It’s that time of year, beginning to break up, even though we have not had much for warm weather. With longer days, short nights, unless the temps remain really cold, break up begins. On pond colonies, beaver will often break out up stream where the ice is thinning, looking for some fresh eats after the winter cache has soured from spending a winter under the ice. If you find a break out, it’s a good bet a beaver will return to feed again, a great place to put in a blind set. Unless the area is a large open area, only one beaver will visit a break-out. After you make a catch, it’s a good idea to look for others.
Ice is a great dead-man, which keep the beaver swimming on the bottom in channels since they are unable to swim on top. There is no better narrowing agent than ice.
A few fresh poplar twigs are a great bait, especially if they don’t have any that is readily accessible. Beaver have a great nose and are able to smell fresh poplar sprigs from quite a distance. Late March, early April is a super time to look for beaver.
