Just got a call from my friend. He was telling me he wants to take me amd the boys over to a friend of his thats about 5 miles away and introduced us. The gentleman is getting older and they have been friends for 20 years and is the guy that got him into bee keeping.

The fellow has a nice lake and has some muskrat problems. I have only targeted them once for a neighbor and friend when there were working over the damage on his lake. Then I just set 110s in the runs and that took care of them. Is that the typical best way to clean them out on a lake?

My friend said its a great lake with lots of fish. And would likely end up being a great fishing spot permission for us for life along with future work for the boys as the gentleman ages and requires more assistance keeping his place up. Not to mention somone we can learn a great deal from.

I haven't see the lake to know if its shallow or drops off at the bank, how much damage or how many rats are there but I know I want to wipe them out. I haven't seen my dozen or so 110s in years so will likely buy some. What else should I pick up before we go?

The realization that you ain’t gonna “wipe them out”

Like I said I have only targeted them once on a friend's lake that is across from my first house. In that instance I caught several fast , like resetting traps on the way out that I had just set on the way in. Action slowed to nothing quickly. 3 weeks later some runs were looking muddy again I set them and caught a few, left traps a few weeks catching nothing. Didnt have another issue over there for years. I have moved he died and his brother owns the lake now. He may have had a few in there by now. That was probably years ago.

As far as my purpose they were cleaned out probably a better term than wiped out.. So I hope to clean them out and maybe have some once a year or two on going matanance if more move in.

An ideal would be to lower the lake a few feet and look for dens, but probably not happening. Are there cat tails? Are they bank rats or hut builders? I play at a golf course regularly that has several inter-connected ponds. It borders a huge lake, (talking 96 square miles), that has abundant rats. The banks of those ponds have considerable muskrat damage, but even in the un-likely event I could wipe them out, they would re-populate in one spring. And even though I see them frequently, and see the water fluctuate a lot, i couldn't begin to guess how many there are, as the course rats don't build huts.
A large marsh I trap has hut builders, and after trapping it for a few years and spending time there year-round, I have a decent idea how many rats might be there, give or take a couple hundred.

I have not seen the lake yet and its probably a few acres at most. We dont have a lot of lakes or large ones around here. To many fishers and cracks in the rock and why i have sink holes
It hit and miss when people dig a lake on if it will hold water or they end up with dry lake or maybe mostly dry with shallow mosquito pit on one end.

The one time I targeted them the lake didn't have cat tails and I just set the tunnels/runs they made going into the dam. So if the lake is more wild I have no clue how to effectively thin them out or trap them like in a marsh I never spent any time learning about them. Mostly I have targeted coon, possum, (nest preditors) ground hogs and coyotes, with the now and then beaver for friends or to get a foot in the door to trap other critters, and hunting ot fishing axcess. And of course I have picked up the incident mink( never targeted) fox, skunk, bobcat and otter. So I have a lot to learn to be consistent with several species vs just catching a few now and then.

If I have to guess this lake will be clean mayey some treas around it and not a lot of cattails but I could be wrong. And wanted to be prepared when I show up. I guess I will buy some more 110s and take some 1.5s to set anything that look like a trail on land and run it on a drowning set. And any runs unde water and bank holes will get a 110. Hopefully that will do the trick. I thought I read something about lure and or bait set for them. I may run through the archives if trail sets dont get it done.

Years ago when we had muskrats in every pond creek and stream i had permission to trap a pay lake and 13 minnow ponds. Guy had a 10 acre pay lake but also sold minnows. Some of them were too deep to set conibears in the runs so i just made a shallow pocket sets. Digging tool or just take your heal and make a small slide with a landing spot. Number 1 or 1.5 coil spring on the landing. Put a carrot in the hole/ slide. Pull some grass and throw it on top of the water edge. Used tobacco sticks for stakes. Drill a hole in the end and push them into the bottom until your chain was tight. Put a coat hanger on the end of one to retrieve them when checking. First set on the paylake i was removing rats as soon as I got the sets in back where I started.

Man that was the days. But now we have owls, hawks and eagles on every post and power lines.

That was one of my concerns not having seen the lake . Would it be to deep or have thick vegetation to situations I have not target them in before. Typically like beaver I only go after them to help friends out and/or a way to gain axcess for hunting or traping other species.
I always want to do a good job and dont want to leave any educated problems behind so check here first for advice.

I prefer k9 trapping and hit coon, possum, and skunk to keep the nest predators in check. My first time going after beaver was to get axcess for coyotes on 300 acres . The bank den was under cutting the farmers axcess road. I had a live marked back them and coyotes were profitable.

If it's legal in your state, the best way to remove them all if that's what you want to do, is use colony traps set in their runs. I've taken as many as 5 in one trap overnight.

Do what Trapper7 said colony traps preventing a lot of non targets. Place trap in den hole or as tight to hole as possible and stake securely...coons and turtles will take trap while trying to get muskrat out.
good luck

Yes IF he can reach the dens. My coil springs were in places the banks were too steep and to put a colony or coni over the den you would be over your headstanding on the bottom. He's not trapping a marsh or small creek.