Creeks opening up.

I went for a little hike on the close line to check a place I never been at before.
The snow is gone in the high ground but still about a foot and a half in the low.
This spot looks like it had beaver years ago where I went in,so no doubt there are beaver either up or downstream.I will check with the canoe once all the ice is off.




It was light rain today but nice in the bush.
There are a couple nice spots I seen for jackpot sets if I trap there in the fall.

That third photo looks mighty "beavery" to me!

Moosetrot

Be safe out there my friend!

And it’s 80+ here, lol. Looks cold up there! Good luck and can’t wait to see some pics.

Nice looking territory Boco. Love that picture of the moss covered chew down.

Nice photos!

Good pics Boco

Yea there are at least two old washed out overgrown dams upstream that I could see.

Have fun!

Moosetrot

Those are some nice pics Boco.
One of these days I'll get up to the line in Kapuskasing and do some beaver and marten trapping... it looks very similar there to the pics you are showing

Same country slydog,Kap is about 45 minutes west of where the pics were taken.
You got a line up by Kap?

I have 2 friends with adjacent lines on the Kap river. I am a #2 on one of those lines

Nice sly.You need to get up there in May and do some fishing at least,and scout around for a fall trapping trip.

Nice pics Boco

Any muskrat numbers worth trapping in those waters, BOCO,
or is it all just high dollar beaver you need to get for your yearly quota ?

walleyed

Muskrats in every creek.
When the kids were small We used to paddle the creeks in spring checking floats.
Had a few funnel traps in strategic spots and a couple cage floats that produced pretty good.
I only set for rats occasionally now when trapping other fur.
There is no shortage of rats in the boreal but they are spread out all over the place on my lines.
Be hard to get more than a couple hundred if you just went after rats.

No mandatory quotas on that line Walleyed.But I get the quota anyway.Keeps the line healthy.

So things are already breaking up down south there, Boco?

Here in the north, creeks are still frozen, though the ice is starting to go out on my driveway.

JIm

Earlier by one month almost exactly from last year.
This is the earliest I have set for open water beaver.
Although sets are limited because of the ice and frozen ground.
First beaver today at a pressure set at a dam.April 7
My previous earliest spring open water beaver was 1999 April 8.
Last year I believe my first open water spring beaver was around May 5th.

What latitude?

Jim

Boco what is a pressure set?

Where the high water runs over a dam and the animals use it as a way to go up and down the creek since there is no ice there.They follow the pressure from the running water when travelling both up and downstream.It is the first place where you can drive stakes in early spring.
One of the first sets to use during breakup since the ground is still frozen near shore(cant drive a stake).

50

Boco,
I can't see the last pic clearly because the bazillion black flies are waking up from a long winter's nap and a gazillion of 'em are on your camera lens

Blessings,
Mark

Way too early for the blackflies Mark,lol.The water is numbing cold(went over the hip waders yesterday).
They will be out in June,but it is dry in the bush so likely not a bad year for them coming up.
I am pretty much immune to the blackflies after 60 odd years,but the mosquitos in the early morning and late evening still make me light a smudge.

61 and some change here. It'll be another ten days, I'm thinking.

Jim

62.1 N here, spring is always slow to come to western Alaska. Its going to -15F tonight and -17 tomorrow night with 50 mph winds and four feet of snow yet. cant wait to walk on solid ground again.

We got more snow last night, so it ain't happening here for a while yet.

Jim