Simple, Effective Sets for your Trapline

Simple, Effective Sets for your Trapline

By JD Rogge

One common factor to most successful trapping lines is the ability to deploy a variety of simple yet very effective sets quickly, and with minimal equipment. Trappers at times tend to overcomplicate our craft, as is evident by some of the instructional material in print and online. At times it reminds me of the roadrunner and coyote cartoons, where Ole Wil-E Coyote gets his big box from Acme complete with a complex plan that’s sure to doom the roadrunner. The fact is, hard work is the number one component of any successful trap line, and your hard work is best spent mastering very simple, effective sets and making a lot of them. Think of it like this, will your catch increase faster running 200 fast, simple, effective sets which only took a few minutes each to make or by running 50 complex sets that took 15-20 minutes each to construct? I’ll take the simple sets and run more gear any day. More equipment in the field equals more chances for success. Running a successful trapline is simply a numbers game, and all the successful trappers that I know are masters of using their time and effort wisely.

The Smear Set
The smear set, also known as the slap & go set, is one of the simplest and most effective water sets a trapper can use. The smear set is predominantly a coon set although you will take most other animals that frequent the water in this set as well. To construct the smear set you need to find a vertical structure along the edge of the water where you have adequate coon sign. The vertical structure can consist of a steep, vertical bank, a log sticking out of the water, a rock, or bridge and culvert walls. Vertical creek banks are one of the most common vertical structures used for smear sets. Watch the coon sign along your creek bank; the coon will show you which banks they’re hugging as they forage along the creek. Find a vertical bank at the water’s edge near the coon sign, or a large rock, log, etc., in the water, and you have found a smear set location. I then set my trap, usually a 1 ½ coil or #11 long spring, approximately 8 inches back from the structure, bed the trap and stake it securely. When I say bed the trap I turn the trap slightly side to side, kind of screwing it into the creek bank. You don’t want your trap to be covered in mud, just so the trap is firm and doesn’t move when stepped in by your target. This includes the chain which should also be pushed into the mud. Now that your trap is set and staked, bait the set by smearing approximately a teaspoon sized glob of paste bait on your vertical structure behind the trap, making sure the bait is smeared on the bank so they must work to get it off. There are many good smearable paste baits on the market. I prefer sticky loud baits such as Hansen recipe coon bait which is sold by a few suppliers, another good one is ADC’s Raccoon Payback. I like to set at least 2-4 sets per location to maximize my catch. If I’m setting two sets at a location I will bait each differently, one with Hansen’s and one with ADC’s, to give the coon some different options to find a smell they like. Smear sets are a fast and efficient way to get a lot of gear working, and put a lot of fur in your truck.

The Pocket Set
The pocket set is probably one of the most used, and written about sets in water trapping. It’s what many trappers, including myself, started with, and the bread and butter for many long liners. When I’m pocket setting I look for similar sign and bank structure as when I’m smear setting. The “pocket” itself is nothing more than a hole dug in the bank meant to mimic a muskrat hole or a food cache. The animals you’re targeting along the water will all investigate any hole in the bank they come across looking for an easy meal, so place your pockets where the sign shows your target animal traveling. To construct a pocket, use a tile spade to dig a hole 10-12 inches deep into the bank, about as wide and as tall as the spade’s blade. Scrape the mud out of the front of your pocket so that there is water in the opening of the pocket. Set your trap right at the mouth of the pocket; a 1 ½ coil will fit perfectly in the size of hole described above, making sure to properly bed your trap and bury your chain. If you get your hole too large, mink can slip in the side of your pocket and miss the pan of your trap. If the hole gets too big you can push a few small sticks in the edges of your pocket to guide the animals across your trap. I bait my pockets with a chunk of carp, about the size of a baseball, and use my spade to push it firmly to the back of the pocket, a squirt of spiked fish oil above the pocket finishes the set. When I’m staking pocket sets I usually set a drowning/slider rig, even if the water isn’t deep enough to drown my catch it gets coons away from my set so they don’t destroy my pocket, costing me time on my set remake. If the pocket is destroyed by a catch, and you’re unable to reconstruct the pocket use your boot or spade to reshape the bank again and convert the set to a smear.

The Fish Stick Set
The Fish Stick set is another fast, easy water set that I use often on my line. Fish sticks are great for flat, gently sloping banks that aren’t vertical enough for smears or pockets. To construct the fish stick I locate sign where coon, mink, otter, etc. are traveling down the bank, then I place a stake with a fish head impaled, and wired on about a foot out from the bank edge. The stake should be pushed down so the fish head is a few inches above the water. Make sure to wire the fish head on, the harder the animal must work to try and remove the head the longer he is at the set. Now that the bait is in place, I set two traps at my fish sticks; doubles are common at these sets, and both traps are set on drowners/sliders running in opposite directions to get the catch away from the bait. To place my traps at this set, imagine the face of a clock, with the center of the face being the bait. I set my traps at 11 o’clock and 1 o’clock, approximately 10 inches back from the bait. Fish sticks are an incredibly versatile set that will take every furbearer that frequents the water; they are a particularly good otter set. This set is not legal in all areas of Iowa and you should check the exposed bait regulations for your area before setting. A great resource for anyone looking for more information about this set is a DVD by Mike Sells called The Fish Set. This DVD shows the set in detail, and although Mike’s setup is slightly different than mine, it shows just how fast and effective this set is.

The Block Set
The block set is another set that really shines in locations such as box culverts, and flat bridge walls. The block set uses a two hole cement cinder block as the anchor for your trap as well as your bait holder. Attach your trap chain to the block using heavy wire or cable, set the block upright against the wall of the box culvert so that the holes are on top of each other, and the block is tight against the wall. Set and bed your trap a few inches in front of the bottom hole, and smear some paste bait on the inside walls of the upper hole and you are done. The blocks aren’t easy to pull in muddy or sandy bottoms, and coons very rarely pull the block further than a foot or so. They actually tend to sit on top of the blocks to stay out of the water. The set is very fast to construct and very effective, the only downside being that the blocks are cumbersome to haul around. It’s a good idea to place your blocks in the culverts where you will need them during pre-staking two weeks prior to season. Once your blocks are on location the set itself is very quick to make. The block set is an easy set to hide from thieves. In high theft areas the block can be moved further into the middle of box culverts to hide your traps, and catch, from prying eyes.

The common denominator in all these sets or really any set for that matter is to set on the sign the animals provide, read their sign and they will show you where the sets need to be, and if the sign is good make more than one set. Your truck fills up a lot quicker when you’re catching 2-3 animals per stop instead of 1. If you’re only making one set you’re missing fur.

These are just a few of the different sets a trapper can employ on his water line, but what sets these four apart from the others is their speed, efficiency and effectiveness. Check next month’s issue when we’ll discuss some simple, effective sets for your dry land trapline.