What would you guys use or would it really matter. Also which one is better for shallow water and what’s better for deep water?

Mason, I do not use either for muskrat or mink. On my 'rat traps I have extra chain , 2 in-line swivels, the J-hook on the trap and since I use rebar for stakes a swivel at the terminal end. That is 6 swivel points. Mink succumb quickly when trapped in shallow water and I use swivels on my coils too.
I do not set muskrat sets in shallow water unless it is a bodygrip.

Stoploss traps on rats in shallow water. LLL

Yep, what they said. It is way more trouble than it's worth to set up slide wires and such for rats and mink. Use a #1.5 size trap and 3' of wire/chain combo in 1'+ of water and better than 90% of rats and mink will be DRT when you check traps.

Alright, what does the long chain help with? I’m sorry if I sound dim but I’d just like to know.

I use 11’s, 1 1/2’s and square jaw 2’s with 4-5 ft chain and 4’ fiberglass poles. Most of the places I trap if the rat isn't under water the coons, hawks and later in the season eagles will eat your catch. You can drownd a rat in pretty shallow water by making a deeper hole with your boot and staking the rat to drowned in it. Stop loss traps lose you to much fur here if you can’t get them under water.

I have killed a lot of coon mink and rats by driving In a tangle stick about 2' from the shore line. Well actually the tangle stake was the trap stake. I just left It sticking up out of the water about 6". The system may not drown a coon but It will keep It wet and In most cases If a critter can't dry off It's dead. Or at least the animals foot Is being held under water so there Is less foot chewing.

X2

I have always used, in most cases, with jump or long spring traps, set for either muskrat or mink, two thumb-sized will stakes one at the bank to stake the trap and the other one out in the deeper water about half the length of the chain. Has worked for me for 70+ years. Have caught coon, possums, mink and muskrats in them. Make sure the tangle stake is pushed down in the bottom soundly. I also angle that stake, just slightly away from the shore.

Garry-

I have seen bad things happen to feet when this happens. If the trap s caught up through the stake it will render swivels useless and is not a good way to go. LLL

Always secure all traps good. Especially if there is a chance of a coon or an otter getting caught.

"IF" Is the bottom line here. I have been doing this for a long time and I can only remember this happing once and the coon was still there.
The stake Is maybe 8" or more out of the water the coon makes a run for It heading to deeper water it wraps up around the stake. Sure there Is a chance the trap could slide over the top of the stake but It's very remote. Nothing Is bullet proof.

Well if it has only happened once you have not trapped enough coon. The worst thing with the "fishstick" is when this happens. I won't use it for that reason being #1. LLL

Who's talking about a fish stick. A fish stick Isn't a STAKE.

You obviously do not know what a fishstick set is. LLL

The point I am making is that a stake above the waterline allows a trap to be slipped over the "stake" which renders all swivels useless. For coon that is a terrible outcome that I would never want to risk. LLL

Ya I know what a fish stick Is but there Is no way that it would ever be considered as a trap STAKE that would not be knocked over by a caught coon.
So your saying that you use a fish stick set and also use the fish stick set as a trap stake.

Fish stick set:

Bait or lure placed on a stick. Bait must be covered In states with exposed bait rules.

Baited or lured stick placed In about 4" of water along the bank. You don't want to place the baited stick In deep water where the coon has to swim to get It.

Trap Is staked separately so you can drown the coon.
Coon Is caught working the fish stick. First thing It does Is destroy the baited stick. When I STAKE this type of set I stake the trap separately and I'm assuming others do the same. The trap Is staked out In deeper water . Your can either leave the trap stake above the water line to get entanglement or you can drive It In flush with the bottom. Or you can place another exposed stake for entanglement.
I normally will use a 1" square oak stake driven In to the stream bed and leave about 6" or 8" of It exposed.

Chain length:

All my traps were set up with about 24" of chain. The trap was staked so the coon couldn't reach the bank but could still reach the tangle stake. So In most set ups when the coon was caught It had about 6" of chain that could be wrapped around the tangle stake. with the trap and chain on the bottom and one or 2 wraps around that stake the coon was not going to move that trap up and over the top of that stake. Lots of times the coon would chew off the top of the stake.

This set up allowed me to set every coon location along that stream weather I had 2' of water or 10" of water to deal with.

A wet coon that can't get dry tires very quickly and In most times will die of hypothermia.

The only coon that ever got the trap over the top of the stake was when I was using a 1 1/2 single long spring and the stake ended up through the long spring. Very little If any room for the stake to get through the trap when your using #1 1/2 coils.
This system worked for me.

KISS

Guys around here use electric fence posts upside down. They hold the fish head while staking at the same time (KISS). I have seen and used different varieties of T type stakes and all foul the swivels and are not worth using.