PVC set questions

[kfin]

I am branching out this year and trying several different things. So far the coon are not cooperating as much as I had hoped. I have snagged around 55 so far though. Question on the pvc set.....I'm doing something wrong and I think it is trap placement.

I am using 18" pieces of pvc with a 90 elbow on them and ADC Coon Payback bait. Duke 1 1/2 double jaws that are night latched on drowners, one trap per pvc. On at least 10 occasions all of the bait is gone and no trap fired. I have only have one flipped trap so far and it was on a pocket so I believe I am bedding them well and burying chain. I am placing the trap directly in front of the pvc with about a 4" gap between the close edge of trap and pvc......any thoughts?

I have managed to catch one in this set but with the amount of coon that are working it I should have bunch more! Should I be further away? closer? offset to one side?

Generally putting it where the pvc elbow is about 6"-8" above the water and MOST of the time the trap is about 3"-6" underwater.

Thanks,
Keith

[jlanduyt]

Well, this is a thought mind you but I was told by my brother/mentor that for coon, the trap should be placed a hands LENGTH from the edge of the attractor. But since I don't have any experience to base this on I can't say this is the problem but it may be worth a try.

[bucks]

Try using some sticks to guide them, they could be robbing u from the side

[AR]

I can't really give a good answer for the PVC set since I haven't ever used, I can offer some input on smear sets that I use and what I figured out worked for me and it may apply to you on the PVC.

I smear bait 2-3" above the water with the loose jaw of the trap 1-2" away from the rock/dirt wall that the bait is on. I have found that moving the trap closer, especially in deeper water has lead to more catches and less flipped/snapped traps and stolen bait. I don't offset the trap to the side either. As it was explained to me,

"If I told you to stand on one leg, would you adjust your body to balance? So if a coon comes up to a set and works it with a front foot, they're going to balance on that other leg right? So where do you put your trap...."

That bit of advice helped me out a lot, it may apply to this scenario as well but I can't say for sure.

[Chris O.]

I am assuming you are putting the pipe far enough out in the water that the coon isn't reaching it from the bank. I put mine about 3"in front of pipe the dog faceing the pipe and offset 2 or 3" usually on the downstream side but not always I always have the pipe faceing the bank most of the time

[kfin]

Maybe we have just hit on it....I have all of my pvc sets pointing toward the creek, not the bank. I bet they are working it from behind. I'll try that. Thanks for the tips guys.