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Hey Joe,
Yeah, that's me! I actually submitted the article to a trapping magazine but it wasn't published because it didn't appeal to a wide audience (Maine is the only state that has to use these devices). So I just put it up on my website.

I like your idea about an alternative bait during high mast years. I put together a gland lure with marten, fisher and weasel glands to start experimenting with when food isn't getting the job done. But I'm not sure it will be enough to get them in the box. Any other thoughts people have on attracting marten/fisher when they aren't hungry would be great to hear.

Yes, those are long tailed and short tailed weasels together. In my area we find fisher, marten, long and short tailed weasels mixed together. The habitat is highly variable with lots of timber harvest with some mature timber mixed in. Short tails are much more common here, maybe 5 for each long tail I catch. Marten are more common than fisher, but fisher have increased in the past few years.

Interestingly, I caught a lot of those tiny weasels in 160's with coni-pans. Will probably write an article on that some day.

Jeremiah

Are you saying that fisher eat nuts?

Yes, when plentiful, but they also take advantage of all the rodents that eat nuts during high mast years. Here's a pretty good explanation of the mast thing, with a link to the whole article below:


https://www.fs.fed.us/ne/newtown_square/.../jakubas331.pdf

Thanks,jwood.That's very interesting.

I find It hard to get my head wrapped around Marten or fisher eating beech nuts.

I can see how the prey species eating on the mast crop can and will effect baited marten and fisher sets. But the actual eating of the mast by the marten or fisher seems questionable. But I guess you never know.

Aren't we trapping marten and fisher In the winter where the snow would have covered up all the mast and the target animals would be more inclined to work meat baits.

I've read of marten eating berries and sometimes beech nuts,but haven't heard of fisher doing it.That's why I specifically asked about fisher.I was thinking beech should be popping around late October,early November?

Taximan
Your mail box is full.

I think like anything, they will eat what's available. I even read a study from California where reptiles and insects made up the majority of fisher diets!

Beav - the majority of trapping effort for marten/fisher in our area occurs from pickup truck in November, where there isn't a thick cover of snow on the ground. They can definitely get at nuts and berries even that late in the year.

I've always figured the rodents were a more important component to marten/fisher diets even in high mast years than beech nuts, but I'm not sure we know that for a fact. I actually started doing stomach dissections from my marten/fisher this past year. Found porcupine quills in the first fisher stomach I opened up...pretty cool!

Interested to hear your thoughts Mac, you have a lot more experience in this game than me!

Mac,sorry about that.It should be OK now.

2016 after a snow fall. There is a marten in the large side entrance box.



For some reason I put the animals on the box they were not caught in. Marten in a 160 & fisher in a 155.



BTW: I talked to a Maine trapper that has killed about 25 fisher in boxes. He may have killed one adult male. I have killed about 15 fisher in boxes and no adult males. Best night in 2017 I had three fisher in the boxes and missed four that would not go in.

Joe - those 160 sets were targeting marten and fisher. With stock triggers on 160's I used to have weasels sneaking around the trigger wires constantly. The coni pan seems to provide them a nice platform they use to launch themselves at the bait. So I'm picking up weasels I used to miss. Some people don't like to see a low dollar weasel in a marten/fisher set, but I don't mind them, a catch is a catch!

So our challenge is not just how to get a marten/fisher interested in a set when they aren't hungry - we have to get them interested enough to squeeze through that little hole and get inside, then go all the way to the back of the box. I think it would be effective to get them to investigate a gland type attractant in an open cubby or hollow log etc on the ground guarded with a foothold. We can only do that here with a 24 hour check, and a full time job along with long distance from the trapline prevents me and a lot of other guys from doing that. For us it's a 5 day check with an exclusion device. So can we get them to enter the back of an exclusion device when not hungry? If possible, what type of attractant would be required? Interesting questions to investigate.

Thanks for providing the additional links to information. As always, I look forward to learning more.

Jwood, I have followed a lot of your efforts on youtube and your blog. Good to see some young guys taking up the reins.
A very good friend and long line trapper that knows the game had some interesting insights he shared this summer with me.
He and another friend managed to catch 15 fisher between them along with a truck load of canines last fall and early winter. That is by far the best catch I have personally heard of using those blasted unwanted boxes.

We were talking about exclusion boxes and he said they noted after the snow came it was easy to determine that they would have caught about 8 or 9 times as many fisher if they were not using the boxes. 8 or 9 times as many! Tracks every where including all around boxes and on top of the dammed things.

The Maine trapper is low on the proverbial totem pole of outdoors folk. I do not have much to share on this fisher topic but you are in luck as there is an expert on this thread that will no doubt tell you every thing you want to know. Jwood, any questions send me a private mail. We can exchange email addresses and phone numbers. I like your efforts to keep this heritage alive.

(I have avoided the use of those dammed boxes but think I am going to break down. From spending an inordinate amount of time following fisher with snowshoes back in the day and having spent hundreds of hours feeding many through the winter so I could learn even more, I have some ideas to improve box performance. Not sure but I think I have some good ideas. Oh did you know that fisher, marten and weasels will live in the same woods? LOL)

Mac

Jwood writes "So our challenge is not just how to get a marten/fisher interested in a set when they aren't hungry - we have to get them interested enough to squeeze through that little hole and get inside, then go all the way to the back of the box. I think it would be effective to get them to investigate a gland type attractant in an open cubby or hollow log etc on the ground guarded with a foothold. We can only do that here with a 24 hour check, and a full time job along with long distance from the trapline prevents me and a lot of other guys from doing that. For us it's a 5 day check with an exclusion device. So can we get them to enter the back of an exclusion device when not hungry? If possible, what type of attractant would be required? Interesting questions to investigate."

If you really want to crack some with footholds you are on to something and thinking right. Gland lure is not the answer. Fisher are gluttons. Remember that as it is important to know.

As you alluded to it is a time and money deal checking foot traps on a 24 hour check. But there are ways to set that up to be more efficient if you want to hit them for 10 to 14 days. The real trouble we face currently is the poor economy and high gas prices. The boxes simply suck bog water.
Cannot say much here but will say you would not want to totally specialize so as to help pay the bills.
Keep up the good work.

Mac

I've seen where fishers have dug down through snow under apple trees for dropped apples.

I've caught few fisher In dry land sets. I think If you put your mind to It you could do Ok.

It has been a long standing thought that on high mast crop years the catch of marten would be off. I have heard this since the early 70s when some Maine trappers were making astounding catches of marten.

Mac

Marten will go to a manageable bait(like a fist size chunk of beaver) even when not hungry.They have the predictable habit of wanting to remove bait and cache it away for a cold snap.That is why even when there is a large bait hanging,like a whole beaver carcass or two that they feed off of,and catch voles around,you will always catch marten in the boxes 20 feet away with a smaller chunk of bait.When they cant eat anymore they want to take some and cache it so they can "hole up with a bone" when the weather turns extremely cold.I have caught many marten with completely full extended bellies in baited boxes.In some cases you can follow a marten track in the snow,where they have dragged a big chunk of beaver(from a box with a catch already) thru the snow to a hole where they cache the meat.
I assume fisher are similar in their habit of caching kills\carrion.

Good post Boco

Mac

I have hung a few beaver and put trail cameras on some of them. Sometimes a fisher or marten will come to the bait one time and not return. Maybe they were killed somewhere as I always do this during the open season. Just going from memory I don't recall marten ever coming to a beaver more than one time, same for some fisher. But, some fisher will come to a beaver every few hours until the beaver is completely eaten or carried away. There is a bait that marten & fisher will visit repeatedly, can't tell you what it is or all of the marten will be wiped out.

A good jackpot here gets lots of visitors all winter

Beav, every stomach we've cut open this year has been full of berries and beech nuts. I have a half dozen or so fisher/marten killed this week that are still frozen. We have had a foot plus snow for the past two weeks and I'd guess I'll find berries & nuts in the stomachs. Side note, must have seen a dozen fisher tracks near sets today. Only one fisher was willing to work the set and get caught.