Fish Stick Sets

[coonkiller10]

I know its a little to late now, but next year I am wanting to try some fish stick sets. I think I have the basic idea, but tips and pointers would be greatly appreciated, like what is the best trap, lure, bait, or anything else that may be necessary. 

[4fur]

No lure. Big bloody carp head. Two Sleepy Creek double jaw #11s on a 3/8" rerod electric fence post. Read the regulations and/or speak with your local game warden to determine if exposed bait is legal in your area.

Lots of variations with the FS but the above works best for me in my area on my line.

[coonkiller10]

Would any type of fish work? I live in southwest Iowa and carp are very scarce. I would also like to know if a single jaw would work just as well as the double. 

[coonnfoxtrapper]

Any fish will work Some guys use The pieces of blue gill left after filleting them. Any fish heads. Single jaw will work Just a double Jaw will help Hold a little better.

[coonkiller10]

What do you guys think is the better trap choice. #11 or 1 1/2. I have heard that #11s have a stronger holding power, but I have also heard that about 1 1/2s. 

[hillbillyken]

Jan 22, 2014 12:12:14 GMT -6 coonkiller10 said:

Would any type of fish work? I live in southwest Iowa and carp are very scarce. I would also like to know if a single jaw would work just as well as the double. 

coonkiller.....where is sw iowa are you I live in Shenandoah and we have tons of carp in the nishna river....if you need help finding some pm me and I can tell you where you can buy it from.

[~ADC~]

4fur told you the best way IMO. You can get by with lesser choices and do pretty well though. A regular jawed #11 is a good second choice followed by a double jawed 1.5 coil, then a 1.5 regular jawed coil. Lots of coons have been caught and held in 1.5 reg jawed coils... so any of them will work. As for fish IMO bigger and smellier the better. Catfish heads and bass heads are acceptable 2nd choice substitutes to the carp IMO.

~ADC~

[coonkiller10]

hillbillyken, I live 15 minutes away from Bedford, and 15 minutes away from Mount Ayr. The Ringgold, Taylor county line is only a couple miles away. The closest river is in Blockton and as far as I know there aren't very many carp in it. We have tons of bass and catfish around and if I wanted to substitute it would not be very hard. 

[hillbillyken]

I would think catfish and bass heads work just fine for a fs set.

[gard73]

Why do you like the #11's over the coil springs? Just wondering the reasoning or is it just personal preference.

[jbruegge]

I ran short on carp heads about a month ago and switched over to whole crappies and white bass. No noticeable difference in my opinion, as long as it's big enough to be a good visual attractor. 10" crappies and heads from carp aren't that different in size.

[rugersinglesix]

I use all of the carp, choped up about in 4 inch pieces and the heads, stick em on the fence post and wire em on, use 2 1 1/2 coils or 2 double long springs, or one of each, it all works. Make the set faceing the low bank or sand bar the coon r using if u no what i mean. Good luck.

[4fur]

Jan 22, 2014 17:35:35 GMT -6 gard73 said:

Why do you like the #11's over the coil springs? Just wondering the reasoning or is it just personal preference.

I prefer pockets on drowning set ups and DPs early season, so for me the fish stick set is a mid to late season set after the water starts to consistently freeze up. In this area, the only open water is little water: tile dumps, spring seeps, or shallow fast moving portions of creeks. None of these spots are deep enough to drown coon so I need a trap which will hold them comfortably until I get there to dispatch them. I know of no trap that fits the bill better than the #11 DJ. Additionally, almost all the locations I mentioned are very tough to bed a trap solid because of sticks, rocks or soft goose poop bottoms. My fish stick set is a mink set that will also catch coon so if I am not in 2" of water over the pan location, I build the trap bed up with sod, grass, muck, etc. to bed the traps on. Coon are notorious for flipping traps in clear, shallow water if they are not bedded rock solid with the chains buried. Again, IMO the double long spring fits the bill much better than coils for this. I can run sticks through the springs, wedge the springs between rocks, etc. to get them bedded. I can also bed #11 DJs on a pillow of grass I place in a 2 1/2 foot deep tile dump to make a set. When I first started using fish sticks I used coil springs because that is all I owned. Many days I would have 6 pull-out/chew outs. I doubt I've had that many total this entire season. It doesn't take many additional coon to pay the price difference at that rate.  If I were in northern Iowa where the mink out number the coon 10:1 this time of year, I believe I would just use one old style  Victor #2 at each set.  

Any fish is fine. I prefer carp heads because they don't fall apart when I push them on the fence post and I don't have to wire them. I hate the idea of using red meat because of the obvious: non-targets. Birds of prey are much more attracted to muskrat, beaver, rabbit, bird heads, etc. So are domestics. I have caught coon, mink, muskrat, beaver, possum and skunk in FSs. Never caught a coyote or bobcat by using fish. Unusual catches are welcome on my line but I think a coyote would tax my staking system's ability and I think most cats are DOA.