I haven't trapped muskrats since the seventies (when they were abundant in Pa.). A local farmer whose land I trap for fox has ask me to catch some rats out of his farm pond. There is a heavy rock (rip-rap) bank and den holes are hard to locate.

Anybody have a design and tips on the use of platforms, not a float but the type where you have a platform on a stake pushed into the pond bottom.

What size traps work best (I have a bunch of # 11's)?

How far below the surface to set the platform?

I understand the trap needs to come off the platform to drown the catch but is it secured at all so it doesn't slip off while the muskrat is climbing on?

What type of bait is recommended?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice offered!

I set mine just below the surface so that they can swim right up to it and almost right onto the trap itself.i use #1 longsprings or #11's. I just make mine with a pice of 2x4 as a pole and then make a shelf out of another piece of 2x6 or plywood. Maybe run a couple screws into the top of the shelf to help keep the trap from sliding off until after a muskrat has been caught. Then i just take a fencing staple and staple the end of the trap chain as low as i can on the pole so that the trap still sits free on the shelf. I use sliced up apples, carrots or ears of field corn and i have been putting some lure on the top of the pole.

Only picture i have on this computer, sorry its not in the set position

Thanks kstrapperman, going to build some tomorrow. That muskrat pulled your platform stake out of the mud huh?

No. Lol. He's dead. I pulled the whole trap out that day and moved to another pond

Anchoring the trap closer to the platform would save that problem, and it doesnt look like it was shoved in too deep...this set can attract coon so you want to have the stakes a bit longer.

Save what problem?

Not to discourage you, and I hope you do well, but I didn't with the floats so far. I had better luck with small coni's and footholds near the edges of streams where I'd hoped the mink would have been. I got some rats though, used #1 stoploss traps guarding a half an ear of corn from this summers feeds. A little lure on the corncob. Anchored to a homemade drag and 6 or so feet of small rope.

I need to get them back out but plan on making some small drags for footholds in the rocky stream bottoms where stakes are a pain to drive and pull out easily when finally driven. If I hadn't made more sets then the floats I would have missed most of my rats.

The stools being pulled by caught coon.

Suprisingly i have never caught a coon in one. And i trap lots of ponds that i also trap many coons on the banks. I dont know if there just too lazy to swim out there or not. But i figure if i ever did catch one it will drown with the weight of the pole as a drag. i honestly dont even worry about it anymore. I have even set them in creeks where i know theres lots of coons and have never had a problem. Maybe a couple times had the traps drug off the platform empty but the bait is still there

Love the stools, slayed some rats with them again this year..

Built four and put them in today...let you know how they worked out tomorrow.

You guys who use corn to bait those platforms- how in the world do you NOT end up catching waterfowl? If I tried that here my traps would be full of geese before nightfall. Not trying to be a [Please excuse my language... I'm an idiot]- just asking a serious question

same is true here. old time duck hunters use to glue corn and rice to newspaper sheets and toss them out on the water. some outlaws still do...definitely a goose trap around here lol

Honestly I have never caught any waterfowl...ever.

Neither have I. We don't have a bunch but we do have a few ducks and geese on the ponds sometimes. I honestly never even gave that a thought and im glad u brought it up

Made some of these last night and put them out today , I will see how they work in the morning. I tried floats in several different locations but haven't caught anything on them. I don't know if they were not stable enough or what but thought i would try the platforms