Alaska Village Trappers 1996 Documentary

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=trapping.subsistence

Should be some familiar faces.

very cool I've never seen mink traps like that.

Its a funnel (fyke) trap also used for blackfish which look kinda like miniature burbot though I'm sure they're not related at all. I use them as colony rat traps.

Pretty cool, too bad it seems to be fading away so fast.
I remember as a young trapper seeing piles of those huge, beautiful, Kuskokwim mink at Goldberg's.

Cool video I used those traps here for years for mink, otter and muskrat, and blackfish of course.
I catch pike with them as well.



I believe they are kind of related because they look, and taste very similar, and both can almost freeze and come back to life, and can pretty much breath air.

Googled them. They are part of the Esocidae i.e. the pike family. Not with the burbot at all.

Back in the day people ate marten and otter around here but mink a new one. Had to be though as most everything was eaten back in the day.

Yes mink, otter and fish in baited cage traps done here but not common.

Good post and alright it was recorded.

Could someone post a descrption of how those funnel traps are made?
Do they have some kind of door, or??
I'm particularly interested in otter sized traps.

I had a few made out of chicken wire for Muskrats.
I'd put them in the rat tunnel, near shore when the ice was melting or after the ice was gone.
I think I got the idea from either an ATA book or magazine.

Think of a big minnow trap and you're on the right track. look up catfish hoop nets. Google Fyke Funnel fish trap and hit images. The ATA link at the top of the page should get you to the store. Either the Alaskan How To book or AK Trappers Manual I think has it most likely the How To.

Here is one I made this year for blackfish.




The ends are #9 wire doubled up. the screen is 1/2" hardware cloth. The funnel/cone narrows to about 4" in diameter. I have seen others made with smaller mesh, but for blackfish I would go bigger than 1/2. I have seen square and oval shaped also. No need to get to fancy as log as it works. If otter was the goal and it was legal you could very well catch them in this style trap. I would make the small end of the funnel larger than 4" diameter though.

Thanks for sharing, that was a great video.

We use those for muskrats in the shallow entrance of the beaver house,and below the dams in the creek.

Could someone say how to get the video to a larger size please .I am not a facebook member .

Sorry for the ignorance ! I did do it on my own .

You did better than me I watched it on the small screen

I've made nice big traps like bfisch has there with 1/2" hardware cloth but with 2 funnels. Good trap. I've also made them square out of heavier wire screen. Even still some of the places I set have a pretty good current so I like to tie them down and maybe even add some weight.

One other thing with these type traps is if they get lost they keep on 'ghost' trapping maybe for a long time so its really important to keep good track of them.

I n the clip @ 17 min the Canada goose has a neck collar. Now with satallite tracking you don't see those anymore.

Use heavy chicken wire and make the funnel opening about as big as your fist for otter, a little smaller for mink and rats. Wire the funnel on secure otter can squeeze through any small opening and can literally wreak a trap. I use cage clips or wire to fasten them. I used to stretch the funnel shape by pulling the wire mesh down on a nail evenly all around.

Set in tiny creeks with thin ice. Pile brush on trap so the otter/mink will not see it and hunt for fish in the brush and makes them dive under. The red willow tips are commonly used to hide the funnel. Pile dead grass, snow on top of the brush.

Its alot of work to run a line of them allot of shoveling, and big holes to chop open when they freeze.

Most trappers just hung the trap in the bushes and set it again next year. I still have traps hanging out where I used to set, if the prices ever come back. I have one in the shed if you need to see it.

I had a article in the ATA Magazine before the internet days that had some pictures of otter In them. cant remember when that was.

^^^^^
So there is no "door" on the funnel, just open? If so I'm surprised they can't find their way back out>
How about making them double ended?
I would think the otter would tear a chicken-wire trap to pieces.
I can think of all sorts of places to use them on the Alaska Peninsula, Bristol Bay area.

The only door on mine is opposite the funnel. It is used to get the catch out. Don't know about the chicken wire, but 1/2 mesh has no problem holding otter at long as trap is put together well. Submerge the trap to reduce loss and then you don't have to deal with a live animal.

No door. The otter will use it if you have one. I pull them back through the funnel. Some untie some wire in the back for a opening to pull the catch out. I don't find its hard get them back through.

If you make them double ended the upriver end will fill up with moss and debris. Face the funnel downriver or down current they usually travel up stream anyway.

They will tear chicken wire trap to pieces if you use the cheap gage wire. or construct them poorly. Be forewarned.

I commonly have them pull muskrats through the chicken wire and eat them up on the ice.