Same here in Nebraska...humidity is high, as well as the temps. We generally get some good, warm, but lower humidity days in September so that's when I generally dip my traps. They still have a good month to month-and-a-half of air time prior to opener then also.
I do love the ambience of a good pot of traps simmering, but the more I use dip for all of my traps, land or water, the more and more I am leaning toward dipping. Fast, low fire hazard factor (which is huge with me considering our drought state here locally), and efficient. Redipping is a breeze even during season, which works well for me. I used to just recycle my dirty land traps to my water line, but if they were really shined up from a coon then putting them in the water was exposing precious steel to rusting processes. I can still recycle them but I dip them first and then use at a water set in a couple days drying time...trap is protected, I didn't have to fire up a pot to boil them, and the dip odor isn't a factor at a water set for me.
Right now, for me, the perfect time (now) is doing the final once-over on the traps so that they are ready to dip. You know, adjust them, fix broken parts, attach or replace anchors or swivels, etc. then I put a little piece of wire between all the trap jaws so the inside gets dip coated too. I work on prep work now in my garage in evenings (when I can stand the heat long enough to be out there in the garage) so that come September I am ready to dip fast and hang them up.
Jim
