I had the pleasure to ride along with Jim Witmer on his Mink trap line today.
aka- Nittany Lion on huntingpa & trapperman.
Jim traps Juniata and parts of Perry County. Jim is a master Mink and Muskrat trapper and I always enjoy my annual ride along. Jim is in his early 70's and told me he's slowing down.
He runs a long line with over 200 traps in working order. But this year, he divided his line into halves. By that, he has the first half set up for the past 9 days. He will pull this line on Saturday then set up the second half of his line on Sunday.
He didn't catch a Mink today, but did catch a couple of Muskrats in his Mink sets. I would guess he had 60% pocket sets and 40% blind sets. He had a couple of baited #160's on bottom edge sets. Neat set. He baited the 160 trigger with a rubber minnow. Minnow moved with the current. The set was made in arm length deep water on the bottom edge of a vertical bank or under a bridge. For the 160 stabilizer, I noticed Jim was using a steel plate with a coni-holder welded to plate, making a solid set up.
I ask how his catch was up to this point, and Jim shook his head and said, 'only 19 Mink, we need more weather fronts moving and get colder.' Mink move best in the worst weather and hit the water when it gets cold. So our stable weather conditions is poor for Mink trapping. I said, 'geez, 19 Mink is 8 days isn't too bad.' Jim didn't respond. Motivated guys want more, work more and aren't satisfied...lol
If I turn my head for a moment or two or looked for tracks on a muddy sandbar, Jim would be 30 yards down stream looking at the next set and he thinks he slowing down...
All in all, a wonderful day with a good friend and master trapper.
