How to Make a PVC Pipe Set
Most of the time you can find either natural or man-made attributes and structures to use to your advantage when making sets. But sometimes you’ll run across a location that has nearly nothing to work with. These types of locations seem to be where the water is low and the bridge walls are on dry ground and the steam lacks any vertical banks that cater to making a pocket set.
A PVC Pipe Set from the author's trapline. It yielded an otter on the next check as seen on the bottom of the page.
Situations like these are the ideal time to implement the use of the PVC pipe set. Now normally I don’t use a PVC set if I can make a more natural set as I’d prefer not to carry the pipes around for it, but it’s worth having a few in the truck to make your life easier when you run a across the above scenario. The pipe itself should be two or more inches in diameter and fourteen or so inches long.
I like to use ground fish in the pipe and then smear a dab of a lure such as Money Printer on the lip. I then shove some grass into the pipe to hide the bait, thus making the animal spend more time at the set investigating. You can also squirt some fish oil or crawdad oil on it. This lure and bait combo makes it effective for harvesting raccoon, mink, and otter. I’ve also caught lots of muskrats and a few beaver in them, which I think it partially attributed to the pipe being white and a visual attractant to them.
“This lure and bait combo makes it effective for harvesting raccoon, mink, and otter.”
To make the set you’ll shove the pipe into the ground where the water meets the bank. The pipe should be overhanging over the water a few inches so that the animal has to work out into the water to see what’s inside. In front of the pipe a few inches you’ll bed your traps in a couple inches of water. I prefer the Bridger #1.5 coilspring as it will hold anything from a muskrat to an otter. After you add your lure and bait your good to go.
One thing to note is that the white pipe looks unnatural, which works to your advantage for eye appeal, especially with coon. That being said, it also allows someone standing on the bank or bridge to easily spot your set and potentially steal or tamper with your traps. If this is a concern you can just spray paint them black and they will work just fine.
An Illustration of a PVC Pipe Set
An otter taken in a PVC Pipe Set that was pictured in the article. It was caught in a Bridger #1.5 coilspring.