Some trap manufacturers have made the advertising claim that their traps were ready for the trapline “right out of the box.”
Don’t believe it. Every brand, size or style of factory trap can be improved by a little knowledgeable tinkering. Even if there was a perfect trap, it still wouldn’t be ready right out of the box, because it would still have factory grease on it, and it wouldn’t be protected from rusting.
Granted, this is the way many trappers operate – using traps right out of the box. Even some veterans of many years on the line don’t bother to modify, adjust or even clean the oil and metal shavings off their traps. When the season closes, they put their traps up still caked with mud and dirt, and that’s the way they start setting them when the next season comes.
Some of these trappers catch a lot of fur. But when I see a trapper treating his equipment so carelessly, I always wonder: How much more would this guy catch if he’d fine-tune and treat his traps, and how much money would he save on equipment if he took a few steps to protect his traps from rust before using them?
The probable answer: “Quite a bit.”
This is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Jim Spencer’s newest book, “Guide to Trapping.”
Pages 199