Wondering what color those who paint water traps use. I have some I used in the past that were gloss green. We trap crawfish ponds so muddy bottoms I figure flat brown will be best just curious what everyone else uses. Thanks for any input.

Flat black. When I set the trap I stir up the bottom a bit and the sediment settles on the trap and it’s invisible.

I like to paint mine orange so I can check them from afar. Don't have theft issues in most of my areas.

Darker colors seem to catch better.Dark brown or black work great for me.

Thanks guys .

Depends on where I’m setting them. My base is rusty metal primer. I add tan, green, brown,etc, all depending if I’m running them in the marsh or swamp, fresh or brackish water. These are the ones I use in brackish water, Dukes. I try to keep my higher end water traps in fresh water.

Flat black for me for all my traps.

Color is one thing but does it matter for trap functionality? How many of us have set traps new and shiney out of the box and caught a lot of critters? I'm on that list since 1968 (in the last century). Makes me seem old - which I am. ............the mike

This made me really think. Your are absolutely correct. Yes I dip my traps as where I trap as we get a lot of brackish water and I want to protect my traps, but color doesn’t matter. I know a nutria trapper who paints his traps hunters orange and piles them up.

For me I think it’s more knowing everything is ready for the upcoming season. It’s like my pirogue. Each year it gets a new or touch up camo job. Does it need it? No. I could paint it olive crap and it would blend in just as good. A fresh camo job says it’s ready, starting fresh. I guess it comes from 20 years in the Marines..inspection ready.

Nice aged and well used non treated traps blend in extremely well for me. Treated traps are more to please the owner for various reasons and personally I don’t think the animal cares. The last time I dipped mine was close to twenty years ago and I use mine every year and are stored correctly.

I wont waste time/money painting traps.
Throw them in the tag alder soup,then wax-good for ever if you do it every 2/3 years.
Paint doesnt last on most traps.
Dipping in rustoleum thinned with naphtha is OK for marten bodygrips.But the dye and wax is much better.

I trap crawfish ponds they have high alkaline from what I have been told I tried dipped and waxed last year they were trashed by the end of the season. I had bought some used ones that were painted with rustoleum thinned out. They have lasted two seasons with no issues.

I only have to re wax my water traps about every 5 years now.They have an extremely black hard blue on the metal that wont come off from years of hot blue in the tagalder soup.

Now that I'm thinking about it they may not have been waxed. In going to wax and dye my traps I inherited paint was never an option for those. I'll paint the dukes and do a side by side comparison.

I trap in south Louisiana and the only thing that holds up on my traps is rusty metal primer cut with acetone. Last season I tried dying and waxing some old traps and ended up having to strip them, and use the rusty primer mix. Crawfish ponds and brackish marsh eats them dyed and wax traps up.

That's how mine were only waxing and dying the inherited traps because it was a condition of me getting them. Most are offset witch is no good for water anyways .

Formula One brown

I’ve used the regular black logwood die. Your alder soup, do you just chop up a bunch or do you take the ends with the stuff hanging off?
Haven’t tried waxing yet, my burner is only off on on full bore. I should really cut a regulator in line.

My 750s are just a couple light coats of some kind of non petroleum spay paint.

Guys, SOME cattail swamps here eat metal. I have taken brand new, oil still on traps and used them catching critters and when done they look great...two days later rusted up bad?
I clean them up and dip them in petroleum product...like speed dip. I said SOME because like Boco mentioned the swamps that have old fallen trees lining the shores seem to have more rusting qualities. Swamps without trees not as bad...

I used rusty metal primer an acetone with good results