|
Post by walleyed on Mar 16, 2020 18:09:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the options walleyed.Im glad to hear they are climbing for you. 0 catches here so far.What are your water levels like up north ? We had little snow pack and the water is dropping fast. I hate to say it but I think we need rain for trapping LOL.Im not sure but I think the water level should be up by the yellow at minor flood stage for mass travel. Good luck and be safe. Just got home from being out on the marshes all day setting floats & Rat toilets. It went down to 19 degrees last night here along the Lake Shore, which I believe slowed rat activity to a crawl with 1/4" to 1/2" inch of Ice in many still water areas. I only checked one spot that yielded 8 rats in spite of our Local Marshes having been declared A MUSKRAT DESERT LOL Set all of the last of my first line floats out today, and tomorrow we'll deploy all our 2nd string floats that are currently riding the pine. Flood Water levels peaked on Wednesday or Thursday of last week and are now on the drop with that 19* F low temperature tightening things up. Rats are still being spotted swimming every where we were setting traps today, and appear to be travelers. Very Happy with the numbers of rats and sign I am seeing. w
|
|
austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
|
Post by austin on Mar 16, 2020 20:06:46 GMT -5
No offense meant, Bobby. I specifically stated that those clearly low populations don't merit a three-hour remote commute. Now if I lived ten minutes away like you do, catching 5 or 8 or 20 on your best day is fine. But would you drive down here to the Conesus Lake inlet for 5, 8, maybe 20 rats? On a related note, when I walked into any piece of water along the Birdsall Swamp setting #330s, there were fresh muskrat toilets, cuttings, tracks and houses everywhere. When I joined coni here on his section of Montezuma, I could throw a football from one spot and hit more muskrat houses than the entire Lakeview Marsh has and the Salmon River estuary combined. If that weren't the case, I'd have lined Mud Brook with steel last week
|
|
Zagman
#2 Newhouse
Posts: 2,186
|
Post by Zagman on Mar 17, 2020 2:57:16 GMT -5
I've heard mixed reports up there.....one buddy and partner caught over 200 this week....another guy I know is about to break 100 today. Saying they are in every trickle, just not big numbers in one spot.
I drove back from Pulaski last week from a business affair and counted seven dead rats on 81.....yesterday, by my office in the East Syracuse muskrat mecca, I dodged a migrating muskrat on 481 and then watched two more cars swerve to miss it in my rear-view......the move is on for sure.
Roadkilled mink everywhere, as well, BTW..........
MZ
|
|
|
Post by walleyed on Mar 17, 2020 16:12:40 GMT -5
Weather was nasty and uncomfortable this morning. Thanks to Mr. Cuomo, there was no place to get hot coffee and a breakfast omelet except for Mac Ratburger in Pulaski. walleyed shrugged off the Virus blockade and headed to the marsh anyways. Too nasty to set out more Floats today so just checked the floats/traps we already had in the water. All toll we finished with 15 rats which is about all that walleyed cares to skin in one sitting. We don't throw them in the freezer whole and then have to struggle with a frozen block of fur later. The marshes, and river estuaries are a virtual traffic jam of migrant traveler muskrats who apparently didn't get the memo that they aren't supposed to be here on Eastern Lake Ontario Marshes. Come to think of It, I haven't seen this many rats swimming around in years as the excessively high lake water levels have inundated the cattails and submerged a lot of deadhead lumber rats normally climb on. There are certainly NO LACK of Muskrat here for anyone that really, actually wants to trap them.
|
|
|
Post by walleyed on Mar 18, 2020 17:32:46 GMT -5
Took another 16 Rats today off of 45 floats including a beautiful JET BLACK MUSKRAT !!!! Shuffled a bunch of floats to a new, un-trapped Sandy Pond estuary. It's supposed to rain tonight so it should stimulate a bunch of muskrat movement & activity. Stay tuned. w
|
|
|
Post by Adirondack-Jim on Mar 18, 2020 19:10:48 GMT -5
Enjoying your updates and look forward to another report.
|
|
austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
|
Post by austin on Mar 19, 2020 17:10:08 GMT -5
Bobby... first of all, I'm glad you're catching rats and having fun. I had the chance to set any/all of those areas myself, not only was I right there, one of my canoes is still there Everyone has different standards of "many". Me personally, if I can't catch 10 - 30 a day within a 30min drive from my door each way, it ain't worth it. If only a 5min drive from my door, I'm happy with less. Back in March 2015 I caught 300 rats from Mud Brook portage launch into Floodwood, and also French Creek combined. In ten days, which was more like 7 - 8 checks. In 2013 I caught 100+ off Fish Creek east of Black Lake... in three checks. Those kinda numbers make sense to me when so far from home, running out of motels, etc. 15 a day next door to you is great. Peeling as you go is great. Whatever makes you happy. If I'm running hard and piling catches up, they get stacked in the freezer until such time later on when the fur rush has ended and time abounds to handle them. There is a brief window in time from the big run to all bit up and shedding. I like to maximize catches while the sun shines. To each our own. I'll be back north next weekend but up near Black Lake region for beaver & otter. Done with muskrats for this year... feel free to catch what would have been my share too
|
|
austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
|
Post by austin on Mar 19, 2020 17:17:13 GMT -5
I've heard mixed reports up there.....one buddy and partner caught over 200 this week....another guy I know is about to break 100 today. Saying they are in every trickle, just not big numbers in one spot. I drove back from Pulaski last week from a business affair and counted seven dead rats on 81.....yesterday, by my office in the East Syracuse muskrat mecca, I dodged a migrating muskrat on 481 and then watched two more cars swerve to miss it in my rear-view......the move is on for sure. Roadkilled mink everywhere, as well, BTW.......... MZ that's the advantage of locals versus remote trappers. I know every little trickle and flow in several counties right here, none up there three hours from home. It would take me a day or three of driving the roads, mapping to try and find any worthwhile. I can only hit the bigger flows and hope ample numbers are there to make the trip worthwhile. A fleabag hotel is $70 after tax and then tips on top of that. A five-day stay for rats is a $500 bill after rooms, gas, food, coffee, etc. If I'm not catching enough rats to make the fun worthwhile, why bother? I'm going to Kentucky for turkey opener mid-April and won't spend more than that all told as it is. I can stay in Black Lake for free, in a modern comfort cabin, on the lake front. Surrounded by beavers and otters if I'm lucky
|
|
|
Post by walleyed on Mar 19, 2020 18:01:13 GMT -5
Just got home from a afternoon on the marsh rat water. It was a nice day with no rain, no strong winds, and mild temperatures. Our freshly set Sandy Pond Estuary produced 12 rats, and our other waters added another 9 rats for a respectable total of 21 which is about 6 more than walleyed cares to skin in a day. If we wanted more rats, we'd just drop in another 50 floats and we'd catch them as it is not rocket science, but that would make it too much like work, and Governor Cuomo says we are supposed to work from home or shelter in place so we don't get the nasty virus. I am practicing social distancing out in the boat in the cattails and no one has got anywhere near me. Pulled one river estuary where the catch had dropped off considerably. Hope to get into another creek estuary tomorrow where we have been seeing some very good rat sign and lots of swimming migrant travelers past couple days. Have to restock our apple, peppermint, and spearmint candy supply for the floats as the rats are eating the apples after we make a catch. The rats are drying in front of the fans, and will be skinned early tomorrow morning. No Frozen rats here as they are a PITA, and sign of a lazy trapper. daily skinning of muskrats is all part of the daily chores of an actual trapper, out trapping rats. Stay tuned.
|
|
|
Post by trappermac on Mar 19, 2020 18:46:06 GMT -5
Way to stay on them Bob. Are these the striped candies or solid colors?
|
|
|
Post by walleyed on Mar 19, 2020 18:50:53 GMT -5
Way to stay on them Bob. Are these the striped candies or solid colors? Definitely striped peppermint & spearmint candies !!! If you don't use the striped ones, It will spook the muskrat !! Everybody knows that !!! w
|
|
|
Post by walleyed on Mar 20, 2020 12:15:20 GMT -5
The wind blew like heck out of the southeast on Sandy Pond last night and set up a three foot chop on Lower Little Sandy Creek. It raised havoc on walleyed's floats and many a snapped trap was the result which made for a light catch of only 11 Muskrat today. Included in that Total was another JET BLACK MUSKRAT which is destined for the tannery, and then to be sold on E-bay. We extended the rat line further up the estuary with another six floats along with a couple 3 more rat toilet sets in some smoking hot locations. Had to get off the water early due to other obligations plus to avoid the 30 to 40 MPH winds forecast for this afternoon. Might set some beaver traps at roadside locations this afternoon if we feel like it, and then again, maybe we won't. Rats are drying before the fans to be skinned when dry as all real trappers do at the end of the day. Stay tuned. w
|
|
|
Post by markg on Mar 20, 2020 18:26:41 GMT -5
Stuck down here in the southern zone, waiting on a permit to set up a nuisance beaver job. Thanks very much for your daily posts. Greatly appreciated. Please keep them coming.
|
|
austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
|
Post by austin on Mar 20, 2020 18:44:03 GMT -5
Might set some beaver traps at roadside locations this afternoon if we feel like it, and then again, maybe we won't. Rats are drying before the fans to be skinned when dry as all real trappers do at the end of the day. w
nice catch Bobby... you well on your way to a hundred this spring! Keep it up! If you actually start catching rats in numbers like those real trappers with their stacks you saw at the Flatiron Saturday, I can run this freezer up to you any time. It'll hold 200+ on the carcass easily... done it before. If you get too far behind on skinning I can also swing by after a full day crushing beaver & otter. I like to do my rats in blocks of 20 then break, then 20 more. Takes me a full 30min to do each batch like that with time to update Facebook in between
|
|
|
Post by trappermac on Mar 20, 2020 20:10:16 GMT -5
Walleye...anyone ever tell you you're a hell of a fisherman?
|
|
|
Post by walleyed on Mar 21, 2020 7:56:38 GMT -5
Walleye...anyone ever tell you you're a hell of a fisherman? Yup, Just got to use the right bait. Hooks them right by the lips every time !!! w
|
|
|
Post by markg on Mar 21, 2020 10:49:37 GMT -5
LMAO gotta love it
|
|
austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
|
Post by austin on Mar 21, 2020 10:54:56 GMT -5
Walleye...anyone ever tell you you're a hell of a fisherman? I'm frickin bored... stuck living in the wrong half of godforsaken NYS with short seasons and nil fur. Envious of the 10/25 thru 4/07 seasons and land of many waters up north
|
|
austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
|
Post by austin on Mar 21, 2020 10:56:46 GMT -5
Walleye...anyone ever tell you you're a hell of a fisherman? Yup, Just got to use the right bait. Hooks them right by the lips every time !!! w you leave those Rt 3 roadside beavers there in the Sandy Creek drainage alone... I saw that fresh sign first, they be mine. Get in my way and I'll mowwwww you down!
|
|
|
Post by walleyed on Mar 22, 2020 15:41:48 GMT -5
Why would somebody bring a Lawn Mower to a Gunfight ? There was frost on the Pumpkin in Henderson, N.Y. this Sunday morning when walleyed emerged from his self-quarantined, heavily defended Compound at dawn. 17* F and much too cold to head out on to the Sandy Pond to set and check traps so we began a near futile search for hot coffee and some kind of breakfast while waiting for the warming sun to bring the thermometer into a more comfortable range for trapping. We ended up at McDonald's Covid-19 Virus Distribution Center in Adams, NY where walleyed got the 2 for $4.00 biscuit sandwiches ,coffee, and a chance to contract the nasty virus. We then proceeded to the secret boat launch, and set the double secret cove estuary where muskrats and beaver abounded nearly swamping us as they scurried to get out of the way of our small trapping craft. We set every piece of sign we could find, and left the cove stake-less and out of traps, and much lighter for our high speed run to the fertile muskrat trapping grounds of the southern pond. Our first float was gone, missing, vanished and only our orange tipped electrical conduit stake remained. A search of the surrounding shoreline proved futile. It was as if a Alien Spacecraft had hovered over our float and sucked it aboard. A Mystery !!! The majority of Little Sandy Creek estuary was froze over, and most of the floats were debris covered and our traps snapped indicating a Lake Seiche/Storm Surge event had flooded up the creek sometime in the past 48 hours wreaking havoc. We only managed 5 plump rats but again saw many migrating swimmers who wil be our potential customers tonight. Our 2nd estuary yielded another eight (8) rats and we then spent a half hour on the backside of the "Secret Island" counting rat toilets and feed bed spots where we will be deploying about 50 #1.5 Victor Stoploss traps upon our return during the next check. So another 13 Rats from the Great Eastern Lake Ontario Muskrat Desert. Tomorrow we set the triple secret barrier dune Muskrat Valhalla for both beaver and rats and perhaps a token Otter or two. Stay Tuned. w
|
|
|
Post by walleyed on Mar 23, 2020 12:45:32 GMT -5
Well,
The weather couldn't have been much more inhospitable this morning when It was time to lay steel in the secret spot. We soldiered on none-the-less, and put in four castor mound sets and a couple Beaver den hole sets along with a couple Muskrat floats and two feed-bed sets with #1.5 stoploss.
About the time we finished, walleyed's back started to act up worse than usual so we called a halt to stringing more steel just as the blizzard hit with full force.
The water's much too rough to check traps on the Sandy Pond so we'll wait until the morning to run them.
Stay Tuned.
w
|
|
austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
|
Post by austin on Mar 23, 2020 15:40:42 GMT -5
Now Bobby, your latest post troubles me a bit. I hope you didn't set up my Rt3 roadside beaver locations between South Sandy and Sandy creeks. If so, I'm concerned this may cause irreparable harm to our long-term friendship.
|
|
|
Post by walleyed on Mar 24, 2020 14:57:26 GMT -5
The weather was much nicer this morning at dawn. It was dead, flat, calm and about 34*F when we kicked off from the secret boat launch and headed to muskrat Island, and started deploying #1.5 Victor Stop-loss with an 8 foot electrical conduit stake on a bevy of feed-beds & Rat toilets. We made about 30 sets and ran out of traps so we turned our attention to setting three #330's the large, long, deep, beaver feed channel from the enormous Beaver lodge heading back in to the cattails. Those tasks accomplished, we started checking traps and picked up 12 rats from the floats & toilets near muskrat island. We then headed over to Little Sandy Creek estuary and picked up another 10 rats there including a CREAMSICKLE colored rat with pale tinged tail & feet. We then headed back to the double secret creek estuary and added another 5 rats. Loaded the Boat on the trailer and hit the Rat & beaver swamp where we caught an additional 2 rats but surprisingly no beaver. No doubt a case the wrong wind direction. So for the day, we harvested a grand total of 29 rats from the "Great Eastern Lake Ontario Muskrat Desert". No doubt these rats have been migrating north-westward from Montezuma NWR where there is rumored to be an oversupply, and they are immigrating north to fill the environmental void of empty muskrat habitat on Eastern Lake Ontario. Mother Nature abhors a vacuum !! Stay tuned. w
|
|
|
Post by nyrat on Mar 24, 2020 16:27:49 GMT -5
very nice whats the total so far this spring
|
|
austin
test results are back... I am joerat's daddy
Posts: 483
|
Post by austin on Mar 24, 2020 18:25:59 GMT -5
29 muskrats! In one day!!! Killin' it, Bobby!!! Listen, that's a lot of skinning for a man your age. Twice your daily limit, in fact. I suggest pacing yourself. Flatiron would do ten, then a Blue break, then ten, then a Blue break. Then nine, a Blue break followed by another Blue break. Then clean-up followed by, yup you guessed it, a Blue break You could always rest the extra 14 outside where it's cold or in your refrigerator if it's warm up there in Seiche' land. Be sure to lay them on their backs so stomach juices don't leak into the belly skin, and pray you catch 1 or fewer tomorrow
|
|