Tangle stake(kill pole) are better than a slide to deep water for snares-quicker to set and need far less water depth to drown.

You have to make your snares as short as possible while still be able to reach the rod and set at the desired high. As such that means you're going to need a minimum of 3ft(7ft if you tail snare it....) of water to drown a beaver. The bottom end of the drowner has to be solid because it has 4 wheel drive because it doesnt have anything heavy attached to a foot.

We’ve snared with drowning rods for a couple years. Our snares are 42-inches long and quick-linked to a drowner slide on the rod. The rods are 9-10 ft of 1/2 to 5/8 rebar. We stake the top with a T-bar after jamming the other end into the mud. This allows us a 72-hour check because it’s classed as a drowning set.

But, I’d bet 40% of the beavers have pulled the deep end and the whole works is being held by the T-bar. This isn’t as bad as it sounds. The T-bars always hold well and the beavers are just out in the water swimming around.

I’ve graduated to setting snares on runs heading up the bank. Attached to the snare is a 10-ft extension. The beavers are usually up on the bank. Often asleep. They kind of look at you and amble down to the water. There’s no fear or hissing if they can get to the water. Ron Jones and Newt Sterling (and Morgan Bennett) suggest long extensions on snares. Dale Billingsley, of Iowa, suggests long extensions too. I really like this method.