Hey all,
New to the forum. Ive only been trapping a couple of years. We have a ton of Snow and Ice so havent been doing much trapping the last couple of months as its hard to get around and kinda waiting for spring beaver now. Well im getting antsy and thought why not go trap some of these small rivers/creeks that stay open for rats. I have a hard time finding runs in rivers, as i think the current washes most sign away fairly quickly. I set a couple dozen baited 110's this weekend (Carrots on the trigger with a drop of Anise). Zero rats. I know there are rats in these creeks because i have caught some here in fall. Wondering if anyone has any tips on what may be better options?

Research bottom edge sets. And look for bank holes.

Could also set colony traps in pinchpoints. You can block rats down as much as is needed without them minding

It is mating time. Floats and rat gland.

Rats are bit up here in NY already. Water opened up in 3 swamps last week and 1/3 of the rats were damaged. I pulled all the traps and wil get after the beaver.

Thanks guys. Maybe ill forget about rats for now and keep getting ready for beaver and otter.

Baited bodygrips only seem to work under ice. Pocket sets or lure on a stock sets are my go-to sets on flowing waters. If you can find slides, 1.5s work great. Or toilets. If you don't have beaver to worry about, they'll absolutely plaster castor lure this of time if year.

On moving water without fluctuations in water depth, rats will leave sign on shore in form of feedbeds and toilets. Set those and you'll catch rats if there are any to catch. Hard to find dens on most streams. Also possibility that the rats diseased out over the winter.

In the Fall sign seems easy to find and I have best success with a #1LS or 1.5 coil on feedbeds or toilets. Problem now is most of the banks are ice/snow covered and I struggle to find any sign whatsoever. Many of the creeks that are 10 ft wide only have a ice free zone of maybe 3-4 feet in the middle where the current is strong enough to keep ice off.

In those situations, most of the feeding is done up under the ice shelf where a air pocket exists, or up in the den or a feed hole. That is a tough situation for trapping.

Floats are the way to go in rivers or areas of fluctuating open water.
In waters deep enough for drowning foothold traps can be used.
In shallow waters near shores the floats can be set up with 110's, two per float near the centers.
Most of my XL size rats come from the rivers.
Where tribs enter the rivers are magnets for muskrats (& mink)

I am a total believer in Hagz brackets and footholds on fiberglass rods. I trap near ice shelves on the bank and they seem to work everywhere. I use a dab of lure on a piece of carrot. I have no idea where rats are in runs or anywhere else because it’s under the ice but the footholds work. The only problem is the carrots freeze if it gets too cold at night. When the carrots stop getting eaten I move on.

I use Hagz brackets also and have had good luck. Best luck is on fake slides and feed beds. Just can’t seem to locate them now. Went out this morning after 5 inches of fresh now setting some small creeks. Looking for beaver or otter, gave up on the rats. Set 4 new rivers, very carefully as there’s still plenty of ice and didn’t know what the bottoms were like in these new locations. Fresh otter sign since overnight.

What river are you trapping that's frozen ?
That works in a pond. Most rivers will change too much to use that system

We do get some ice here along some the of the ohio river tributaries. Its rare that i get to do these sets on rivers under ice as usually they're flooded and frozen and its a death trap trying to get on the ice in high water period.