Backwaters, regardless of where they’re found, have a bit of a reputation with trappers often finding mixed results. Difficult to work, unpredictable and very seasonal, the backwater all too often takes more than it gives. While some of this is true, a backwater, if approached right, is anything but a dead end as I recently found out.
BACKWATER BEGINNINGS
Summer had me in the usual doldrums and I began to get restless for any kind of trap work. When this hits, the best tonic is a little scouting, and I knew just where to turn. A skinny stream crossed an old logging road I’d traveled yearly, and despite my best efforts to ignore it, backwater curiosity finally forced my hand. Above the culvert crossing the crooked brook disappeared into some cattails, but below it met a respectable river system. Before striking off for the wet country a check on the maps revealed … not much.
From careful study, it appeared the small roadside trickle wandered about a mile up country to a swampy stretch that ended. Even more troubling was the blue line tracing the brook was broken — a sure sign of unreliable water. A couple roads were outlined nearby but were probably on the edge of unpassable. A foot patrol was now in order.
BINGO, SORT OF
Despite the clouds of biters and humidity, first
