# Rat stool project



## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

Well after working this morning then pulling some beaver sets I got home with a couple hours to spare and I thought I'd get started cleaning the shop. Instead I got distracted by trapping equipment. 

This is something I am going to try out at a couple soft bottom ponds and marshes 
Picture a carrot, parsnip, Apple speared on the nail that the spoon is hanging on. Platform is adjustable and slides up and down the stake so the trap can be about an inch under water. Not bad for some scrap lumber and about a half hour
Now that I have a pattern I think I can round up some material and put a couple more together. I'll try them out next season
Anyone else use something like this?


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## K-zoo (Jul 19, 2008)

Interesting. Maybe a few nails strategically placed on the bottom board to hold the trap in place in case of wind and waves.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/5117857/4


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## 9 (Jan 17, 2000)

Fool'em said:


> View attachment 249720
> View attachment 249721
> Well after working this morning then pulling some beaver sets I got home with a couple hours to spare and I thought I'd get started cleaning the shop. Instead I got distracted by trapping equipment.
> 
> ...


Yes, I built and used some stools specificlly for an adc lake-front job. The shoreline I was hired to remove rats from was mostly chunks of concrete riprap so I used colony traps and stools and the stools worked great! The lady whose property it was, actually watched two rats get caught in the stools.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

FREEPOP said:


> http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/5117857/4


Very versatile brackets
Looks like about 23 bucks a dozen plus shipping

I looked at the website for the HAGZ brackets, makes me want to take some for a test drive


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Fool'em said:


> Very versatile brackets
> Looks like about 23 bucks a dozen plus shipping
> 
> I looked at the website for the HAGZ brackets, makes me want to take some for a test drive


There are lots of designs like that. Some with a screw, some with wing nut and bolt with lots of holes.


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

I use something simpler, more discrete (avoid nosey people and theft) and takes up much less space in the boat or pack. Just a scrap board with 2 finish nails in it, wired to any natural stick/stake of sufficient length. The "stool" design can use a shorter stake since its placed vertically, mine needs to be longer since its laying 45-degrees. But in 3-4 FOW I dont have much problem finding stakes that will work. Place bait(s) at waterline and smear lure on top of the stake. I've had lots of happy customers.......


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

I've not had much luck with those type of sets on my creek. The rats don't seem interested. But if I throw down poplar for the beaver they're all over it. Maybe I'll have to add some lure into the mix.


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

FREEPOP said:


> I've not had much luck with those type of sets on my creek. The rats don't seem interested.


Yeah, I wouldnt say they are a super-high percentage set, but in some situations they are all you really have besides floats. I set them where rats should pass by anyway, like a BE point, cattail edge, creek braid intersection, etc....so they dont need to pull rats in from a long ways, visually.

The "stool" set construction probably has a better catch percentage, due to the mechanics of it, but there are too many negatives that go along with it, for me personally.

Then again, I'm not a big fan of any baited set for rats. LOL


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## DirtySteve (Apr 9, 2006)

FREEPOP said:


> I've not had much luck with those type of sets on my creek. The rats don't seem interested. But if I throw down poplar for the beaver they're all over it. Maybe I'll have to add some lure into the mix.


I set 9 traps like this in a ditch that was crawling with muskrats. At Any given time you could see 4 rats swimming in the ditch during the day. I never caught a rat on a pole set like that for some reason. I also had 4 floats with 2 traps each. I caught one rat on a float. I caught 16 others on that ditch. 6 came in colony traps and 10 came in pocket type sets along the bank baited with a carrot. Why a rat would take a carrot on the bank and not on a pole or a float I could never figure out.


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## 9 (Jan 17, 2000)

DirtySteve said:


> I set 9 traps like this in a ditch that was crawling with muskrats. At Any given time you could see 4 rats swimming in the ditch during the day. I never caught a rat on a pole set like that for some reason. I also had 4 floats with 2 traps each. I caught one rat on a float. I caught 16 others on that ditch. 6 came in colony traps and 10 came in pocket type sets along the bank baited with a carrot. Why a rat would take a carrot on the bank and not on a pole or a float I could never figure out.


Add lure above the bait! In that one and only stool scenerio I had, it came to mind of watching two different rats on two different occasions get caught in TE's under bridge sets. I had applied rat lure above the two traps figuring it wouldn't bother the mink I was really using the set for. 

I watched the rats pop-up as soon as they came under the bridge , swim a short distance, change direction, and swim directly to the TE set and get caught just like my property owner witnessed with my stools! So when I set the stools i baited them AND lured them, worked like a charm!


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## wicklundrh (Mar 18, 2014)

I made a few after my dad was telling me about using them as a kid. They worked great for the situation I was utilzing them for. Very steep banked drainage. Really no place to set a connibear or a pocket set. They simply used this location as a travel spot. Drainage was too deep to really get a good float out. They worked good. Only issue is fluctuating water. Set them in high water, come back, and they are "WAY" out of the water!!!!

I put a nail on top of mine and put some scent on a piece of wool if memory serves me.


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## DirtySteve (Apr 9, 2006)

I have never played with scents much for rats. I see there are sweet scents,mint scents and apple type scents. Any suggestion on what type of lure works?


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## 9 (Jan 17, 2000)

DirtySteve said:


> I have never played with scents much for rats. I see there are sweet scents,mint scents and apple type scents. Any suggestion on what type of lure works?


I favored Carmen's MCL-100 muskrat lure in the fall but on the adc job, since it was late spring, I used Carmen's Hudson Seal muskrat lure because of the glands in it.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

We used Leggets muskrat gland lure all season last year. Worked great in pocket sets. It seemed attractive to rats **** and beaver
Every pocket I lured had a rat on the first check. On later checks we had **** and beaver. I will say we caught most of our rats on baited conibears and just setting runs so lure was no secret weapon but it did put a few rats on the stretcher for us 
I saved all the glands from our late winter rats and I am going to make my own lure this year. Trying to keep our costs down


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## wicklundrh (Mar 18, 2014)

Gland in pocket sets but.... and your going to laugh, my favorite has been toothpaste! 

Read an old, say it again OLD, trappers book some years back and it made mention of mint toothpaste. Funny how you pick up on little things sometimes. 

At first I thought that maybe this guy was pinching pennies but I thought, no way. Old time trappers took great consideration in making their own bait and lures. There had to be something to it.

Would I say it is the best lure in the world? No. But it does work. And your rats breath is minty fresh too!


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## wicklundrh (Mar 18, 2014)

Seldom said:


> Add lure above the bait! In that one and only stool scenerio I had, it came to mind of watching two different rats on two different occasions get caught in TE's under bridge sets. I had applied rat lure above the two traps figuring it wouldn't bother the mink I was really using the set for.
> 
> I watched the rats pop-up as soon as they came under the bridge , swim a short distance, change direction, and swim directly to the TE set and get caught just like my property owner witnessed with my stools! So when I set the stools i baited them AND lured them, worked like a charm!


I read your post after I wrote mine. Same thing. I used the lure on top and boy does the wind current going up and down those little channels carry the scent.

Set that drainage starting in the middle. Got to one end, turned around to run the other way, by the time I got back to the middle I had 3 rats


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## wicklundrh (Mar 18, 2014)

Fool'em said:


> View attachment 249720
> View attachment 249721
> Well after working this morning then pulling some beaver sets I got home with a couple hours to spare and I thought I'd get started cleaning the shop. Instead I got distracted by trapping equipment.
> 
> ...


Forgot to comment: really like the adjustability of your set. Mine you either pound in deaper or pull up. Much better idea you have! 

Put a nail or thumb tack up above your bait spike. This would be where you put some lure. You could also use orange flagging or something else to tie on the stake and put your lure on


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

wicklundrh said:


> Forgot to comment: really like the adjustability of your set. Mine you either pound in deaper or pull up. Much better idea you have!
> 
> Put a nail or thumb tack up above your bait spike. This would be where you put some lure. You could also use orange flagging or something else to tie on the stake and put your lure on


The bracket I made is just a flattened out conduit strap bent in a vice to the right shape. Then I drilled a few holes and added a 1/4 20 with a wing nut. It's simple but the price was good

The stools seem like they will be worth a shot. I've never had success with floats either but I am thinking of giving them both a shot next season. Can't hurt to try and I've got one location that I know holds lots of rats but our catch has been dismal. Time to try some different things to see what works


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## wicklundrh (Mar 18, 2014)

One thing I have done (both on the stools and floats). I created a way for the trap to be slightly recessed. On the floats, I took and cut the styrafoam out so the trap was recessed in.

On the stools, I think I made the bench a little bit bigger, I then took another piece (Might have been 3/4) and cut out the shape of the trap. It doesn't have to sit flush with the trap jaws by any means. More than anything, it makes it so the trap cannot slip side to side or back and forth once it is set.

I tried a few different methods and had some issues with getting traps to stay on them. Once I did the recessed trick, it worked pretty good. I've done better with floats when the trap is slightly in the water. Too many of the commercially sold ones have the trap sitting high and dry. I also hung a heavy weight or two on my trap chains and put themon the float. Rat got caught, dove off the board and the weight drug him down and drown him pretty quickly. 

One reason that I don't like floats however is the fact that far too many people can see them. I have a rat "heaven" I trap that people drive right by. If they seen all the floats out there, I am sure I would have some stiff competition. I only trap it every couple of years too. Tons and tons of rats!


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