spring rat action
 

Here's a few days worth of pic's from this spring,small line 82 total

Nice catch, reminds me of the old days racing dad who could skin and board the fastest when we got home.
WDF

Sure brings back memories.

Many getting bit up ?
Mating season is in full force i bet!

yes I did get a few but ended before they really got tore up,saw many a big fellow persuing a gal,fun to watch their antics.High percentage I caught were males

Cool! The ice around here is only just coming off around the edges but it’s melting fast. Monday will be Go time.

The answer for rats is them Hagz or Sudden Valley brackets and fiberglass poles. If you put them in the right places, no need for any other equipment.

But the mud bottom must not be froze is the only criteria.

My best is 138 rats in about 8 hours of trap checking, all on fiberglass poles w Sudden Valley brackets. That's all the traps/poles I had in my possession. If I would have had more gear I am certain I would have got to 200 rats in a day. My 130+ rat day run lasted 3 or 4 days. Lotsa fun!

Phil Brown, the PA fox king of the world, put me onto the poles when I ran into him at a May NAFA sale in Toronto, years ago when rats had crept up to $10 average. He would drive up to North Dakota to trap rats every spring when the rat prices were up. I believe his best day was 240, all on fiberglass poles.

Lightweight, minimal gear helps the trapper to move fast, maximum efficiency. Subs are awesome but trapper has to spend time finding the runs. When right beside the truck and known runs, subs are unbeatable, but the rest of the time while one guy is slogging around searching for runs, the fiberglass pole trapper is flying.

Sold all my floats,switched to poles,still play with odd 110 in a run if easily found and accessable but I like the simplicity of the poles and the 1 trap 1 rat,floats I had 1 rat with 2 traps,poles are a lot easier to carry,im running both J3 and Sudden Valley at the moment,soon as these rats are sold ill be buying more poles,brackets etc,I love rat trapping,good times,beautiful fur and easy put up.

Sounds like you guys slam them in spring. our season ends end of January, still iced in ,and extremely hard to get out scent and traps.
so are using carrots ,apples and rat gland on each pole set? single spring #1 or
1 1/2 coiled springs?

using carrots mostly,apples and home made gland lure I produced

Ya, open water rig although there is also a clip for 110, 150, etc for simple underwater/ice usage on the fiberglass poles. Quick/easy is the name of the game for mass production.

Try them in the fall