I have a property that is full of rats but the water is 5-6 ft deep. The only place I find den entrances are in the bends of the river where the water is deep. Ive been using fiberglass rods with a Hagz clip with a 110 at the entrances. I feel like there has to be an easier way to get at these rats. I tried floats but they dont seem to have interest. I just recently got into water trapping. I mostly trap coyotes and raccoons around the farm so this is all new to me any advice is welcome thanks.

Any feedbeds or toilets?

A few toilets and have set them with some success but very hit and miss.

Can you use colony traps?

Yes but they are difficult to place and retrieve in deep water I've used a couple and not had any luck at den entrances they seem to shy away from them

Ive seen guys using extendable poles to place and retrieve the colony traps in deep water.

The rats aren't always in that deep water. Somewhere along that stretch , they're feeding at the waterline. Use a boat or canoe to find a few of those .

Pocket sets work great for rats.Any muskrat lure will make a pocket set more appealing.

Why not use the Hagz brackets with a 1.5 coilspring and some bait? I've done decent on rats using that setup. Of course if you don't have any 1.5 coilsprings then strike my previous statement.

You could try baited conibears but I think that setup works better under the ice. I'd also use a 160 with a spring removed over a 110 for such a setup.

This

If it were me I would be looking for feedbeds and toilets along the banks, many may be under overhanging vegetation. Rats love those shelves under the overhangs. As to trapping deep water with body grippers. I would switch to some 160s instead of the 110s. (cover the runs better). The clamp will allow you to set right on the bottom . You could also switch to some 1 by 2 by 6-8 foot wooden stakes if you can push these in. I fyou have a lot of rats there should be several feeding and toilet areass along and under the banks. What is the bank line like? cattails, canarygrass, arrowhead etc. etc. If water is really deep right up to the bank the feeding areas will be in shallow water or drier places under the banks. Strange to me that you only see runs or dens on the bends. Don't know if that has something to do with the soil type or not.

Bryce

So while I used to drive my line for K9's, anytime I would see a rat swimming in a roadside ditch, slough, or whatever, I'd stop and find the most convenient place to stick a pole with a foothold trap and piece of parsnip and muskrat lure on the bait holder just above water line. No idea where their toilet, den, etc was located. Just quickly placed and on my way I went. Usually would have 1 within 24 to 48 hours doing that. Some spots were a lot more productive than others, but I'm in a low rat density area of the state.

My thought is that if they're in the area then just lure and bait them to where you can make your sets.

I did the same thing when i trapped In ND. It worked like a charm I even took a rat out of the trap and reset and stood there and watched another rat swim up and get caught while I stood there.
We set up this 300 yard road ditch with about 50 rat stools baited with apples and lured with Lennons Rat All call. By time we started back we already had 25 rats caught.
But It never worked In WI. But to be fair WI dosen't have a spring rat season like ND has. We trapped around the town of Sharon ND.

I was trapping a canal with steep banks and deep water for beaver. Caught numerous muskrats in cage traps up on the bank.

Funny enough, they loved Dobbins Beaver Lure. Caught a lot more rats than beaver.

Muskrats absolutely plaster castor mounds with droppings if a beaver doesnt come by to obliterate the evidence. Especially river/creek muskrats.

What would need to be modified from a traditional float?

It has been mentioned but it is pretty tough to beat a pocket set.

Mac