Fisher sets

What do you guys use for trapping Fisher. I have caught some accidentally in my coyote sets but this year I will be allowed to Target them. Any tips and how to trap them would be great

I catch mine in 220 box Sets ...Traps are set back 8" and wooden pans.
Beaver in the back of the box next to the screened back Gusto skunky lure inside and up on branches nearby.

Good locations are white pine forests butted up against a swamp edge.

Thanks

I use #155's. As for bait, tainted meat, I prefer chicken. Lenon's Super All Call lure with the bait. Gusto above the set as a long distant lure. Leatherwood Sun Rendered Fish Juice as a trailing scent. I have used the Flower Pot set, Wooden Cubbie Set and the Noonan's Wire Cage Set. If you are using leg holds, a natural cubbie would be hard to beat. Fisher is a bold critter, not shy at all so location as usual would be most important thing.



Incidental catch in a DP


Good luck and hope to see some pictures posted.

In New York the #155 Duke or Bridger is a great fisher trap considering the regulations. I set mine in Mail Box Tubes.

My only complaint about NY fisher is the season starts too early and ends before the fur is prime. In Pa, they get a much better furred fisher in December than these early fisher.

A 220 in " settled " country with a 4" overhang top and slots cut back so the trap is nearly centered is dogproof and has caught me all furbearers Only in 25+ years.

Always use pure quill mixed with petroleum jelly.....Beaver hind 1/4 for bait...I even put a dab of beaver lure on the bait. I use a 160 in my homemade wire cage.. wired to a 4 inch leaning pole....5 feet off the ground. We here in NH get the whole month of December to trap fishah. But they keep messing with the limits. 20 years ago it was 15.... then went to 10..... then went to 5.....and now it’s just 2.... and I don’t even bother now....I’ve caught my fair share. But it is fun checking those sets.

I'm going to try that this season Ness! A little change up!

i live on the state line and trap both states.no ny fisher for me cause of why you said.cats look good over there though.havin a few PA fishers helps.i'm lookin for a silky female to go with this toad headed 20 lb male i took last year.

i skinned and tanned him open and will "hoop" him in an antique window frame i'm redoing.have one ready for a female when i get her.population here is up where takin one"female" won't hurt.

Sawmill creek would be the guy i'd contact if he don't chime in when he gets back from Herkimer.he's got catchin em over there down to a science but don't tell him i told ya.

I believe that you are in that October area; one of the worst DEC decisions. I don't like to set for fisher before November 15 and December 1 would be even better.
That said, much of Nessmuck's suggestions are correct. The 160's are the best conibears and I like the Sleepy Creek DBL longsprings for sets on the ground. I'm going more or more to the Bob Noonan style cages which can be hung on any vertical tree rather than hunt for the perfect pole. Many fisher can be caught moreso on the grounf, but I want to avoid dogs.
I use strictly beaver meat, but I would think with that early season that a sweet bait like apples or bananas might work better.
If using chain use swivels or shock absorbers. I've had big males break chain, I've gone to cable.
With those poor season dates don't expect any prime fisher.

that big male checked out 2 porky den trees 40 yds from my favorite archery stand more times than i can count.caught in a 11 with nothing but a handful of fresh venison scraps the first night.

He wasa a big boy.
Scott- your rig and boxes look to be well thought out and obviously doing what they were supposed to do only! Thats great.

Using cage style boxes(1'" squares) here be prepared to re bait every couple days-even with the biggest chunk of bait it will be eaten away to nothing in a day or two by rodents and birds working it from the outside even when camoed with evergreens .Anyone who trys them here quickly go back to boxes,since on our extended checks they are inefficient.I dont like the 1" square wire at the end of the wooden box for the same reason-1/4" or 1/2" is much better for bait retention.I dont like wooden ends with holes drilled either,they are less productive for me ,I think because airflow and visual is not there from either end as much as a screened end.
I guess 1" screen boxes would be OK on daily checks and if you dont run too many boxes.

That makes a lot of sense Boco- if I ever get to trap up north I will try to remember your well thought out post.

A fisher is an opportunistic predator/scavenger that will eat virtually anything; berries, birds and eggs, fish and of coarse MEAT. I prefer beaver for bait as it gives off a good odour when even frozen but moose, deer and fish are also good baits. Many lures will attract them, beaver castor, fish oil and marten lures. One with skunk in it is great for very cold weather conditions.

Fisher can be caught in many set types but I prefer a box set on a leaning tree or running pole.
When using a horizontal or inclined trap box be it with standard wire or pan trigger, if it is set too far away from the bait the animal sometimes moves through the wire trigger or jumps over the pan and fires the trap with its body or hind feet, resulting in a hip catch. With a 120-trap set within 4-6 inches of the bait, you will get a neck or neck and thorax quick kill zone strike virtually every time. This occurs because the animal is stable at the bait, not moving through, and centered towards the trap when it is triggered.

While working the bait in a 14” plus long box with long spring slots the animal will be correctly oriented to the trap, stable, not moving through the trap and most likely mink and marten will be standing with front feet on a pan trigger or moving its head within the trigger wires while working the bait. The fisher will usually trigger either a pan or wire trigger 120 trap with its head movements while working the bait.

Leftlane,a bunch of us trappers from NE Ontario participated in the field testing of traps and applications by MNR biologists,on working traplines, when we were developing the best methods to take Marten and Fisher with bodygrips.
Part of the testing included evaluating all the different boxes and the way they were set up to identify the best most productive methods.
This was the final paper compiled from that part of the field testing.

Great information guys.
I seriously doubt the younger guys realize just how much Trapperman spoils us. Before the internet to learn anything you had to check hundreds if not thousands of empty traps, drive to demos, buy books and DVDs (VCR tapes back in the day) to learn anything.

Now take this thread for example- w/i 24 hours look at the plethora of information posted by guys who have been perfecting their craft for decades. I know a lot of young guys like YouTube but I cannot help but notice most of the guys posting how to videos haven't even been alive for as long as a bunch of us have been trapping. There are notable exceptions, but there is simply no way those experts have been doing what they do long enough to have the knowledge and skill yall do.

Tman is where its at!

OK enough of this nice BS- the next time I address you Yanks and Cannucks I wont have one good word to say about the whole lot of yas.

Fisher are not hard to trap I find. I usually use box sets with 220s as well but have caught them in 160s and even incidentally in coyote snares.
I catch them in boxes both in the ground and in leaning trees but more often on the ground. Bait doesn’t seem to matter, I’ve used liver, deer scraps, beaver, moose hide, deer hide, you name it. I think the lure does more for catching them than bait. I use gusto or Cavens Tree Climber.

Leftlane is right on. I actually think he is a Yank spy.

Oh I don't care what they're saying about him ...I think he's allright!

And I bend my triggers back....to obtain an easier unobstructed entrance. This also allows red squirrel and mice to enter and work the bait without firing the trap.

Nice Belisle!!!^^^

They are now.....after filing the dog,to keep them set. They use to go off by themselves...

That's odd

My 160, 220 Belisles were good out of the box...maybe different year or runs?

My 160s and 220 Belisle s fit in the set back boxs. Both work great for fisher
* I too like small 1/4" mesh for the back.

I used 1" x 1/2" wire mesh for my wire cages right from the video, 5x5/155 Bodygrip Combo Marten and Fisher Set and Marten and Fisher Fur Handling with Bob Noonan. We only have a six day season in my area, a 24hr check and bait must be covered so that it is not visible from directly above. In those six days, I have yet to have the bait messed with at all, except if there was a catch. I always took it as a good sign that another Fisher could be in the area. The only bait that I had messed with were in wooden cubbies so far, I was thinking most likely a weasel or shrew? Again I am an elderly gentleman with health issues only running a few traps, but I feel the 1" x 1/2" mesh and the 155 is a good combination. What is also nice, everything needed to make the set fits all inside the cage, it's lightweight and fun to build.

Nice wire boxs^^^

See that middle panel in the wire cage.....it’s on a hinge...so you can wire your bait to it...then stand it back up and wire it in position. You can do all that bait wiring at home....then setting the cage and trap is a breeze. Very light weight and doesn’t rot ,like wood. Plus you can weave hemlock or pine bows through it ....to keep the Birds off it.

The middle panel is hinged, but I use spike to hold it in place. I have my bait in ziploc bags, it's pretty ripe stuff. After rubbing the bait on the tree from the base of the tree to where the bottom of the cage will be positioned on the tree, I dump the bait in the bottom of the cage. I place a spike through the cage for the hinged panel to rest on when I flip it over to place on the tree. I use a second spike, placed through the cage, trap springs and jaws to help to hold in place. Not the best pictures, but you can make out the spikes in place?


You can see the spike holding the hinged panel better in this picture. Usually the trap falls free of the spike holding the trap but this Fisher must have been stone-cold dead instantly, I don't even think it flinched.

Real Nice^^^

Yup....I use a a branch to hold the bottom of the trap...then pull up my springs and weave another small saplings,through the eyes of the trap and top of the cage. Same difference with the spikes.

I know this post is almost 3 years old at this point but a giant THANK YOU for sharing this info . As a new trapper this thread is has cleared up a lot of questions and doubts I was having. Thank you again!