Trapping Experience in Gilman

As the thaw arrives, the Exeter river begins to flow again. The dormant plants are sprouting all over the Gilman Park, signaling the arrival of the Spring. For this last three months with the woods, I decide to carry out a trapping project in the Exeter river.

My goal is to catch a crayfish. I did online research and found that crayfish is abundant in NH and it should be found in almost every pond. I began by constructing my own traps from bottles, but they failed. So, I bought a simple net trap from eBay instead. The first bait I used was D-Hall bread. Nothing happened and the bread rapidly dissolved away, so I changed my strategy.

According to many websites, the best crayfish bait is fresh fish, so I bought real preserved minnow (fish). After a few day, I got a small turtle. Then in the next day, I got a small fish. They did not seem to interest in the bait, so I suspect that they accidentally got stuck there by the current.

After a week of no crayfish, I biked around the woods to find a better spot. I found a stagnant area at one end of the river and placed the trap there instead. Three newts (aquatic salamander) was trapped on the first day.

I keep two and release one. For a week, I still could not get any crayfish, so I moved again. The next place (not shown in the map) is on the left of the second trap, in the same stagnant water area. So far, I do not get again crayfish (all I get are newts and more newts!), but I still check the trap everyday, hoping to get a better result.