Building a Bait Trap

   When I got home from the shop last night Jeff tried to explain to me a bait trap he wanted to build but I couldn't get it thru my head.  Tonight he tried again and this time I got it!  We started with a 24" square of cardboard that I marked a pattern on according to the 

directions Jeff found on a YouTube video.  He cut a 24" square of wire hardware cloth and put it over the pattern.  Then
came the real fun part:  with me holding the hardware cloth on the pattern, Jeff zip-tied the wall to the floor following the pattern.  Ten feet of hardware cloth went around the pattern making a cloverleaf shape.  There was

just enough in a 10 ft roll to go around...with a 2-

3" overlap. (Why go thru the bother of cutting it off?)  Here's what I couldn't understand last night...we had started with 4 24" sides so how come the finished dimension changed?  (Each side has a 8 1/2"  dent in it, for a total of 17"/side,  that's why!)  Jeff's used over 100 zip-ties so far to fasten the floor to the wall!  After the floor and sides are well fastened, 

a tube will be attached in the center to hold bait and a 24" top floor will be attached.  Then the cube will be cut in two to make 2 traps and 2 more 24" floors will be attached. 

  Entrances still have to be cut so the bait fish can swim in and not out and so turtles can't get in, and small bungee cords will be used to maintain the cage's stability and keep the entrance doors shut.  That's the cardboard pattern on top!

   Jeff will then have to find a secluded spot on the river to place a cage overnight.  He's got a couple of spots in mind in the river and in the swamp ponds along the canal.  Hopefully, by placing only 1 cage at a time, he'll capture enough fish to use as bait without having the cage stolen.  We'll see.