Is 8' long enough for a drowner... assuming a drop to 3' - 4' depth over that distance?

yes

I have a few 6 foot rods that work well. All depends on how deep you need to go and how soft the bottom is.

Yes, mine are 8' fiberglass tree stakes.

I like the max length I can fit diagonally in my 6.5 ft truck box so they're not hanging up and out lil over 7ft I believe... I used 5/8 rerod and a 4lb baseplate welded to #5 bridgers, takes the biggest to the bottom... Maybe overkill but tried 3/8 cold rolled they twisted it into a pretzel up on the bank then some deer hunter came by a blew the thing to pieces... I'll stick w/ over kill and not the rifle ha ha… I ended up sticking that 3/8 into a cement slab seemed to work good for that .. PS I usually use 90% 330's but feel the foot traps will add some of the biggest beaver as some have become shy of the box usually do to amateurs using sticks to support rather than a quality metal stabilizer and have the beaver push it over and blow up in their face... My thoughts, speaking of beaver I'd better get to skinning more for kitty bait...

Can someone post some pictures of some made from rebar thinking about making some and what material they used.

No pics but i just used 10ft 1/2"rebar and welded a fender washer 6" off one end as a spade/stop and a welded two 5/8"nuts at the top for the stakes and a death diamond lock

8' should be good in most instances
I make 10 footers, 3/8" smooth rod, and tote in a lil 32 yr old Toyota diagonally, with the loose end tied to the bumper and the front weighted down with a milk crate of 330's or other gear. gota have the red/orange flat on the loose end too.
In a shallow water set I can always run the xtra rod over the bank and secure end with wire, then t-stake at waters edge.

^^also been know to secure a 8 ft pc of 6" dia pvc pipe and slide them in that, like a sheath of sorts.

Made mine 8ft 3/8 rod, welded a 3/4 lock washer on one end and drilled a hole and drove a nail through for a stop. Locks were made out of 1 inch angle iron.

mine are similar to Bobs 1/8"x1.5x1.5 angle iron lock, a crosswise washer at the deep water end and heavier washer for t-staking at the top.

Use the bauer lock with a nut welded on a foot up a 10ft half inch rod. The trick is use a thin rod, maybe 1/8 inch make a small U and weld that to the top of your rod for your top stake. That way you can slide your lock off the top still attached to the trap, fast and easy.

In some of the areas I've trapped there is no bottom to secure the deep end. Lots of floating bog so the single pin at the top would basically be a pivot to pull the whole works off to the side and up on the bank and most likely a foot/ toe and a big one will and then you have the dreaded edumacated beaver.... That's why the 5/8 and rather than the nut welded at the top end I welded the biggest tree spike I believe 14" and then 10 inches down a washer welded to accommodate a rerod stake length as needed so as to double pin on the bank, the deep end I drilled a hole and put a pin thru and wire shut the open end so no chance is coming off. w/ that big heavy 5 bridger and 4lbs of baseplate and rerod that beaver has no leverage out there if he pulls it swings him back on the rest... I also outside laminated the jaws of the bridgers they set way easier over my knee and bed SOLID especially w/ that baseplate. The 750 is a good trap I had a dozen of them but they just don't bed like a longspring and those darn things have a tendency to flippem out of the pocket w/ those big hind feet... When I pull up a rerod I want some body weight attached and the bigger the better hope that helps I'd show some pics but they're in the back of my conex… They come out in spring time that's when I do most of my beavern

I use 7’ 3/8” rebar. I like to weld a fence staple to the stake end so when stake is removed the lock can slip over the end. I think it’s much easier to bed the trap, remove critters, push rod in, without the trap attached. Last thing I do is slide lock over staple and stake the rod down.

I use these rods for Coons a lot so they are plenty heavy for that. Beaver occasionally bend them up pretty good but they straighten out easy. I’m thinking of making a few out of 1/2” rebar just for spring Beaver trapping.

I have 2 stake points on the top side for all my drown rods to reduce the possibility of them pivoting back to the bank. If you can keep them in the water where they can not get tangled, they will be there even if the water is not deep enough.

The length used/needed all depends on the bank characteristics and how far you have to reach to get to drownable water. AND that varies greatly.

Make different lengths. I have 8-12 footers on hand at all times. I used the 12 footers here mostly and rarely use the 8s.

One thing I have found is it's rare I have too much rod. Its Very easy to over come a longer rod than too short.

That's what she said.

Great idea!

I have a couple "U" shaped 3/8" rebar stakes. I put one over drowning rod below stake and above drowning lock in areas that pull out of rod seems likely, sand, shallow etc. I might rig a couple like you describe as well.

I just really like being able to slide lock off stake end, makes it all easier for me, from transport to removal of critter and everything in between.

Pics didn’t show up in 1st post.
I might try just sliding a large split ring over the rod for 2nd stake situations. Then I wouldn’t have to carry the U stakes and lock can still slide off.

I weld a washer or chain link about 9” up from terminal end. It stops the lock and also gives a place to clip on a sand bag or block if bottom is too hard or deep.

Mine are all 8 footers; some fiberglas, some metal.

Looks like that would work well also.

Just curious about the really long rods how many times have you ran into them and gouged yourself or others that would be worse than the trail hitch to the shin? 10-12 ft that must put them at eye level in a truck or do you have a overhead rack? and assemble them on location? My setups are assembled just grab and go... IDK 1000 ways to skin a cat well not really the Nevada stretch is really the only good way...

8ft truck beds....

never, and if i'm in town I hang the red and chartreuse flag so others don't

I attach my CDR's with a quick snap in about 1 second

I use quick snaps on body grips. I would be worried in the heavy current with the critter rolling and twirling all night in the river debris the snap may fail, in my situation. I also get the odd Coon that won’t go down the rod and I know they can make short work of opening quick snaps.

That's why I use to the sleep ez hooks

Not sure what sleep ez hooks are. Do they have some kind of lock?

They have a quicklinks nut added so you can "lock" the snap hook.

Nice, thanks.

They're stainless to boot. Won't rust shut.

Yeah, the 8ft bed helps but I have a "L" Bracket just forward the tailgate so the rods rest on L bracket and not the tailgate itself. So you can lower the tailgate and the rods stay up where they need to be. Angled corner to corner and I can still mostly close the topper on my truck. I Also bend my rods in in a bit of an arc (Goldy's trick). This helps with those shelf banks and just makes it easier to get the other end into the bottom it seems. This arc also helps the part of the rod that's sticking out past your tailgate to angle upwards...keeping it above head level. BUT I'm short and have a truck with airbags so the back end is sky high (for my short butt). But yeah...still have to pay attention. Kind of like crossing the road. Bad stuff can happen.

I have both 1/2" rebar and 1/2" Fiberglass rods in varied lengths. The Fiberglass rods are nice and light but they are harder to get into a harder bottom with the flex that comes out of a fiberglass rod. Rebar is cheap.

I do the same... But I had a big male pull the bottom end on one. I had a stop on the bottom for so he didn'tget the trap off the end... But he bent that 1/2" rebar into a horseshoe and was waiting for me on the bank.

I'd like to know how he bent it... I had to put that rod in the fork of a tree to bend it back "straight."

Stout critters.

Mike

That’s crazy! Did he have the current to help him Mike?

I have a rack on my topper and I built a 10ft wooden box 8 inches wide with 2x4s on the sides and ends, can put 30 rods in it at a time. I have to stand on the trailer hitch to get them out but it works slick and they are out of the way.

I got a nuisance beaver call yesterday so I started welding up an 8' rod today.
I bent a 20d nail into a U and welded on the shore end for staking.
Now I need to make a lock in fairly short order. Can I just use a piece of schedule 80 conduit cut on an angle and drilled at the point for trap?
Not sure I have tools to fan something out of angle.

No. The direction he traveled when he bent that rod and climbed up on the bank was against the flow of the stream... Not that the stream had much of a current, but he went against it.

Mike

As far as connectors go, SnipperBBB has the right one. The one above that doesn't have the screw lock are easily defeated and will come undone if the critter twists right. (been there, done that). I've also done it on my own by spinning the trap chain just right. You can get them off faster than they go on once you figure it out. Always Go with the screw lock quick links.

I soley use 8’ x 1/2” rebar. My drowning lock slides over the top of my rod. My T stake will stop the lock on the top end . It’s silly to use attachment hardware in my opinion.

Bending the arch is real easy with the fiberglass. Not so much with rebar. Different arch for different situation, With fiberglass they go back to nice and straight.

2 poor nailed it, I think it is a Bauer lock that I use but you could make your own. Pull up rod, slide trap off, take out beaver reset and go, very fast and no chance of equipment failure.