How to.. easy fish trap modification..

[ozzgood2001]

Saw this idea around a few other sites and saw riverboy just did his. so as i did mine i took quite a few pics to give ya an idea how cheap and easy this is!! what riverboy and i did was to wire in a simple 12v interior light to your upper support pole making a lantern almost obsolete!! i spent a total of 11.00 bucks at autozone on parts and i had some wire in the garage, you could save 3 bucks by leaving out the second light i added. the only problem im coming across is taking down the pole the wire wants to bind but thats cause i used a thicker gauge stiffer wire, but its all i had around.

Step one involved drilling a hole dead center and feeding my wire thru the pole as pictured
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/5483PB280023-med.JPG
Step two i wired my first light and mounted it securely with one #10x5/8 self tapping machine screw made all connections with solderless butt end connectors autozone part #313767/ model B450C $5.99 switch is on the light
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/5483PB280024-med.JPG
Step three i wired an optional second light lower down, i ran the wires outside the pipe and connected it at the end where my main wire comes out the end of the pole. autozone part# 377960/model B460 $2.99 not switched and ill use this mostly during the day to light my sled area and be able to retrieve stuff easier or keep my jig box lite to keep the jigs glowing i plan to add a shelf in the corner next.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/5483PB280026-med.JPG
Finally reinstalled everything and made one modification.. the newer traps have plastic grommets they attach where the pole attaches they cover the hole in the end of the pole i had to remove that piece that covered the hole. then add some clamps autozone part# 296764/ model 85677 $1.99 not pictured to connect to either your vex battery or a small on board motorcycle 12v battery
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/5483PB280028-med.JPG
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/5483PB280029-med.JPG
So it was quite easy and could easily be added to most other style shanties dont see why you could do something like this to a shappell 3000, 4000 etc. spent maybe an hour taking my time drilling holes only once only added 4 holes to the pole and 3 were only 1/8" so im not worried about strength. i plan to use a seperate battery i think saving my vex battery for the fishing. ill see how long a small 12 volt will last come this season when im out all nite after them elusive crappie!!! Thanks For Looking!!
Chad

[shadow7663]

Nice job!

I bet fishing that wire in the poles was a blast:)

[Houghton laker]

nice job Ozzgood!! Looks like that may be the ticket to leave the lantern at home!!

[Fishcapades]

Awsome idea, Now all i have to do is find the money to buy a trap.

[ChapstickCharlie]

Good show! I'm bettin soon enough that idea will pop up as standard on Traps.

[Steve]

Nice work.

[ozzgood2001]

Thanks Guys!! fishing the wire was actually easy, but i was worried, the easy curve and stiffer wire made it easy. this light is very very bright you need no other light to fish with. clamcorp uses string lighting mounted externally along the poles prolly lights the same amount overall but costs 20.00 or more. only thing to find out is how long a battery will last out on the cold

[TrailFndr]

Traps have available a rope light that is 6 foot long and you don't need to drill anything, or wire anything. connects to a battery, but from what I read on the package, only lasts 3 hours on a standard battery...not long enough in my opinion. Still looking for something better in hte longetivity department.

Chad, Please let me know how long the light lasts and what kind of battery you use.. Thanks

Lee

[Ed Michrina]

That is very cool. If I'm night fishing I'll prob just stick with one propaine lantern on the inside dim. (so not to spook the fish.) and one bright 20 yrds form my shanty so I'm not hit by an atv.

Let us know how it works out. I know I beat up my stuff in the winter, setting up , draging, loading ect. I don't know how if it would hold up. also 2- one lb probaine tanks will give me light all night. .

For an extra light at night I use a reg cheep d-cell flashlight and jam it in the top. the trick is to have a wht. piece of paper (IE: paper plate).
where the light beam shines and it will light up the shanty all night just fine.

When you getting the satellite tv hooked up :p

[buddhabelly]

I plan on using a LED headlamp for the night fishing. It works good on the piers in the fall.

[ozzgood2001]

over the years i have found crappie to be attracted to the light so this light should be a plus! im sure shallow clear water the light would spook them jumbo perch. im sure ill have my lantern in the shanty too this i just a good accessory light real good for setting up and such and for 11.00 bucks i could say no!!

[Houghton laker]

over the years of walleye fishing up on houghton lake(approx. 30 yrs. of ice fishing) we have found that the bright lights of a lantern have made no difference in walleye amounts.....we have varied from no light to dim light to lantern at full bore and they seemed to hit just as well with the lantern full tilt as no light at all!!

[riverboy]

Looks nice Chad!! I like the idea of the second light!!

Bring on the ice!!!!!

[Ed Michrina]

interesting HL, I guess I'll keep the flame turned up this winter and try it.

[Ed Stringer]

Nice job Chad lookin good. I've been messing around with my Yukon for the last two weeks. Should be painting my jigs for the jig swap but ya know. I started out with rope lights red with and inverter connected but I found when taking down the trap the ropes got in the way. So now I have a light like the river boy went with, but I ran the wire thru. a piece of tube and used a broom hanger to clip it anywhere in the trap. The clip is the same type they use for the rod holder. I like this much better I have one clear light set up and one red light set up. When I'm done just wrap up the wire and store it away. I'll post pic's once it's all done. Rock on boys wont be long now.

Eddie

"Gino's home to Jolopy Perch"

[kbkrause]

only lasts 3 hours on a standard battery...not long enough in my opinion. Still looking for something better in hte longetivity department.

I think a LED light would be the way to go...