Marten trapping SE AK

[Skillet]

Anybody on here done it?  Looking to diversify my "Renewable Natural Resource Extraction" enterprises up here 

Mostly curious about prime time of year, traps, sets, baits, stupid mistakes newbies make, etc. 

I'm in Sitka, so Baranof Island specific info would be excellent, but also looking at running a few lines in remote drainages only accessable by boat anywhere within a day or two's run of Sitka.

[cat daddy]

Good luck, the Johnson brothers trap marten all over southeast. Get ahold of Seth Charlton, he works in the maint. dept for the Sitka school dist. Tad Kisaka with Classic Casting in Sitka is my son in law, he might can help you. Lance Ewers is a cop in Sitka, he’a my other son in law in Sitka. He does some trapping.

[Skillet]

Roger, thanks for the leads. 

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Never trapped Marten in SE, but did trap them on Afognak, North of Kodiak, a couple winters. I wasn't a high volume trapper, Just a few traps out for fun. But had my best success with cubby hole sets using 110 Connibears.  I used meat scraps when I had them and jam. An old timer there taught me about jam. Evidently, Martens have a sweet tooth. I used strawberry and blueberry.

[Skillet]

Its really more of a "get off the boat and burn some calories" thing for me. 

I was told about strawberry jam today.  I seriously thought it was just a standard hazing tradition for newbies...

Or maybe it still is... 

[Skillet]

Do you think fish would work as bait?  Fish, I got...   

[JakeLand]

Yep I have ! And @Wags
I like 120 conibears in boxes with beaver for bait and LDC marten lure
Or you can do simple cubbies sets with #1 coil springs .The main thing is set them on tracks because they will be back and weather proof the set ( cubby set )  because once they get wet it's not so good , this is why I prefer the 120 conibears in a box it kills them very quick and no issues .
Have the boxes up on a leaning pole set or nailed up a tree and wire the chain so they hang in the air so rodents won't trim the fur for you
Good luck and if you want to chat about it just pm me your number
Jake

[JakeLand]

And marten are keen on sight hunting to so hanging a flag ( wing ) on fishing line so it flutters around helps a lot

[Humptulips]

Wags on here is the guy to talk to. I believe waggler on Tman.

[TeacherMan]

Marten are my kryptonite  I absolutely love marten trapping. With that said I have never done it in SE just the interior and down toward the Kenai Pen. 120s are great but if you really plan on trapping them in big numbers you will switch over to #1 LS. I like the 1s because they dont get high catches on the leg. Plus the animal is generally frozen into a conibear so you have to take the entire trap. A lot of old timers even like #0s. The 1.5 LS tend to hit high on the shoulder and cause furn damage. Very thin skin critters. 110s work as well if you have them. I have had to bonk them several times in a 110. Best bait hands down is beaver. In SE I know they use fish a lot but they are trapping from boats on the coast line so it makes sense. They really like raspberry jam too lol, lots of salmon berries in SE and I know they eat those.  I personally use newspaper tubes with slots in the sides and 120s. I use Belisle's. These are extremely high quality and will kill a wolverine. In SE you will have them come into your sets or even in the areas I trap in 13, 19, 7 and 15. With that said I have had wolverine take marten out of my traps before. Any good marten line should have several 280 bucket sets for the bigger member of the weasel families. If there are lynx in your area you actually have a good chance of picking them up on your marten line as well. I like to put a cubby at the bottom of my marten poles. This will help with the wolverine problem as well. I also use Magnum marten in all my sets as an LD lure. final note the higher up off the ground you put your sets the fewer the marten you will get, BUT you will get more mature animals. Females dont tend to climb as much.

[RB]

One of the years I was up in Sitka (in December) my brother had a trapping license so he set out a few traps just for giggles and we caught a half dozen mink and a couple marten, we were on Redoubt lake.

[RB]

Good luck, the Johnson brothers trap marten all over southeast. Get ahold of Seth Charlton, he works in the maint. dept for the Sitka school dist. Tad Kisaka with Classic Casting in Sitka is my son in law, he might can help you. Lance Ewers is a cop in Sitka, he’a my other son in law in Sitka. He does some trapping.

Are you talking about Marty and Kevin Johnson?

[AL WORRELLS KID]

Box Sets are the way to go if you have the time to make them, but they will pay off in the long run. Good Luck Skillet, Doug

[Skillet]

Thanks for the great info everybody - got hooked up with a local trapper here in Sitka through a friend who runs 65 sets right now.  He's been really helpful, going to run his trapline with him one of these days soon.