Bottom edge set without lugging bricks ?

My coni mounts on bricks get pretty heavy on a "on foot line", how much weight is really needed to keep trap stable and keep from loosing a catch in current. Thinking of using 4" x 9" pieces of 1/4" steel, much lighter than bricks. Any other ideas ? -Thanks

Hagz brackets or lefler stabilzers or sticks.

Lefler Stabilizers. I use the short ones. Ideal and lightweight. Same ones Bob Noonan uses on the Bottom Edge Set

bricks get pretty heavy on a "on foot line"
Stoe bricks at locations year to year. Carry once, pre-season work.
Hide brick nearby set (above high water mark). It's there when needed. Hide it nearby after the season.

Yep, stash once then move nearby to high ground after season and pulling traps. Put them next to a tree so you can easy find them...and generally trees won't get mowed or plowed up right next to base by farmer. If a fencerow nearby that's a good place to stash them too.
Also those little MB coni mount brackets that you can nail or screw onto something...they are cheap, light, and if you can do a cordless and pocket full of short screws those can easily be attached to side of a long stick and shove that into bottom of stream, make great cheap stabilizer and can do them right on site. Heck even just carry a screwdriver (to save weight) and use that to attach the bracket with the screws. Put stick into bottom first to see where to put the mount, then pull it up and attach a coni mount bracket, set trap, put the stabilizer right where you need it.
Jim

Use a JL stablizer from Jerry Lebeau of Maine. Lean a rock onto the spring and tie off with wire to a nearby sapling or root.

This ^^^^

Know you have a stake and a stabilizer all rolled Into one. And the can set the trap so the jaws aren't being shoved In to the bottom. Which I believe will slow down the closing of the trap.

Stashing stuff from year to year Is a good Idea. But In some cases stream banks change from season to season.

An 18 inch 1/2 rebar stake stabalizes and anchors. Or a stick or 2.

KB stabilizers work on bottom edge sets

Great system for B&E sets

[lefler stabilizers] thanks I never knew what the name of those are! I made a pile of those 4' tall for rat trapping and love them guess I should make a few 12" tall ones! It will sure beat the stick method i currently use

Lord,all these gizmos for the bottom edge set. If the bottom is too gravelly or Rocky to shove a stick in I use a t-bar with a point and slip it thru the chain ring and work it into the bottom in between the springs just like a stick.I think my t-bars are 3/8 inch thick and 18 in long though I don't have one right now to measure. Never lost a critter. It's a hard set to spot for Johnny sneakum if near the road too.

What is the Lefler Stabilizers ? Are they the same as a "H" stand ? -Thanks

set a flat rock on the spring and it adds a spot for them to look for food.

In lots of situations you would be looking for hours to find a rock.

Not like an H Stand at all. They have 1 Leg to push into the Ground and seperates into the Trap holding area a few inches above. Very small and lightweight to fit in very tight Bottom Edges where Mink and Muskrat swim.

I get mine from the Snare Shop in State Center Iowa. If you just go to their Website www.SnareShop.com you should be good to go. Not Expensive at all.

not here,and if there isn't any rocks so be it you use a stabilizer.aka the 6 in carriage bolt opp. the spring.

I use what is on site for hold and tie my trap off to.There is always something that is near the site. Just need something solid to tie off to and just something to hold the trap in place till the trap is set off so just something to hold the trap in place. It works for me.

Cant find a rock in hours......LMFAO. No wonder you guys out there make pocket sets.....If I cant find a rock, that means its soft enough to use a stick, no problems here that I know of using the rock/stick method. I like spiked conis and have had to poke them in 6-8 times to avoid the rock.

Yep, my traps are already on a stake sideways. Soft bottoms are the easy ones. I have both kinds and some in between. Rocky creeks I have to improvise. I quit using the spiked conis for that reason, too many places the spike won't go in. Laying a flat rock on the spring works good, or if it's a run, sometimes I lay the stake crossways, so the trap is hanging, and pile rocks on the stake.

okay Beav,you goaded me into showin a secret,but you better promise to never tell anyone.
keeps the trap from sinking in the mud AND secures well on stoney bottoms.

Beav probably has to look for hours for a stick...….Give me a 110 and I will get'er in there one way or another with whats on hand.

Me likes that! I'll take 100

Nice set up.

But before you make a 100 better be sure your BG fits those MB clips.
Some traps out of the same box fit so tight you can't set them and some are so loose they won't stay stable.

yepper-needlenose-i have about a hundred.

alright Beav,lets see one of you're secrets.know ya got a couple.

I've gotta believe most of you fellas have never tried the KB stabilizer.

Do yourself a favor. Order 1 KB and a #150 Bridger bodygrip. Mate the two, then ask yourself why you're screwing around with all this other stuff.

i'll settle for a pic of you're boot and a stick i f that's all ya got.

Mine all do, from 110 to 220, bend the tabs..

Beav ain't been back on since i posted that pic and he commented.musta been a heck of a line at the patent office.

whats a spiked coni??

happy birthday,you remove the rivet opposite the spring and put a 6 in carriage bolt through it with 2 washers and 2 nuts.

To much screwing around then when you start out next year you don't know what ones fit what traps. I guess you could color code them. But again more screwing around.
Those spring loaded KBs are super good. And really easy to make.

I have a system that works pretty good but I don't do pictures. And It's a bit complicated to build. But for a few B&E gimmick sets it's not to much of a hassle. LOL
The system allows me to set the trap In 3 different positions. And once It's In place you never have to pull the stake to check the trap. Just take your hook slide it down the stake hook the stabilizing bracket and slide it up the stake. Same way going down and your always In position. In fact you don't even have to wear gloves.

you was makin me nervous bein missin for a day or 2.

i will say too that it was a big reason for me selling all my 110 size traps and buying 10 dozen new victors a year ago.

for hard to set areas Beav,also saves stacking rocks a foot high.

Read Ken Smythe's book and you will see he stressed simplicity. If I remember correctly he talked about carrying a couple 110's into a stream and that was it. With his trap's pre-rigged with wire it was a simple matter for him to set the trap, stabilize with a stick, and wire it off. Fast, simple, and no need to carry a bucket full of tools. I don't run hundreds of these sets, but do find them effective in certain situations.

When I use this set I stabilize one of three ways. On tree lined streams I opt for a stick. If I am on an open creek with grassy banks and few if any trees I use a rebar stake. Lastly, if I am trapping along a rocky stream a small rock placed over the down turned trap spring does the job. Nice and simple and it works for me.

i flat wore out a book and video.

That screen looks like It will work. I just take all my old shot bags and fill them with sand or dirt and lay them down. And It makes a really neat system for bedding your trap. You can make your own sand bags out of old sweat pants or Jean legs.

With my B&E set up you don't even have to get In the water. It also works great In rat runs. The other thing nice about It Is you can pre stake the runs. Then once the season opens just either boat or walk around and just slide your trap and the apparatus down the stake.
You need a square stake and a 2" section of square tubing. Then I have a spring clip that fastens to the tubing. That places pressure against the stake so the you can adjust the depth of the trap. Between the spring clip and the tubing I place a section of sheet metal I thinks It's 16gauge. These all get pop riveted to the tubing. So when you get ready to place your trap you just slide the spring end of the BG onto the sheet metal. You can bend a tab or 2 on the end of the sheet metal so the trap won't come off when It's sprung. Know you can leave the trap sticking straight out from the stake or you can turn It up or down so It's right up against the stake. You can use 150s 110s and even 160s. If your going to use 160s I'd go with 14gauge metal.

I know a picture would be a lot clearer.

Me to and he uses lefler stabalizers in both.

I think hes talking about ken smythe's book and video. Simple methods. No stabilizers. A 110, a stick or goldenrod stem to stabilize and wired off hard to a branch or clump of grass. He piled up mink that way

I interviewed a guy for an article for Fur-Fish-Game that used the bottom edge set exclusively.
He did a hundred mink two years in a row using the set. Now this was in Maine, so that is considered an outstanding catch.
His method of using the set?
A stick and a piece of wire.
Over and over and over and over again.

Yep, pretty simple

PCR2 I like that. My are a little different. I use flat steal with the bracket in the middle. Some of the brackets I bolt down with longer 1/4' bolts through the plate steal so they can be stabilized in the softer bottoms.

90 percent of the time here,you aint shovin no stick through solid rock.so i adapted,would love to keep it simple as Ken but it aint happening and tipped over traps USED to tick me of in the beginning.

Adapt Or go home.
I'm not a B&E trapper but my set up would allow you to walk the bank find the perfect set up and place the trap with a minimum of disturbance. In most cases you wouldn't even have to get In the water. Of coarse It wouldn't work In rocky stream beds but for most areas It would be a done deal. I can pre stake all my rat runs then once the season opens I can just carry the bracket and the trap and slide It down the stake. The stake Is square so your trap Is always In position.

I made up a bunch of cables with a fixed loop on one end and a slip loop on the other. I make them a couple feet long. The slip loop goes on the end away from the trap. Slip the loop over a stick if those are what is available or slip the loop over a rock if the stream is rocky. If rocky, move the spring down and lean the rock right on the spring. You also don't have to mess with the mess of wire.

T-bars in rocky streams. Ya gotta get in the water though.

Yep - I like 'em!

We have devoted almost as much print to discussing this simple set as Ken Smythe's entire book.lol. Bricks, sticks, and automobiles.