I found that sliced sweet potato makes for a tempting gopher bait (assuming this is a cage trap?). Large slices in the back of the trap with one thumb sized piece at the entrance.

One is a start! Not sure how big your area is. Maybe you only have one. They are generally not social creatures. I have hundreds of them. ;-(

--McKenzie

We caught two..I have a good size yard

Good Job. Keep on Trapping !
I Hate those rodents .. rats , gophers, voles, AND rabbits too. Moles do not intentionally damage plants. They just look for grubs and worm.
I will be working on RABBITS and rats this spring.

Was this a cage trap? I don't like killing things, especially mammals. I have a cage trap but have not yet succeeded in trapping any gophers. Any hints, besides using sweet potato as a bait? How about placement? Should I try to cover it, etc.?

Bob,

Your empathy with living creatures is an admirable trait. What would you do with the live gopher though, if you caught it? Would you release it in a wild meadow somewhere?

I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the only practical way to deal with them is to catch them in lethal traps.

With lethal traps, there is no need to use bait. You just put the trap in one of their tunnels that is in active use, and they trip the trap.

I don't know what kind of trap you have, so I don't know how to advise you about it. Maybe you could post a picture.

--McKenzie