Author Topic: minking ? (Read 737 times)

creekchub · « **on:** February 28, 2005, 01:30:41 PM »

for all you minkers out there what is the one set you use the most and do you feel lure and bait is necessary and or effective?

Bogmaster · « **Reply #1 on:** February 28, 2005, 02:36:21 PM »

I like a good pocket set,and yes I use bait and lure with them.I like to use fresh muskrat as bait.Though when I used to go smelting,I caught a lot of mink on smelt.
Tom

steven49er · « **Reply #2 on:** February 28, 2005, 04:39:08 PM »

Pocket, fast and effective. I think that bait is a must. Lure? Dont know havent much used it.

snowman485 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 01, 2005, 05:22:52 AM »

Ken Smythes bottom edge mink set :roll:

buzzy · « **Reply #4 on:** March 01, 2005, 04:46:25 PM »

I mostly use baited pocket sets but will not pass up any good blind set locations. My first couple of years using only blind sets, learned a lot about mink this way & tracking them in the snow to see where they hunted & where they like to get in or out of the water or waters edge.

Asa Lenon · « **Reply #5 on:** March 02, 2005, 08:44:11 AM »

I probably use more different type sets for mink than for any other animal as one takes advantage of every natural attraction along the way. The pocket set is always an old standby and the use of a good lure really makes them more effective. My Dad once made a study of all mink sets lured in some manner vs all blind trail type sets and determined that the use of a good mink lure increased his harvest by 30%. I agree with those findings, even at trail sets for example, I add lure between two sets made a few feet apart and have found the lure ensures the mink stays on course where one wants them to go. Any factor can help add up a maximum harvest one by one by one and proper lure usage is an important factor in my opinion and experience. Ace

TraplineMusher · « **Reply #6 on:** March 02, 2005, 03:25:56 PM »

I run pockets most of the time here. Baited with either fish or rat is good by my standards. As for lure, I always use a shot of lure and like Asa's alot. My son and I had a contest, he used Lenon lures for mink and I bought another brand--he smoked me bad, really bad as he caught 50% more mink then I did. Moral of the story is I know what lures I'll be using next yr for mink.
John Porter

OldCoon · « **Reply #7 on:** March 03, 2005, 09:52:43 AM »

I use blind sets. Some of my blind sets employ footholds, others bodygrippers. The reason I use blind sets is because it's easier for me and eliminates unwanted catches.

creekchub · « **Reply #8 on:** March 03, 2005, 01:37:43 PM »

for those of you that use and have used lure, do you feel it more effective early in the season or late in the season. also what are some good lures for use on mink?

jim-NE · « **Reply #9 on:** March 05, 2005, 01:54:48 AM »

Blind sets. I use #110s and find any little finger or trickle of a creek that is no wider than this trap, and I look for pinched down areas and grassy overhangs, little trails up and over points, abandoned muskrat holes, root overhangs, etc.
After ice up, or a fresh snow, I look for tracks. Beaver dams with ice on both sides are great spots for winter blind sets...I look for little muddy tracks on the ice to locate the entrance/exits most used to get underwater.
I pick up a lot of mink while blind setting for rats with this same trap size in rat runs, too.
Jim-NE

trappnman · « **Reply #10 on:** March 05, 2005, 02:58:42 AM »

All I will say is this- lure and bait are not needed for trapping mink- I grew up mink trapping- trapped my first mink decades before my first land trap was set- and a good blind setter doesn't miss 30% of the mink.

lure and bait work- but I've never been convinced that you take more mink with them. Its just another tool to use in cold weather.

You can only kill the same mink once.

Nor is lure or bait needed to trap rats. I literally couldn't begin to even guess at the numbers of rats I've taken over the years- and I've done tons of experiments with just about all the lures and baits there are for rats- and none has shown any significant increase in catch by using them over blind sets.