I thought you were talking about NC.

Understood, no worries.

Yes to catch a thousand you need to locate three thousand. If you're inexperienced look for five. After that its knowledge, time and effort. Pay attention to what works for you. Percentages. Start your system. Adjust as you grow.

Nimzy. 2X and expect to put in very,very, long hours

If I was to be using a boat to trap rats It wouldn't be out of a canoe. Try and get a decent sized Jon boat with a kicker on It.

In my area at least the creeks don't have the numbers. I'd prolly have to trap 100+ miles of creek to get the same numbers as a large marsh. Someday I'll find someone to show me how to properly trap all the huts so my catches will double

Simple, set big numbers of traps where big numbers of 'rats live. Same for everything elas.

Trapper20 you have huts to trap? And your not trapping them.

I got a killer river on my line full of rats. but man its works. Picture me in a john boat and 100's of traps and floats and gear. I go 30 yards turn the corner and hello mister beaver dam. After a few choice words and 30 minutes to get across I go another 30 yards and hello mister beaver dam.
And the whole river is like that, so this year ill do the hard work and stash my floats in the bush at intervals.
Should get a few hundreds, but your right, if you want volume rats you need volume traps.

X2. Sooner at later you're going to capsize a canoe. I can lean out of my johnboat to make sets without having to worry about going over.

This canoe won't flip, I've tried to flip it with my dad just to see if we could

As with any furbearer, you have to have a large population in a vast area to make an outstanding catch.

Of all the trapping I have done muskrats are my favorite. Maybe that's where I started. I use to trap all the salt marshes in southern Maine. Lots of marsh but not an over abundance of rats even after running around 100 traps the catches were small. My bigger catches were made on farm ponds, and rivers. 100 rats a year was considered a big catch for Maine. Any other from Maine catch more in a year?

All canoes will flip. I suggest you wear a life jacket if using it. May just save your life in a cool pond or stream.

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All canoes will flip. I suggest you wear a life jacket if using it. May just save your life in a cool pond or stream. [/quote]

I always where one in it just to be safe

The thing about a canoe Is you can't carry to much gear. And for the most part your going to be getting In and out of It all day long. I would rather work out of a Jon boat If It's possible.

Yep, I can never find the entrance though since they are usually in a foot plus of soft muck. Never had anyone show me their tricks so I usually stick to runs and feed beds that I find. I've watched some videos and read articles but I'm more of a hands on learner.

I guess you have to use what you got as far as watercraft but a canoe wouldn't be my first choice, with that said canoes are sometimes the best option if boat access is a problem and they do work the best in wetlands that aren't real open and have a lot of thick cover.
Like beav said they aren't the friendliest to get in and out of, myself personally I have never liked setting from inside a boat if I don't have to , i am out of mine more than I am in it. And canoes do have limitations as far as gear, 100 traps and stakes is about as much as I care to put in mine.

As far as the canoe not flipping put a bunch of gear inside and have it shift while your leaning over the side is different than when it's just a couple people in it.

Like the other guys have said if you don't have the rat numbers and favorable weather it's not going to happen, plus you need the time to do it.

I don't know how long you have open water in your part of Michigan but if you have more than a couple of weeks you can put up a lot of rats without having to run a huge amount of traps if you don't have them if you have a good population to work with and the know how.

Trap those huts! Look around the edge of the hut at the waterline and you will see where the rats loaf and eat, set foothold under the water at that spot. Look around and see the toilets on the huts edge and set a foothold. I like to set my trap an inch or two under water. You can always make a trapbed on the huts edge, make a slickup right there, be warned though that coons and beaver will check that set out if they are around. Start setting huts and you'll learn how to do it. It's pretty simple.