I spent the better part of a day making a dozen rat floats and then I saw a video put out by Trapping, Inc out of Canada. It got me thinking the HAGs brackets serve the same function as a float and don’t take a day to build. For those of you who use both (assuming no fluctuations of water depth) which works better for fall ‘rats?

So are you talking about a baited BG with the bait just out of the water?

I was thinking of a carrot or some corn above a 1 1/2 coil on a HAGs bracket. Or a pipe cleaner wrapped around the support rod dipped in Hudson Seal.

Might work better then a float. Floats and stools worked great in ND but you could hardly catch a rat on them In WI. And I used the Hags brackets with 1 1/2 coil just under water In ND and yes they worked. But you would think that If a Hags bracket would work why wouldn't a stool work. The platform and the trap Is under water just like the Hags bracket system.
The hags bracket Is pretty easy so you might as well give them a shot.
Another thing Is using a baited 160 with the bait just out of the water. They worked just great In ND I tried them at home they were a complete flop. I made 28 sets and I set them right next to feed beds and rat stools and In 3 checks I never had a set off trap or any of the bait touched. We can't use a jaw type trap In the city parks.

Ive had better luck with the hagz brackets and stools than floats here because we don't get enough ice.

I like Hagz. Easy. Never got one on a leghold bracket, but got a few with 110s & carrots. Float got a couple too…..but I don’t think this input is worth much. I had a tiny little piece of open water to hit because of a late thaw. Jammed this little spot up with all kinds of different sets. This bugger had 3 out of 4 legholds, one on each leg. Wish I had my cam set to video. Musta been traps snapping & carrots flying everywhere on that little dance floor…hahaha!

I have caught them both ways but still don't know what works better. Some years floats work and some years not. Same with the brackets.

If you have rat huts and you can trap on them that's what you should do. Make a small disturbance on several spots on the hut and place your trap about 1" under water at these spots. A little lure will seal the deal. And of course set all the natural pull outs. Never make just ONE set on a hut. Forget about floats and stools and Hags brackets.

Found the same thing.

Catch about the same number with both but the hagz system are easier to carry than a truckload of floats.

WE used floats and stools In ND but In both situations we wired a section of poplar to the stake. Those sections of poplar were chewed up as high as the rats could chew. A little smear of Lennons rat all call worked. And some poplar bud oil worked magic.
I think the reason all this stuff worked so well In ND Is that we were dealing with a huge rat population.

I even made a holder that would support a 160 In the horizontal position. Put a 3X3 pan on the trigger wires and that device would slide up and down my stake. With the trap about 1" under water we killed the rats with that set up. But In WI it was a complete wash out.

Betcha I can set 3 times as many traps with floats than anyone can with the hagz brackets in the same amount of time. I have set well over 500+ traps in a single day- have used Hagz and yes they work and are smaller to carry around but if you're looking at easy peezy-floats are easier to set out pure numbers of traps-period! Its all about being organized. But what do I know.JMHO

Not to degrade or downgrade any system but I have used about every type of float for 35 years and wood platforms for 50 years (yep I'm that old!). About 15 years ago I started using baited 160's on modified plastic electric fence post insulators simply because they are available in every hardware/farm store around here. A DIY BG or a DIY foot trap bracket fastened to the insulator and a fiberglass or iron stake and you are ready. In farm ponds, as the ice is leaving and the ducks and geese are coming back I like a float like Mark Steck uses. In beaver colonies behind the dam, in a farm pond and/or on streams I like the baited 160 with whatever bait you choose (carrot, radish, turnip etc.) dipped in your favorite lure and impaled on the trigger. Kind of sounds contrary to what you would think as in fluctuating water you would expect the float to work better (and it does if you are having flooded conditions). But I have to avoid spring time coons and a float with some lure close to a creek bank here will snag one on occasion. Never got a coon in the water with a baited 160 AND have caught a few MINK every year along those beaver colonies/stream edges with the lured/baited 160. Guess its the musk smell of the rat lure on the bait. Always a big males too. Never caught a mink on a float (yet) so I stick with this until it changes................ or I kick it. ....... the mike

No mater what type of system you use make sure your bait or lure Is high enough so the rat has to stand up to reach It. This Is specialty true for hagzs brackets. The rat needs to have to stand on the trap to get caught.
While the Hagz brackets work I never liked to see the rat having to cross over the dog. Short legged critters like rats can be thrown out of the trap.Well that's what I have always been told. And when using the Hagz brackets I did have a fair amount of sprung and empty traps. So what I did was I welded a price of flat stock under the trap frame on the dog side of the trap. It did seem to help some, well at least It made me feel better. I still had some sprung traps but not as many.

Floats for me in SD for spring rat trapping. Hagz are also very useful especially in tight situations. However, Once the ice starts melting floats are the cat's meow!

In Southern MN I haven’t had great luck using floats or hagz brackets on sticks. As the beav has said imo you’re better off setting huts or feed dens

Why wouldn't you just set blind sets?

If you want floats I have 80 of them I'll sell you in Litchfield.

Location dependent.

Around here on flowing water, I almost never set blind sets outside of slides or the rare den.

Still water is almost the opposite.