I finally got a northern Wisconsin fisher permit for this year. I plan to set some out during the week long deer season. With all the wolves in the area I have decided against using foothold traps. However, the real question is how many traps should I be putting out? Currently, I have a 130 (I know that its a bit small) a 160 and 220.

The first thing to consider would be the number of fisher that you are allowed to take on the permit you have been issued. Obviously, the number of traps you put out might determine the number of fisher you take, especially considering also how many locations you set them in.

I recall trapping fisher a number of years ago in Minnesota. We could only have two that year and I caught both of mine in the same set. It was a cubby set, on the ground, using carp chunks for bait, and a Bridger 220 size body grip trap.
I had a few other sets out in other places, and once I caught the second fisher I had to immediately go and take all of those other sets up so I didn't catch another one. So please take that into account when you set.

Based on my experience, I don't think the 220 size is too big for fisher. If I were setting up in trees for them I might be okay with a 160. I don't know that I would go any smaller than that.

Thanks for replying Lindy. Here in Wisconsin we are only allowed 1 Fisher per year with a state wide quota of 340 for the northern half of the state. We also cannot set a 220 on the ground, they half to be submerged or 5' up a tree. I was thinking about picking up a couple more 160's for cubby sets and calling it good. My only concern is that I will only have 5 days to trap. There is good sign but having never trapped fisher before I dont have a clue how trap shy they are.

Given those considerations I would probably go with the 160s up the tree, but I wouldn't be afraid to use 220s up the tree. I would make leaning pole sets on sign and use a bit of a mild skunk based call lure in addition to a good piece of bait.

The one problem I see with sets up the tree is that you have to deal with birds and squirrels messing with your bait. You might have to make some sort of a wire cubby for the bait and trap and put that on the tree and cover with some pine boughs or something else natural.

And if you have good sign where you are trapping you don't want to put too many sets out for fear of catching more than one fisher.

As for how trap shy they are, I don't know. I had no trouble with them going in my 220 at a cubby set.

Good luck. Let us know how you did. they have beautiful fur.

I like 220's and use a leaning pole set like you would for Marten. Make sure the game is up high enough so once caught a coyote cant eat them up. Use a strong call lure with skunk in it. Cubby sets work great with some beaver bait.

There are no Coyotes up where I will be trapping, just wolves. I'll have to try the beaver bait though, otherwise I don't see why venison wouldn't work. Years ago I actually saw a large male Fisher kill a coyote over a gut pile. Caven's Gusto is pretty skunky, so I'll probably uses that above the set.

I catch fishers in my marten boxes all the time. It doesn't seem to matter much whether its a 120 or 160 Bridger either, a 160 doesn't make them any deader. A box never misses. I set about every 1/4 mile or so. There isn't a lot of rhyme or reason to set placement either although there's no harm in setting on sign. I'll have locations that seem to be red hot go cold for a season, and others that should have been taken out as useless catch 4 days in a row. I don't know if they know what they are going to do next themselves. Since I leave my boxes up year round and have more traps than I can ever set there isn't much effort involved. If i were you with a short window of days to work with I'd blanket the area.

I use beaver, porcupine, chunks of marten, offal and feathers from birds. Once I was scrambling for bait and ended up useing vension and ears taken from the hide donation piles at the club. They're supposed to cut that garbage off first, but seldom do. The big thing is the lure anyway. Gusto is as good as anything, but is sort of an aquired taste. For the trapper anyway, the wonder weasels love it as is.

I use 160’s in 1x1 wire mesh cubbies that are 12” long with a bait shelf 2” from the top and a plywood top to keep birds from stealing my bait. I mount 6’ off the ground vertically with 1.5” screws and fender washers. I make a U shaped stableizer out of 1/8” steel rod that goes through the mesh and jaws and is kept in place by a twist of 16ga wire. I anchor the ring with one of the 1.5” screws that holds the cubbie.

Skunkie call lures help but being on location is better. Strong sweet baits like hostess pies and Swiss rolls work great and can sometimes give even better results in cold weather.

Good luck!

Thanks guys! I went up to scout over the weekend and saw 1, not a lot of tracks though. Its certainly not as good of sign as it was a few years ago where you couldnt go 50 feet without crossing a trail. I did see some fox and coyote tracks so it appears that the wolf pack either moved on or died off- don't know if that has any effect on things.

No luck so far. I tried the hostess pie trick but that only resulted in a few raccoons. A fisher did pass by the tree with the trap but it didn't look like is showed much interest.

Heck, I got two today with venison trimmings and Gusto

make sure to use quite a bit of lure, and put it on something that will keep the smell there.
I know a couple of guys that buy cheap sponges. They cut them up into small pieces and then soak them with lure. The claim the small lasts longer at a set that way. I am thinking that if a fisher passed by your set and didn't take a serious look it means he didn't smell your lure or bait.