# Muskrat trapping help



## BigWhiskey (Jan 7, 2010)

I have been trapping muskrats for several years and I still have difficulty catching them in the rivers and streams. I have tried stools, the new rat clips, floats, pocket sets, and kicking a spot in the bank and baiting with a carrot or apple with a little lure. With any of the previous methods I have had a limited amount of success. I don't believe I have ever caught a muskrat in an artificial pocket set, granted most are set for **** and mink, but still one would think it would work somewhat.

If I can find the runs, I can catch some rats. But in these silty cloudy streams I can't find the runs and I am limited by hip boots. I am not even trapping rats right now, but I see them swimming in the ditches while I am wasting time tryin to trap coyotes. Any advice is greatly appreciated.


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## NickEverse (Aug 30, 2012)

Try some fresh mud from the bottom piled up with a trap at the bottom. Just like a castor mound set for beaver. Seems to be the best muskrat lure there is.


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## Dantana (Dec 3, 2009)

Check out this video.


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## USMCSniper (Dec 21, 2006)

I couldn't view the video, but I had a 65% success rate on my rat sets, and most of them were bottom edge sets. You have to understand how they travel. If they are travelling in an open stream, especially one without a lot of overhang they have to remain hidden somehow, so they dive and stay on the bottom. To do this though they need to conserve energy, in order to conserve the stay along the bottom and on the edge, especially around bends. They will stay in the slack current around the inside of the bend. Also watch for undercut banks and place a #1 LS wired into the water in each cut. The rats are frequently picked off by eagles, hawks, owls, coyotes, etc from above, so when you are setting get low and close to the water and look up, see what they see and plan imagine where you would hide if you were trying to make it through an area.


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## ReddHead (Feb 17, 2005)

Learn to identify feed bogs. As u walk along look for tunnels in the bank. Even if the stream is a stained color u will notice different color. If u think rats r in a bank jump up and down and watch where they leave. Rubber gauntlets help find holes where a coni can b set. It could b a situation that u just don't have many rats around. Good luck


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## dwalker (Jan 1, 2011)

Sniper has it right, check the edges. I have heavy competition in my area and I have set coni's under the grass on the edges and pulled rats while the competitions nets (colonies) sat in the middle of the stream empty. If no grass check points for underwater grooves and look for small "bays" under the banks where rats rest to eat.


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