

I been tossing around the idea of making a skinning machine that would work while out on the line. a bipod or tripod affair that you could carry in a basket sled that would use a little 12 volt winch to strip an otter off the carcass in the field before they started to freeze up. If I could stay out and camp on the otter line and skin while I went I would be much farther ahead. I would like to speed up the time it takes to peel one off so I could get it done in less time while out in the cold on the trail. If a g;uy was picking up 5-8 otter at a wak it would be worth it. Not too mention lightening the load.

Ideas anyone. A horizontal skinning machine that could run off a 12 volt or boat wind up winch. Couldn't be that hard to come up with something. Something that works well might take some trial and error.

Len you keep up and your going to need a 20 foot sled to haul all the gadgets :)Why not just use a piece of wire and hang it from a tree wack the tail bone off and leave it inside to deal with at fleshing time. Then rough skin the rest since your not a clean skinner anyway now you have saved time and weight and dont have to stop and set up a skinning machine. It seems like I always did my trapping in the regular work hours and skining was done at the camp at night. 200 otter sets would be an insane amount if you are chopping or diggin them out to check. Add 300 marten sets to that and you will need a week to check the line but I know all you got is time (I'm Jealous). If I was trapping your country I would set up the main line for marten much like I use to for beaver then once it was up I would take a few days to add sets for everything else along that line why pass up a $20 fox or a $100 cat if your in the area. I mean it is about the fun but making $$ where you can sure would seem to help keep the family convinced you should keep going every winter

I would agree with Todd. I'd get your main line going (which I'm sure is still out there) for marten and then fill in with whatever else as you go. This is what I do with fox. I have my main line for them and then if time allows, I'll trap muskrats or beaver along the way. Marten are so easy to skin and flesh compared to a fatty fox or otter. Won't a lot of your critters be frozen anyway? It would be nice if you find a really good spot up there and build a small cabin and then put your tent on the other end and you'll have nice set up with a ready made spot to get warm, do your skinning, get some sleep.

Otterman It all has to go into my 10 foot Hickory.


I know I am always trying to think too hard. But I have thought about this one some. Remember I don't have a house or a skinning shed to come home to.

A lot of my otter country has no trees for one. At below zero temps the otter freezing up by the end of the day would mean I most likey couldn't skin that night in the tent without some thawing of feet and head-YUK. Peeling them on site would be great. But even rough skinning a cased animal is nothing like rough skinning a beaver. Their tough. Especially otter. If I could strip them off the carcass on site it would be worth a little extra weight. I think even if you could anchor them to a willow or something and have a wind up winch on the back of the machine to pull with might work.
Finding and taking the time to rough skin from a tree would really add time away from my day.
I have done that and it still takes a while.


The tail seems to be the fastest part for me to rough out. They pull off pretty easy once you get going. All the fat is left on the tail however.

200 otter sets. I ran around 50 on my weekend line. I think 200 would be doable on a long line over a couple three days. I would check every two weeks. With otter as you know making two or three sets at a location is the way to go. 200 individual sets would also be a number of snares as I can't afford a lot more conibears. No shortage of places to set out here if I get out in Nov to find them prior to a big dump of snow and blow.

A lot of my water doesn't freeze too thick. The blackfish and current in a lot of my areas keep the ice at bay. For some reason we have quite a few warm water areas that only get to maybe a foot or less all winter. Less if you insulate for sure. I also use the contiunity meter. If it is not set off I don't bother to check. I can run a lot more sets that way. With them insulated I get little ice build up in a lot of my spots.

As far as other fur on my marten line I didn't have a lot of other animals . A few lynx showed up during breeding season but I saw nothing early. I know where they come through now and will be ready for them next year. Almost zero fox too. Very few. Most of the fox and lynx are along the Yukon. I would have great lynx trapping on an otter line. But then I have to deal with regular checks. At least weekly and I can't manage that and do marten too. The areas are in opposite directions. The marten and otter really go well with an extended check and that is what I will most likely focus on.
Both can go two weeks with out problems.

I can get on the lynx around St. Mary's and check at night when I am working my tech job. Plenty of them around.
What ever I do will be a concentrated effort of about a two month period of time this year. Fast and furious. The wife says no more 4 months without coming home this year. It was too long I agree. I just kept trying to play catch up. Even though a lot of that time was spent on my tech job.
I learned a lot this last season about managing things here in St. Mary's I think this year could be pretty good.
But putting together something to strip an otter on the line is still on my mind!!

Kusko I posted after your reply. The thing is my otter, beaver, fox area is really separate from my marten line. There is a few otter and beaver but nothing to compare to the delta area if a guy wants to get fur. It is really two separate lines to run.
My time out here is all to uncertain to be building cabins. But it would be nice. I found the kifaru to be plenty comfy however.

As far as my main marten line still being out there yes and know. My traps are stashed out there but not at sets. I am going to really rework my line into sets I can leave hanging in place like Takotna does and others. With the great snow conditions I had last year I set a lot of my sets in places I could never get to in Dec. So most all of my sets will be new and somewhat permanent this year.

Len all I can say is two weeks is too long even up here with our conditions. If you have one bad week of weather you are then 3 weeks off the line it will cost you fur. Most people check once a week simply because of logistics. I personally check every 3- 4 days and sometimes more 70 miles on snowmachine after work. If I ever go more then 7 days I am pulling my hair out doing weather dances. I am sorry but I can not agree with a planned 2 week check even for under the ice otter

I think Len is blessed with pretty stable weather up there unlike you and I Todd. My fox and marten line can be done w/o decent snow, but it is tough. Last year in January when we had NO snow, Len was up there grinning like a gopher in soft dirt, riding around in GREAT conditions while I was down here scrambling trying to pull all of my stuff.

Otterman
I always planned a week check on my otter and marten as well. It was through just what you said happening, snow storms, something coming up etc when I was working that a few times lead me to leave them out two. I then started to do that on alternating parts of my line that were out of the way. I have never had a problem. I will have a flexible enough schedule that I will be able to get out when needed however. That is the big key. If I think the check will be needed I will go. I know that I can let things go two weeks if I need to but will shoot for more like 10 days most likely.

A week is my prefered check for sure but I have never lost an otter in a two week check under ice. They will come out of rigor in that time and be a limp noodle but that doesn't seem to be a problem. A guy just can't go longer. Trying to balance two animail specific lines, that are in opposite directions out here, if I do it, would take some logistics and long check would play into that I am sure. What ever seems to be working the best would be what I will shoot for.
My concentration will be on getting sets out. From what I saw last year it was first runs that made the difference on my marten. I plan to have a lot of first runs this year. Marten hang fine in the freezer and with the tip up poles I use now they hang well away from harm for the most part. Had a wolverine pull one down. My concentration will be on getting traps out and checking them when I can within that two week window. It just didn't pay to keep working the same line last year. Maybe I will see changes this year since I will be on them earlier as Takotna suggested but I am still going to concentrate my efforts on getting sets out.

We will get a shot of warm weather for about a week seems in Jan or Feb the last two years. Usually improves the conditions but as Kusko stated it it pretty stable weather other than that. Last year we had awesome cold and snow until April. Even in our week of warm monsoon it only improved the travel condions of our deep snow. The beauty of my schedule is flexible and I have time to do what I need to to make it work unlike balancing things on weekends.

Ok as I understood it you planned on leaving the line 2 weeks and planning that IMO no matter where you are is too long. If you plan 7 days or so then you get bad weather like a thaw or extreem cold sitting tight wont hurt but 2 weeks and then having to sit tight for another week would.
Len how long does it take you to run all your sets? When I trapped like you in the past I ran all day skinned the next ran a second line the 3rd day and skinned the 4th 5th day back to line 1 it worked kept the fur numbers manageable but I didn't have more then 15 marten on my best year as we had so few along my line I had to multispeiceis trap to make it profitable. Is that or something similar an option with a base camp in the middle of the two lines if you get my train of thought?

The two week window is the outside end for sure and a guy will have to work within that. But I throw that out there because it gives me the most options as long as I stay within it. Certainly a shorter check early on will be prudent. But after the cream is taken off 2 -4 week returns on an otter before they return seems to be the normal.

I can't answer how long it will take as the only experience with otter has been 50 or so sets on weekends while teaching. Trap Sat and Sunday for otter and beaver on the weekends and skin for the next few evenings after work.
What I would do now is to rough skin beaver and otter and back haul them to Anch for 28cents/lb, periodically and store in a freezer in Homer till I get home.

Last year I made over 200 marten sets and had probably 175 set at one time. Had they cooperated it would have been great. ;0(
I will shoot for over 300 sets out at any given time this year.
I don't seem to be too good at working mulit species at one time when I am concentrating on getting a lot of sets out. Wolverine yes on the marten line but too much gear to pack and think about to worry about otter, fox and lynx etc on my marten line. Too far for now and I can't set foot traps that need a 3-5 day check. I also can't afford to start filling up my sled or snowmachine with snared and frozen fox and lynx. Wolverine I will deal with for the money.
Now closer to St. Mary's I can cash in on fox, lynx, beaver more this year now that I have my longer line logistics worked out.
The first year for any big endeavor is always a a cross between a crap shoot and circus.
I am glad that I thought big and outside the box last year as I really learned a lot about what I could get away with and what was a waste of time. Had I not shot for the moon I would have been left far more disappointed than I was.
Not sure just what I will get away with this year but I will shoot for the moon for now and plan. If it all comes together so be it. But I know I will be way farther ahead than I was last year.
Doing all this out here where I don't have a home base anymore is a huge challenge in its self.

Well, in my experience otter are pretty much invincible. I allways try for a one week or less check, but due to unavoidable acts of God like rivers going out or other bad weather I have had otter sit in freeze/thaw weather (not underice) for two weeks or more and come out fine. They are REALLY, REALLY tough. Belly gets green, but once you get it on the board and the hair sets it is in there. Does fine through tanning. Marten are WAYYYYY more finicky as far as spoiling goes.

I got really spoiled having mechanical advantage to skin otters. Used the chain hoist in the shop and it was NICE. Really speeds things up as you can just pull that thing straight down. An electric winch would be even faster (It's in the works). If you don't mind leaving the fat on the tail, you can rough skin that in 15 seconds. After you make your cut, go to the tip of the tail and just skin out that last inch. Then grab hold of the bone with vice grips, hold the hide with your other hand and you can pull the whole thing right out. Very fast. The vicegrips also are useful on the legs. After you make your cuts and have it hanging, you can just clamp the vicegrip on the corner where the leg cut meets the foot cut and then stip the leg down with a good hard pull. Once on the front, once on the back. Also takes only seconds. Little knifework to clear the plumbing and then hook to the machine and BAM all the way to the front legs, pop them out and then skin out the head. If you are setup, it is FAST! Even if you can't get the machine, I think the vicegrips are a very good trick. (I got that idea off of Clint Locklear's video by the way.)

Anyways, as marten are also pretty fast to skin, (I can roughskin an otter WAY faster then I can cleanskin a marten through the mouth though) it would seem that the only real timeconsuming task would be the otter fleshing. I know from experience that it is not much fun to get back to camp after dark and have to spend a few hours fleshing otter. And as far as that goes, if you have consistent cold temps you could allways just roll them up and let them freeze to flesh later. I did that a couple times this winter. With work and school and 15 otter looking at me, didn't have much choice but to skin, roll, bag, and freeze. Thaw them out two at a time to flesh. Since they are tougher, you have a little more grace with the thawing then you do with say beaver.

Joe, that is interesting that you can pull the hide off like that with the vice grips. I got one of those fleshing machines that you bolt to the floor with the vice clamps that the guys down south use for coons and coyotes, and then an electric winch. I was just going to do it so that I could keep some good tension on the hide while skinning otters and beaver. My hands just get cramps after doing a bunch and pulling all the time. If I can actually pull the hide off with that, it would be much better and faster. I will have to try it when I get all set up.

Do you have any issues with the clamps ripping the fur, though?

-TJ