First fish stick - how does it look?

[Twiner Trapper]

Never made a fish stick set before, should I change anything or does this look okay?

[Bristleback]

Do you have plenty of "smelly" on that grass/bait?
If so, get your skinning knife ready, looks good.

[jlanduyt]

Just out of curiosity, how did you anchor your traps?

[Twiner Trapper]

I knew I forgot something...added fishy smell to the grass this morning. I anchored the traps with the rebar post that has the fish head on it.

[4fur]

I like a lot about your set and I bet it will take fur, but these are a few suggestions. Lose the grass. We don't have an exposed bait law here and covering the carp head reduces the effectiveness of the FS considerably IMO. Use the heavier rebar electric fence post rather than the cheaper smooth rod. If the water is open, place the set closer to the bank. Get the traps pushed into the bottom and always bury or cover the chains. Coon aren't bothered by the sight of a trap but their feet are constantly searching under water when they are foraging for food so burying chains and bedding the trap are quick easy ways to reduce sprung traps and stolen bait.

Hope I don't sound too critical. Thanks for posting the pictures, Shaun!

[Twiner Trapper]

Thanks for the critique Wayne, that's why I posted pictures I was hoping for suggestions. I made some adjustments today...haven't caught anything yet...hopefully when it warms up a bit! I know there are coon in that area as I caught a few earlier in DPs. Unfortunately I will have to pull this weekend though as I am headed to southeast Iowa to hunt deer with friends. I'll reset again next week and see what happens.
Shawn

[~ADC~]

Wayne what are the advantages of the larger rebar stake?

[Kelly]

Please be careful-some parts of this state do have an exposed bait law where your fish sticks need to be covered.

[LLLTrapper]

I agree with Wayne on most everything but would add that the high bank to the right of the top picture would be where I would have went. Use the high bank as your blocking with some additional blocking to the right and left of the fish stick. Set your traps in front and slightly right and left of the stick. Always set your loose jaw towards the bait so the coon don't flip the jaw up on you. Good luck. They should start moving again soon. LLL

[jlanduyt]

Would it be better to stake the traps away from the fish stick just in case a person was to catch two critters and help keep them from getting tangled?

[LLLTrapper]

I actually run mine on drowner slides going away from the stake. It isn't a lot of the time but I have caught doubles to include mink/ coon doubles on many occasions. LLL

[jlanduyt]

Ok, sounds good.

[furman]

Dec 13, 2013 5:21:45 GMT -6 LLLTrapper said:

I actually run mine on drowner slides going away from the stake. It isn't a lot of the time but I have caught doubles to include mink/ coon doubles on many occasions. LLL

Do you ever have the catch hang up on the stake and not go down the drowner. ...I'd like to run some next year on extended checks but worry the catch not going down and out

[LLLTrapper]

Of course they sometimes hang up. Sometimes they get caught in both traps. Sometimes they steal your bait. Sometimes they flip your trap. Murphy's law is always at work on a trap line. The number one law of coon trapping is that coon are the luckiest animal alive. Once you know that it is not as frustrating. Oh and sometimes they get the trap hung up on the fish stick and stop the swivels and I will leave it at that. If I had my choice the first one would not be a fish stick set. LLL