Here's my situation. We don't normally trap muskrats and one of the farmers we trap coons and coyote on has a smallish pond that has a few muskrats in it. He wants them gone because we all know a few becomes not so few pretty quick. The only traps we have other than dps are #2 Bridger's we use for the coyotes. He has 18 duke #1 coil springs he use to use in his barn( I have no idea for what) he's offered to give us the traps to use on the muskrats. I'm just afraid they'll be a little light for drowning(going to use some type of float)Considered adding some type of weight to help in the process. Is this a doable situation? Not wanting to buy any more traps in a size (#1 1/2) that we'll rarely use. Opinions or ideas? Thanks.

A 1 1/2 is fine for rats.

I don't have any 1 1/2 just #1. Didn't want to have to buy any # 1 1/2

The #1 coils are not ideal but they will work with added weight attached. I cut up old 1/2" galvanized pipe into 6" lengths and attached that to chain mid length on #1 longsprings to insure a quick trip to the bottom and it works. I do like the larger target area, jaw spread and weight of a 1 1/2 though.

Chris

I have used lead decoy anchors on the chain near the trap and they don’t take up much room on the float.

Floats will work, my floats that I use are just a 24" piece of 1x12/1x13, you can use plywood also, and then 2 2x4s on edge cut at 24" going along the top. I then drill a hole in the middle and anchor it in place with a rebar electric fence post. The traps just get fence stapled to the 2x4 and they caught quite a few rats last year even with the weather we had. The #1s will work fine and you can add weight or you don't have to, I would personally if I had the material to add the weight. Apples or carrots work good for bait and then the lure can be just a normal rat lure. Good luck trapping, if you need any help building the floats you can just pm me on here.

-TheYouthTrapper

He has 18 1 Duke dbl coilsprings. If that is a small pond 9 sets for round one should be enough and move to others as needed. Take the 1 coils set two at each feed bed or toilet. Take a small piece of wire and wire the chains together about 1/3rd or half way up. That way you either have a rat in two traps or you have one for the needed weight you are looking for and you don't need to buy any traps or do any other stuff.

Bryce

Just my opinion but I would borrow a handful of those #2 Bridgers from the coyote line. and use those. If you are not trying to catch and hold raccoon, you would be hard pressed to find a better muskrat trap than a #2 coil spring. Set the tension very light and you basically have a trap that will act as a body grip.

Floats are fine in the spring but few serious muskrat trappers that I personally know use them. Spring? Hard to beat floats in the spring..
Locate sign the muskrats are leaving. Small pocket sets will take a lot of muskrats. Pinned baits against the bank with a bit of grass etc. covering the overhead view of baits, set a trap against the baits with about an 1 1/2 of water over the pan. Baits: apple slices, carrots etc.
Not many critters respond to lure as well as muskrats so buy a couple different lures and use them.
Set blind sets where they leave the water.
Set heavy and clean them out fast. If he wants them all gone, it will or should not take long.
Stake securely. To be brutally honest, if you are using #2 coils I would not get all caught up in drowning cables, tangle stakes etc. Those drowning methods work fine with smaller and lighter traps. If you set good sets with light pan tension, you will not be losing muskrats. If they can move at all they will make a move to deeper water, and that is the end.
Easy peasy.

Mac

Thats the way to go. Only problem would be if you're trying to do floats or feedbed sets because they are way to heavy, maybe the stock pre-MB versions would work, without using some sort of extra support unless its a massive feedbed/hut.

That said, 1.5s are very versatile traps that can shine for raccoons when your DPs fail as the inevitably do for raccoons.

I've never trapped very many muskrats. Mainly because I've never trapped where there were many, and haven't targeted them since I was a kid (except throwing an occasional trap or two out when I seen muskrat sign on a beaver pond I was trapping). But I remember back as a kid 1 1/2s were considered too big for muskrats and the #1 ls was the muskrat trap, or the #1 stoploss if you had the money to buy them. Adding weight certainly won't hurt, nor will a tangle stake, although using a float that won't be necessary. I wouldn't pass up any good feedbeds or toilets because you have floats, quick, easy to set, and you don't have to try and draw the rats there with bait, they are already coming there.

Next time you order something from MTP, select their 150 bodygrip as your free gift. Get three or four of those in your possession and use them in runs next time you see rat sign where you are trapping.

There's no reason those #1 coils wouldn't hold a rat. On a float, them #1's are going to drown them just fine. They'd drown on a slide wire to deeper water too.

If you can see the dens, and it's legal, build/buy a couple simple colony traps. 5x5, 6x6, or 7x7x24 is all you need. Cheap 1x2 16ga wire from a farm store, a few small zip ties to hold it together, and you're in business.

ADC: that is an awesome pic! What are the dimensions on that colony trap?

Looks like a 6x6x24.

I know, I can't believe he stacked 8 rats in there. They must have been flying when they hit that door!

Actually 7x7x24 I built the cage, but a buddy of mine used it to make that catch.

I am not a big rat trapper, but I catch them. I have 3 doz #1 Bridger
coils and they work fine on rats and mink. Maybe a 1.5 Coil is ideal but when it works use what is available. If in doubt use 4 ft of wire and but an entanglement stick angled away 2-3 ft out. Rat swims out and wraps around and as he swims back to shore/hut he can’t get there and the angle of stick forces him under. You find this set diagramed in old trapping books when they had little #0 longs they used.

Use a variety of sets so the little rat you get to do is more entertaining for you. Pocket setswill produce coon and mink in addition to mush rats. Set houses, feed beds and even on the bottom outside a den hole. Enjoy it. Heck, a few rats in ditches while checking land sets is just plain fun. And rat carcasses are great bait for all predators.

I used #1 Northwood s coils for some time on rats and they worked just fine. The #2 Bridges will work as long as you get them drowned right away.

Like others said, #1 coils will be fine. No extra weight needed.

Colony traps is the way to go if you can get to their dens, like ADC said.

Never saw a rat that could "swim around" with most any trap on it's foot for long enough to matter.