IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Maine => Ice Fishing Maine => Topic started by: t_04061 on Aug 09, 2007, 06:24 PM
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I picked up a used set of five "original moosehead" traps two years ago and I have never been able to find out anything about them on the internet. Has anyone ever used this brand of trap or know anything about them?
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w4/t_04061/100_2364.jpg)
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they are a very good trap but i dontlikesetting the flag in the cold
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same thing as thomsen traps but TALLER!!! I'M a thomsen fan , and i fish with a guy who has mooseheads and hes had them for many , many years, from his dad, and they work great!!! parts will be hard to find , but they look in good condition, good luck !!!! they also look pretty fishy!!!!
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Never heard of them in WI., t_04061. I've always have been, interested in tipup design. Seen many of that type, but never by that name. Might have been a local company in Maine. Or, from just about anywhere, and ending up in your hands, in Maine. Post in the tipups, board. They know their stuff. Good Luck!
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JUNK ALL JUNK I'll give you $5:00 a piece for them ;) ;) ;)
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Years back they were about the only thing the guys I knew used for lakers and salmon. Couldn't find anything else with a large dia. spool in N. Vermont. Real well made, worked fine. I'd think the older ones are valuable. Your picture looks like the ones we had back in the '70s.
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Thanks for the info. When I picked the traps up I paid $5 each and they have worked well for me. I may pick up some Jack traps for me this year and give these to my nine year old son as his first set of traps.
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i have an old set of moosehead traps that were my grandfathers, they are great traps, i like how i can set the drag by twisting a wingnut backed by a spring on the spool. the middle stick on mine are black though and they say "moosehead" down the side in black on one of the outer sticks. very nice traps.
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Six bucks, a piece! Send them C.O.D. ;)2 You might have some old and unique tips there, t_04061???
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Nothing antique about them but a very nice trap for what you paid. Still have a set I haul out for the kids and company. Sold in Maine until the mid - late 90's atleast. Few things to watch for: 1) The metal used for the flags is flimsy - flags don't stand straight up when tripped like the Jacks or HT. Find it easier to set them sideways to see the actual flag down instead of up if that makes any sense. 2) shaft only held on with brads that loosens or falls out - If that shaft slides up or down, trip mechanism won't work properly. I think all mine are held in place with elec. tape at this point. 3) the nut on the reel shaft sometimes loosens as the wood swells / shrinks, causing it to tighten against the reel and not letting it free spool on a trip. I just snug it down with the Leatherman when setting it to be sure. 4) If yours don't have them wingnut to tighten the crosspiece, go to the hardware store and change them over for the same problem as #3.
I had a friend use them all last winter - a nice purchase on your part.
Speaking of traps - I still use a set called Superiors made in Gardiner, Maine. Orange plastic reels, purchased in 1990. If you guys ever see these at a yard sale, grab them! Best trap I've ever used, including the set of of J.T.'s I purchased for my wife! Maybe the predecessor to the Jack Traps? Not sure. Anybody else use this trap?
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Speaking of traps - I still use a set called Superiors made in Gardiner, Maine. Orange plastic reels, Anybody else use this trap?
Hey Gamefisher, that's what I use. Never heard of anybody else that has a set. They are a good trap, I didn't realize they were made in Gardiner. I did break one of the reels, but had a couple of spare reels that I just picked up because I heard that the company wasn't making the trap any longer.
Here's one of my traps.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/Out4Trout/Superior_Trap.jpg)
Here's a picture of a trout taken on one of my friends moosehead traps last year. The Superior are similar, just a bit smaller.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/Out4Trout/IMG_1331.jpg)
I didn't think that any of these traps were antique.......maybe I'm just getting old. :pinch:
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Hey Gamefisher, that's what I use. Never heard of anybody else that has a set.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/Out4Trout/Superior_Trap.jpg)
Cool O4T - seeing those great pics of yours from up north makes me drool for ice! They are the smoothest trap - mine too have been beat to death but like the energizer bunny, well you know ;D Paid like $75. for the set from the old Charlies Log Cabin in Oakland..... let me know when you upgrade, I'll take them off your hands so you don't have to pay the disposal fee!
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Ive noticed, that some fold on center and others offset, to protect the trip mechanism. Why, the change in design? ???
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Where can you find these?
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Seems to me I remember the company that made these also had a 'Thompson" model....or maybe I'm just getting old.
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I have one original moosehead and one thompson. Just about the same but the moosehead is bigger. Yea they are hard to set if you have gloves on. Good traps but I use polar tip-ups now. Those polars are easy to set the flag with gloves, easy to make hole covers out of rubber inner tubes, you can see if the fish is taking line off the spool when you arrive. They don't have that traditional look to them but I don't think I'll ever go back to those style traps.
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Where could you buy one?
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i have an old set of moosehead traps that were my grandfathers, they are great traps, i like how i can set the drag by twisting a wingnut backed by a spring on the spool. the middle stick on mine are black though and they say "moosehead" down the side in black on one of the outer sticks. very nice traps.
Same here i have 2 from my great grandfather, love em
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redoing a set of those right now. Replacing every thing on trap except wood, I'm 24 and hope to give them to my kids at my age... :) :)
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I've got a set of these. I've had them since I was a kid my mom bought them at laverderes, I think I spelled it right. They've been outta business some 20plus yrs. I think they're about the same as a jack trap just a little less refined. Mine have a measurement ruler on one of the legs. I don't even think they're made any more. I could be wrong though, I just haven't seen any for sale in yrs.
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HT makes an "Arctic Bay Trap" that is similar, and Frabill makes a "Lake Champlain" that are great reproductions of these thompson/moosehead style trap. Probably not the quality of the original moosehead but I was looking over the Frabill today and they look pretty darn good and solid. $20 at mardens. I know some guys that make them from scratch, obviously they buy some of the parts.
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I've got one or two I keep in my "back-up" set for people who don't have any traps
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I have a set of 6 Fish River traps that are the same design they aren't made anymore either.
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I still use a couple of Moosehead traps, they still trip VERY easy. I glued the little ring to the flag steel to make it easier to set and one has a 4" Jacktrap reel I bought on ebay... Always have my eye out for more
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That is a cool idea.
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A good friend had a set 20+ years ago that he used. I think they are very nice they remind me of Jack Traps in some ways.
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Ive got two of these, but the reels on them need some greasing, what do i use to grease it with out the grease freezin up?
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Had a set of 5 thompsons, one broke so now down to 4. Love them, Now a guy who fishes a set of mooseheades, there great too. I am slowley leaning towards the polar type traps though, easier to set, fish can go all around the hole without it catching. Anyway, if it catches fish, its a good trap! To each his own.
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They were made by a man named Reggie he lives in N.H. now and only makes them for fun and friends not so much for the shops. I ran into him earlier this winter and picked up a couple of new thompsons from him. The thompsons are 24" and the mooseheads 30" i love these traps very sensitive nice for trout and if you know how to set them no wind flags.
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A kid was playing around on his four-wheeler and ran over a new Heritage trap of mine that had only been in the water for ten minutes. Smashed it all to pieces. His father told him to give me one of his which was a Moosehead that his grandfather had given him. I told the father and the son that it was okay and that I didn't want to take a trap that his grandfather had given him, because that was a special gift and that he boy didn't mean to do it. Well, they wouldn't hear of it and still gave me the trap. I just found the trap and I think I'll give it a try this weekend.
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Ive got two of these, but the reels on them need some greasing, what do i use to grease it with out the grease freezin up?
Something like this will work... I believe Frabill sells some as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Beaver-Dam-No-Freeze-Grease-Blue/dp/B00A4X0NKA/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360345081&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=tip+up+reel+grease
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I have an uncle who loves the superiors and is looking for all he can find. He actually got a new set of Jack's and stopped using them and went back to the superiors. I can't say anything about them either way as I have never used them.
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I have a set of them I use for deep water fishing, in my opinion they are great traps.I also have a set of Thompson's which are the same thing but shorter that I use for shallow water. You got yourself some nice traps.
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Hey there I have an old Thompson trap that I have had for years. I bought it at LL Bean in Freeport Maine. I also agree that they are Easier to set if you tip it sideways
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I have a set of five original Moosehead 30" traps that I purchased at DL Fleurys Sporting Goods in Winthrop back in the late 70's, they are still in very active use for over 33 years now, have a very sensitive trip, and if you set them properly oriented to the wind will never get a wind flag. Have three Jack Traps as well but when it comes to game fish whether it be Salmon, Brook Trout or Togue these traps outfish the Jacks 3 to 1, no kidding, don't know why but those are the stats over the years. Particularly love these traps for Brook Trout sets, as they have a very light trigger. You will love them, awesome find! ;)
EmeraldShiner
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My father and grand father both have a set of mooseheads, they are at least 25 years old. My brother and I also have a set that are at least 15 yrs old. They were all bought at LL Beans, I had only seen them for sale there, along with the smaller thompsons. Superiors were a nice trap also, a friends uncle used to make them, think his name was Alex Griatski. Just sorry I never bought any. My father still uses his mooseheads today. I will say the earlier ones were better built than the later ones. Trip tubes on the older ones had aluminum straps holding them on and the later ones were staples.
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HT makes an "Arctic Bay Trap" that is similar, and Frabill makes a "Lake Champlain" that are great reproductions of these thompson/moosehead style trap. Probably not the quality of the original moosehead but I was looking over the Frabill today and they look pretty darn good and solid. $20 at mardens. I know some guys that make them from scratch, obviously they buy some of the parts.
I bought one from Mardens. I do not like it. It is tippy and I dont like the flag catch. But it catches fish!