I am pretty much out of the ADC business (I was doing it part time, but now my wife is treating cancer), however, I did keep one account. In exchange for trapping beaver, otter, and muskrat on his pond I get year round access to some of the finest crappie fishing in the area. The pond is just under 10 acres and was made by damming 2 creeks at their convergence, this year beavers have taken up residence on one of the creek arms. It is about a 50 minute drive (one way) out to the pond.

Note: I know there are a lot of posts in the archives on this subject, but I wanted to get input from folks on this forum who understand that I need to get this done quickly and efficiently.

I normally use 330's for beaver (MO has a 2 day check for body grip traps), in the past I have had good luck placing traps along the "cut" (see pic). However with the drought the pond is down a couple feet and using the 330's has not proven effective. So I bought (4) #4 jump traps off ebay and I am using sets as shown in the pics. There is a 3 - 4ft shelf that used to be the old creek bank, water depth is only 6 - 8 inches along the shelf, that falls off into the creek bottom which is 3 - 5 ft deep. So far in 3 trap checks I have 4 misses. 2 instances where it appears a beaver was caught in the trap but pulled slack in the cable and then pulled out of the trap, and 2 instances of the traps be tripped, but no evidence that it connected.

So obviously I need to add more weight, I used the concrete blocks because I have a bad back and 25lbs is really all I can handle, so do I simply add a 2nd concrete block? Is it advisable to somehow try to stake the block in place?

What other suggestions might you have? Crappie fishing is starting to get good, so there will be more people in and around the pond, I need to get this done and get my traps out of there.

Many thanks.

I'm not an adc guy but sounds like you may have toe caught them. You may need more pan tension. Just a suggestion. Did the beaver actually move the block? Seems like 25 lbs should keep him in place.

Man, that cancer thing sucks. I'll pray that your lovely bride is one of the success stories.

RockyinOP,
I assume that “creek 1” and “Creek 2”

are the creeks forming the convergence of the pond. If so, I would probably set traps in the arm of the creek where the beavers reside. Without more information, I would try caster mound sets using both foothold traps and 330s. For foothold beaver traps, I would use CDR 7.5 Standard Beaver Traps attached to drowning rods. It looks like the drowning rods would work well in your situation. The CDR 7.5’s would probably be a good long-term investment to ensure good crappie fishing.

EDIT: If you do purchase the CDR's, be sure to get a set of CDR setters.

Thanks for the responses.

Coyote: is it possible to adjust pan tension on a jump trap? I don't know how.

Paul: yes the cancer thing sucks. At times I think it's harder on the family, but then I look at my poor bald wife who hurts to bad to stand and I am reminded that no, no it's not. The cure does seem to be worse than the disease.

LAtrapper: no those aren't the two creeks. I am an engineer and it is common in drawings to use the squiggly lines (yes, I believe that is the technical term) to show that the drawing feature extends beyond the extent of the drawing. It is actually a top-down view of the set meant to show trap placement: The guide sticks are about 24 inches appart at the entrance narrowing down to 15 inches (the length of my wader boot) and then the trap is place at where I think the beavers feet will hit on the "shelf". I am placing the trap 4 -6 inches off the guide sticks and the trap chain runs toward the bank.

Thanks again guys. Much appreciated.

I'm not sure on the tension adj. on jump traps i have never used one.

Your trap is way to shallow. Try to make a castor mound on the bank. Then put your elbow on it and the trap should be at your finger tips. I like mine betweem 8-12 inches under water.



Be sure to place a poke stick at or just under the water line so the beaver hits it and slams his feet down.




I put the levers at 6 and 12 oclock so the whole foot fits in the trap.



As for the weight of the drowner. If you use cable it dont matter.