Catfish Traps

I’m looking for a lazy way to catch catfish for the frying pan and thought about traps like I used 40 years ago but I’m not certain about legalities. I’m a little confused about the description for wire traps in the DNR regulation booklet and don’t want to build something that’s illegal. Is there anyone in the S.C. midlands area that sells traps that meet the DNR expectations?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Country-Select-Catfish-Nuggets-32-oz/14122798 :smiley:

Pretty sure you have to get a special license or tags for any kind in S.C.

J Ford

http://www.joinrfa.com/

You have to get a trap tag for each trap. Residential tags are a few dolars each and you can only have two. If you plan to run more, you would have to go Commercial. I get two every year, but rarely put the traps out do to very little success. I believe you can get them from the Ft Johnson location in person.

I ordered my traps online, I will see if I can find the website I used.

A bad day fishing is much better than a good day at work.

http://www.dixiegardennets.com/catfish-traps.html

http://www.memphisnet.net/category/traps_fish_wire … I bought the 1" square from Memphis net

A bad day fishing is much better than a good day at work.

pitviper,
Thanks for the adresses. Sorry for my slow response to your kindness, but I’ve been chasing wild turkeys for the last few days with no luck. The traps pictured on the sites appear like what’s called for in the DNR Rules and Regs book but I still have a question about the traps shown. Maybe I’m just too simple-minded to understand, but DNR describes the second (or “catch muzzle”): “as the trap rests on the bottom, the slit shall be oriented horizontally with the greatest vertical opening being no greater than 1 inch.” Unless I’m misunderstanding, a 1 inch opening would allow in only very small fish (bait sized actually). How large is the opening on your traps second muzzle? Did you check with anybody to see if your traps meet DNR code? Thank!!

Don’t worry about it. I fish traps all the time with no problem. Just don’t be stupid and throw them out beside the boat ramp.

A tied down muzzle describes a tube of netting pulled flat so that cats can push through while excluding bream and other flat fish. Hard to describe I guess…but think of a flexible tube with two strings attached 180 degrees opposite from each other, so that when pulled tight it flattens out the tube. Pretty common design to exclude game fish. The trick is to weight your trap so the muzzles stay horizontal rather than vertical. The picture below is the best example I could find…it really is for an eel trap and uses fabric muzzles, but you can see how it pulls the last throat flat. Note the rebar on the bottom to keep the round trap oriented correctly.

P.S. Stop with the food pictures already…I get too ravenous.

Thanks, RasputenSC, for the explaination and photo. I finally get it. I just couldn’t get a mental image from the DNR Regs book.

Yes, what RasputenSC said… The traps I bought are legal in SC… Just make sure you have them deep enough and in an area not frequented by turtles, they will tear up the trap trying to get out… I have to repair one of mine now. To keep your trap sitting on the bottom the correct way, I took a piece of solid steel rod and tied it to the bottom of the trap so it wouldnt roll…

A bad day fishing is much better than a good day at work.