Thanks for the tip

As an aside- I watched Bryce at a WTA Demo a few years ago, Bryce utilizes 1st cut bamboo for the majority of his staking systems, he has held otter and coon in those rat sets for many years. Today, I use bamboo in all my open water muskrat trapping- a great tip.

I have been thinking about ordering some bamboo, but without looking at it I am not sure what diameter to order. What diameter did you buy, and is it fairly consistent in size?

I ordered 7' stakes, 18-20mm in diameter from A.M. Leonard. I know Bryce has also found them at Home Centers in the past - I believe, The Home Depot online. The 1st cut is important because they don't crack like a bamboo garden stake when stressed.

When I trapped the big marshes In ND I used nothing but that grey electrical conduit. At the time I bought It In quantity It was about $1.00 a stick . It's light and It will last forever. I plugged both ends by using that expendable foam.

To short for me to get the muskrat to deep water.

That's my take on things. But we don't know how long the chain Is.

Trying to figure this out.You have the stake up on the shore at the set?

If your rat trapping the stake would be out In DEEP water to assure drowning. The weight of the trap would hold the rat under water.

That's exactly what I'm thinking.

I have 24" of chain on my foot holds, plenty of chain to drown a rat off a house or feedbed- if I had 1' chains I would go with longer cables, - the weight of the trap drowns them.

Magnet

Goose chain. That’s where u loop the chain thru the ring and slip over the stake

Nimzy's Method

When I was a kid that's how we did It. Rat got caught chain loosens up and drops to the bottom. But If you want to pull your stake to get the rat you may loose the trap. Or with the chain at the bottom you have to have a hook or long gloves to retrieve It. Or if you catch a coon your going to loose a trap. The cable hook up Is a sure thing with no down side.

That's how walleyed does it using 1/2" conduit and have never lost a coon,
or beaver, or otter in many years.

All of these beasts have pulled the stake on rare occasion but they then
quickly tangle up in the cattails where I use them.

walleyed

I had Tom Olson make most of my slip noose cables I use to extend the chain on my stoploss traps. I also use them on my 1.5 coils but I have chain extenders that go on them also. I take the slip noose cables off several dozen each year that I use for my pushup sets. I then use the slip noose cables on my 160 body grippers that I set under the ice. By pulling the cable tight I never have to worry about the trap falling to the bottom in deeper water.

Bryce

This is an excellent post that should be archived.

I will add my $.02. I have tried to standardize all of my muskrat traps - Duke 1.5, Wild River Trap pans (Mike Kelly), weakened springs, 3' of chain and Hagz brackets. I modified the Hagz bracket by drilling an additional hole in the back through which I run a J hook attached to a slip noose cable. This set up allows me three different options: traditional stake, baited set, and deep water set (I like the Beav use electrical conduit).

To clear things up a bit I'm using the Grey PVC conduit not the metal type conduit.

Schedule 80... duly noted