Hey guys, havent gotten into water trapping at all. But recently had the chance to mess with it some because of that beaver I posted about a while back (rookie beaver question). More on that later. But I wanted to see if I can catch some coons at the water. I have been finding good sign for them. I want to catch some muskrats but havent seen a muskrat sign in my area. Ever. The only small traps I have are some Duke #2’s and some MB450’s. Any good for water trapping? If I could ever get on muskrats, I’d like to catch them. Would these be too big for muskrats to drag into deep water? Drowning cables are what I’ll be using. I already set a few but got to wondering if they were going to be too big for rats if i find some. Thanks.

2s make good mink and rat traps also will hold otter and coon I don't like them for coon cause the big space between jaws and pan make it easy for coons to chew out but if you run a good drowneding rig they'll work!
Colt

MB450s for rats would be overkill. Unless the rat falls off some sort of platform and drowns, you might find wring outs. IMHO the trap is too heavy for rats unless you can insure drowning.

The thing about Large traps when trapping rats is you don't need to drown them. Sure It's better If you do. But those large traps catch the rat or mink by the shoulder and they won't wring out with that type of catch.

#2's work great for 'rats. The only problem with them is the factory springs on them are very strong, so there's a lot of natural pan tension, so it takes a lot of weight to fire the trap. The 450 is basically a 1 1/2, should work fine for drowning sets. You don't want to use the offset jaw model.

No kidding on the #2 springs! I have tried to get them as close as possible to firing with dog adjustment but really that doesn't help tension at all. It just changes travel distance on the pan before firing (go figure lol). Silly question but is there anyway to weaken the springs or just something that could happen over time? I feel like it would take a boar coon sized rat to set it off.

Some guys have heated the springs with a propane torch. It takes some experimenting to get them right though. I think it was The Beav that had done it before. I use old #1 1/2 springs on all my #2's, works great.

You can use a propane torch to weaken the springs, just be careful to not over heat them or they will be junk

I heat all my rat traps. A small torch will do the job. I heat each spring for about 30 seconds. Start out with less time till you find a happy medium. Wait till the springs have completely cooled before testing them. The way you hold the torch also makes a difference. The very end of your flame Is ten hottest and the back end Is not as hot. Take baby steps If you go this route.