sandwhich baggies

[oso lento]

I was once told to use sandwhich baggies for a covering when trapping with lots of snow. a no. 3 bridger fits good in a gallon size bag. one should always use the real cheap kind as they tear easy. Ok with that said i would think that when the jaws close and the covering it would throw the foot out of the trap. what do you guys think?

[Asa Lenon]

I always use crumpled waxed paper without a problem.  I tried plastic bags and found three potential problems.  One is the plastic is many times too tough to break easily, even when perforated around the jaws, second, the plastic is smooth so wind driftes the snow off easily and third, I found too many traps with a ball of snow clumped in between the jaws so the jaws didn't close all the way and the animal escaped.   Just my opinion, use waxed paper.   :grin: Ace

[jumptrp]

baggies work fine: slit the baggie open on each side then lay half under the trap and up n over, lifting the loose jaw so it covers the pan, then lay the loose jaw back down,,, cover with dirt then a lite cover of snow if you wish.. the reason you lay it down under the trap is to prevent the jaws from freezing down. I agree with asa also that using crumpled wax paper is best but to each their own as what works for you. I found out that getting those baggie slit open while out there and its cold makes it hard on your fingers wehn ya get a premature fire while playing around and dam that hurts. Tis so much easier and quicker using wax paper.

[jim-NE]

I've used the baggies with pretty decent luck. Also tried thin mil garbage bags cut into rectangular sections twice as wide as a trap. Trap was set on one half the plastic and the other half folder over the top of the trap, and that worked pretty well. I got a roll of these cheap garbage bags for a couple of bucks and spent a couple of hours cutting sections to fit my traps. I could get several out of one bag, too, and they were cheaper than the gallon sized sandwhich bags to boot.
I also used to carry a roll of cheap cellophane wrap with me. In wet, freezing conditions, I could dig out a drap bed, then would mash a couple of layers of this thin mil cellophane wrap into the bed, then would pour in a layer of dry or waxed dirt, then bed my trap in this dry dirt, then sift a little over the top to dress the set off. The layers of cellophane helped keep the moisture from the surrounding soil from leaching into the trap bed, and unless it rained again this set would be functional for several nights for me. The sections cut from garbage bags worked for wet soil bed liners just like the roll of saran wrap did, too.
I also carry several of the larger ziplock bags on me at all time when running a line now. I keep my camera in one so it is always clean and dry. They also work well for keeping certain lure bottles zipped up and odor-free from the rest of the pack. I also keep my sections of insulation material in these bags to keep them dry. I use a lot of insulation wads under my trap pans to keep dirt from sifting under the pans, and still have plenty of "give" to allow the pan to drop freely.
Jim-NE