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Traps under the ice?

iowabucks

iowabucks

Member
Yesterday i was out icefishing some Mississippi River backwaters, fairly shallow, 6 foot. I came across a couple of retangular shaped holes in the ice. Maybe 2' X 4'. It had a piece of aluminum conduit pushed to the bottom, and coming out of the hole with some tags on it. They said Iowa Fish, and had some numbers on them. It also had the owners name and address stamped on another metal piece. There were a few good sized bloody spots nearby on the ice.

Obviously they were traps of some kind. I wasn't going to pull them up to see. What do people trap under the ice this time of year? Turtles?
 
Ive seen alot of traps out on the miss. backwaters lately. Most of the turtle traps ive seen have wooden sticks sticking out of the water in a circle. Somehow then are able to get in to get food but not get out. Not real sure how it works. The important question is, how was the fishin?
 
Not very good. Just a bunch of small gills. I'm having no problem finding the fish this year, but they're all too small to keep.
 
That tag sounds like a commercial tag for fishing or trapping something other than a furbearer. Beaver sets don't require a 2'X4' hole & don't use aluminum conduit.

Conibear pole sets use a wooden pole & require a small hole in the ice. Baited pole sets use footholds & wooden poles & require a small hole also. I love trapping beaver under the ice.
 
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