Tell ya how I do it....

This is the best picture I could find of the traps that I use. I can't get them at the local Wal-mart anymore so I have to get them at the hardware store. They are so much easier to set than the old fashioned kind.
I usually bait the trap right on the little tongue thing in the middle. I have had mice actually eat peanut butter off it. So I tend to use jelly more often. When jelly dries it sticks. When peanut butter dries it tends to clump and sometimes fall off.
But the trick is two parts. First you have to figure out what the main route the mouse is taking. The majority of the mice I've had lately all travel along the same route. From my bathroom, were we have our furnace closet, into the kitchen and behind the stove. Basically its just a matter of a few feet rounding a corner. Once you establish the traffic area then you set your traps along that road as shown above. The second thing is that you have to figure out what the mouse likes. What it has a taste for. Some have a sweet tooth, jelly or chocolate syrup. Some like peanut butter, but I actually haven't had much luck with that. I've even caught mice with salsa. So some like it spicey. Cheese doesn't work. I know that is the sterotype. But a mouse could eat that off without setting the trap in no time.
Update: Wednesday was the last mouse caught or seen. Could it be that the war is over?! I hope so.