Fishing Pool 8 today. LOTS of 'rat huts going up, and good size at that. Would be nice to be ice fishing by December 1st for a change.

Really looks dry there Mike. Here too, most of the smaller sloughs are mud. I even have some feeder streams that are dry. My friend prospected several of his areas last week and so very limited sign also.

Bryce

I've never trapped where m'rats build houses.
Where do they live in the summer if they don't have houses?

Bank denners. You can see old runs now that the river has dropped. Could be this is pushing them along too.

Rat houses going up here in Wausau , Wi, Almost overnight !

Many times the rats will build houses at first cold or frost and still use bank dens until frozen out from the shallow banks. If not frozen out many will use bank dens all winter. Why they build houses when many times they are not always used, I don't know. If you are trapping when they are racing to build it can be a real good time to catch a lot of rats on each house. After the rush not much action at all from my experience.

Bryce

Them rats are in trouble
Likely a mink will find them or a coyote will dig them out.

Went to the north central part of the state never seen a rat house.

Seen quite a few 2 weeks ago. Couldn't believe how early they were built with how hot it's been

would be great to get a real cold and snowy winter again, some are saying that all the smoke this summer could help with this,

I'm with you Trapper. I'm tried of this summer crap. Cold and snow keeps the yuppies inside and off their battery bikes.

WOW I haven't even thought about looking yet. Will have to go for a ride when I get back next week. But our place is dry here too, not sure what to expect.....jk

With the low water, the summer runs into the bank really show up. You can see these summer bank dens are not very high in elevation. Just enough to hold a nesting area.

Floods and droughts really knock muskrat populations down.

Those clear runs are like arrows pointing at where to set for muskrats.

Keith

Better catch them before freeze up if you don't, they will all be dead. Or they will have moved on to better locations.

Rain drove us off the river, but had some time for a couple of closeups of these summer bank denners. Standing on the bank, with the den probably under my feet. Might be a couple of feet higher than at water's edge.



Down at water's edge you can see three distinct runs. With little debris in them they look to be active.



Turning around, looking back at the entrance . . .

More than likely moved on.

Always have been a lifelong learner and never thought I knew just about everything about anything. The older I get the less I seem to know. Case in point.

Years ago a commercial fisherman by the name of Jeff Morrison contacted me about becoming a trapper ed instructor. Said he was at that point in his life where he wanted to share his knowledge with younger folk and encourage them to get and stay in trapping. He had to jump through a couple of hoops to become an instructor including helping out at a live trapper ed class. When it got to that point I invited Jeff down to our class to help us educate a couple dozen students. He asked what he should bring. I said bring your knowledge and whatever you need to deliver that. We were camped there at the clubhouse and he asked if he could bring something to share for dinner. I said sure.

He showed up with some trapping gear, a turtle trap, and three live snapping turtles. At the end of the session Saturday he butchered the three turtles with a crowd of wide-eyed youngsters circled around him. Cleaned up the meats, dropped them into a kettle along with other goodies, and set that on the grill over the campfire. Awhile later we were dining on turtle stew.

Around the campfire that evening the talk got around to muskrat trapping on the big river. The refuge. I asked him if he was out there opening day. Nope . . he waits until the ice is thick enough to hold his ATV. I shared my vast knowledge about the 'rats all hammered by multiple trappers by that time. He said it's worth the wait. I said educate me

Jeff made his living off the river. Commercial fisherman, trapper and part-time carpenter. He knew the river well. He said, under normal conditions, there are two major migrations of muskrats on the big river. The first is occurring now. 'Rats that detect cold weather coming combined by dropping river levels leave the bank dens and head out to build huts. The second migration comes later once ice forms on the back sloughs and marshes. As ice thickens these 'rats that are in shallow waters continue to migrate out to deeper huts. Many of these huts have been trapped out and are vacant. By the time Jeff got out there with his ATV towing his sled with willows and #1 jump traps the competition was home on the couch. He had the area to himself. As the ice continued to thicken the migration slowed, but was still there.

My last visit with Jeff was prior to his passing in 2011. Heart complications. He knew it was coming and had videos made of himself talking to his grandkids. If you visit the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge Center on Brice Prairie, you'll find a small section featuring Jeff's work on the river and if memory serves correctly you can push a button and hear Jeff talk about his days on the river. Fellas like that are gold.

Stop the pics Mike! My old heart can only take so much excitement! 😆

See what you have done! I've lost control of my keyboard and am typing numbers!