First trap line

Set my first ever humble trapline last night. 7 muskrat sets like this in a creek loaded with chewed up banks, actually was sitting on a den unknowingly during deer season when one popped out right below me. Hardest thing was finding water I felt was deep enough. Let me know what you guys think.

Good luck and let us know how the first check goes. Pictures are always an added treat too.

I grew up learning how to trap muskrats in a creek that most rat dens were in water not much more than knee deep. If you are using body gripping traps you have nothing to worry about... except will some other critter come along and eat your catch. When I started trapping, conibear traps had not yet been invented. I used either #0 or #1 long spring. You would set for a front foot catch... stake out in deeper water (adding a length of wire to chain), place another stake between that stake and the shore for the rat to tangle around and drown. This kept the rat away from the shore and other critters to some extent and didn't block the entrance to the den.

Remember when trapping in moving water to wade upstream.

Good Luck...

Garry-

Hoping you catch some fur today. I haven't had great luck with the sets you have shown. Don't be afraid to set some slides or places you can see they have been chewing and digging on the bank. Also if you find an active den locate the run and set a coil spring on the bottom in the trench coming out of the den they will put their feet down there. Good lock welcome to Trapperman.

Good luck. You probably did not sleep last night.

Have a great first check

Great 1st post- I run some Sudden Valley sets in streams on eddy's so they don't collect debris and they produce well. You can move to a pocket set on the bank to increase your chances of other target species - just make sure you stake for coon.

Keep us posted- Good Luck!

Can't wait for see how you did. I'm old but new to trapping and I know I don't sleep the first few nights.

good luck

Excited for you. Add a few colony traps to your arsenal as they work well inserted into the mouth of bank dens. Just make sure the entire colony trap is underwater and it is level. Good luck!

Chris

Good luck and can't wait to hear about your first catch. Make sure your trap with the Hagz bracket is on the downstream side of your bait in current. I do dye and wax my water traps for water trapping. Show us some more of your sets when you get the chance

Good Luck

Good luck! Waiting on pics tomorrow!!

Welp first check was a bust in the dark, nothing tripped or bait touched. Thanks for all the good words! Just a few weeds wrapped around the stakes. I relocated some of the sets that were closer to the middle of the creek out more towards the edge where there was some chewing sign. Made sure all the traps are downstream, and tied on flagging tape to the stakes, maybe thinking it will look like more carrot to skrats. I have them anywhere from barely below the water to about 3 inches to see what works best for depth of the trap. Hoping maybe it was just a slow night because looking at this creek there has to bee crazy amounts of them in here. Turtledale, I did dye and wax them. The wax turned out great, but the dye didnt take the nice dark rich black color, I degreased twice but they wouldnt rust after a week I just dyed and waxed them so I could set. My next order of traps im going to soak in some induatrial degreaser I have from work and see if theyll rust then. Going to bring some 110s tomorrow and stake some baited sets the up the creek the other direction. Thanks for all the replies!

Good luck. Don’t get discouraged just stay after emm

I'm amazed that you can actually see the bottom of the creeks. Lol.
Good luck on the muskrats!

find a spot where the rats are pooping, and set by that

if never used that setup so someone correct me if I'm wrong but in the picture posted is the trap not supposed to be slightly under water? and the bait lower down on the pole. so the rat swims to the bait then steps up onto the trap to reach the bait? like trapper dahlgren said I'd find a toilet and set that. good luck

I believe the trap is underwater looks turbulent tho

I would position the trap facing downstream

Second night check, 7 more empties. Lowered the carrota tonight and rebaited. Moved sets closer to the edge and condensed the line to the best sign. Hoping for a first catch tomorrow!

The Beav says rat poles don't work very well in fall here in WI.

Keep after it. You'll get them. Don't get stuck on one type set. Experiment with sets and find the ones that work in your area.

What sets normally work better this time of year around here?

Dig a pocket set at the waters edge, bait it. That'll catch rats, mink, coon, otter and the occasional beaver...stake it well.

I do almost all my muskrat trapping in blind sets anywhere you see good sign and evidence of their path set there. Muskrats aren't hard to catch but they don't move off their line of travel very often so set on sign stake well and you will catch 'em. Good luck!

What part of the state are you in?

As said pocket sets catch most all animals in the water, bottom edge sets take alot of rats, crawl outs/ slides with footholds, pinch points, dens with body grips and colony traps. Not sure of your location in the state but pocket sets may not be usable for long with winter on the way. I would try body grips in said locations and see how that goes. Good luck

What part of Wisconsin are you trapping?

Lots of good advice given...pockets, dens, runs, pinch points, toilets...set your traps in a couple inches of water and stake well in deeper water...invest in some body grippers and set the runs. You will catch rats. Good luck

Im in the jefferson county area. Im planning on setting some 110s tomorrow, its pretty hard to find the den holes on these banks or toilets for that matter. Decent moving spring fed creek so runs armt very visable either. The banks are just chewed to high (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) and ive been setring where theyre hit the hardest

Ok you're a stone's throw from where I'm located- I'll send you a PM and I have a couple jars of Pocket Paste that are yours.

Dig some pocket sets Witrapperman...that'll get them. But, you'll probably get some coon and mink too.

Check no 3 was a bust again. Added peppermint oil to the carrots to try n call em in. Set 1 fish oil pocket hole for an attempt at mink, and 2 baited 110s with pepermint carrots, 1 of them near what looks like either a feed or den hole. If tomorrows a bust I may pull them and try a different area or at least some of them.

Stick one of your 110’s in the den/feed hole you mentioned. That’s about as much of a slam dunk rat set as you can get!

ditch the carrots and try apples.....4 muskrats can look like 40 to a newb

My best luck for Rats in the UP are, pocket sets for mink, feed bed sets, blind sets.

Keep at it, Witrapperman! One of these days you will connect and you will think you are the son of Jeremiah Johnson!

This forum is full of folks that are willing and able to give you a ton of help. I have been on here a long time and just about every day I learn something new.

Keep at it and never give up! Most of all...have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Moosetrot

Check no 4 0/10. Staged one of the 110s for an under cut bank edge set, rebaited with potatoes instead of carrots and made 4 toilet sets. Also moved two other rat poles right in front of dens. Have some more 110s and 120s to prep tonight for some more pocket sets. Todays check was the first in the daylight and I was able to isolate a lot more sign. Fingers crossed for tomorrow to find some fur.

Best of luck. Stay with it, you'll connect.

Keep after em and learn to read the sign. Taters will turn black on you in short order. Parsnips will stay white and cheap.

If you know how to make bottom edge sets, put in a bunch of them. They can go up under the undercut banks and grassy hangover areas, points that stick out into the stream. These spots or points don't need to be as exaggerated as some of the text in print makes them. They will connect

I think it's lemon juice that will make a potato stay white


Try a colony trap in a bottom edge set.


Push along the bank with your foot to try to find a den entrance.

Just finished check 5 with no fur. Another miss on the bottom edge 110 and carrot was gone. Not sure how it missed twice, it was staked well both times and nothing to impede anything. Trigger seems to be working just fine too. Either way, none of the toilets had fresh sign, nothing on any other sets including other similiar sets. I found a brick and flagging tape about 300 yards down the creek so im chopping it up to being trapped already and hitting a new creek tomorrow.

Your getting close! Skip the bait for the bottom edge, get them in. With the weather going the way it is you'll be froze up and bottom edge sets continue to produce, provided they don't get froze in. Hope you connect soon!

Waiting for the ice to freeze around here to trap some rats, and good luck.

Persistence is the key. Stick with it, try new things and don't rely on bait to get them to your trap. Put your trap where they want to be.

How did things pan out? Hopefully your busy skinning! Good luck

Yeah been wondering myself.

I pulled that first line. Have been a bit busy this week but got 5 sets out today before the rain started. Found a nice marsh pond with a lot of huts and feed huts. Set off of 3 of the main huts under about 2" of ice in the bubble runs. 1 foothold and 4 110s. Checking in the AM, wish me luck. If these pan out Ill set off of more of the other huts. This pond looks like it would freeze out in the winter so ill try and get em all if I can. I did get a bunch more traps and have scouted 3 other locations but finally got a line going today.

You should be skinning muskrat tomorrow night! Way to keep after them!

Chris

Sharpen your knives Witrapperman!

Moosetrot

good luck , watching, take some pictures

Can't wait to see your first catch pictures. Way to stay at them experience is the best teacher

Ok guys, I finally connected! 1 rat on todays check, perfect hit on a baited 120. Nice big fat one too. Got it skinned, fleshed, and on a stretcher, which I finally had to make as well lol. Reset and added 2 more sets to the pond today. Hoping for a couple more tomorrow. Skinning had a bit of a learning curve to it, specifically the belly pulling apart and around the head, otherwise turned out pretty good.

As a side note, heres the little fur shed I put together in my garage, made the fleshing beam, folding workbench, and drying rack which also holds my gamble/cable

Nice job, looks like a great start.

Nice Job!

Broke the ice, nice big rat.

Way to go!

On the Board- literally!!!
Nice Job!

there ya go!

Congrats!

Keep at it as that will be one of many!

Chris

Congrats. Your on your way to a lifetime of enjoyment and learning in the great American outdoors.

Nice job! Just saw this. Now the addiction starts!

Maybe someone experienced in your area could give this gentleman a few pointers if he is open to it ? I would hate to see you get discouraged and quit as we all want to see new trappers. As you can see here we are all pulling for ya. I was like 10 when I started trapping muskrats. Nobody was ever around me that trapped so learning was on my own with maybe a little help from FFG magazine. In all trapping, learning to read fresh sign is important. You may think they are there and maybe they have been but are now long gone.

WAY TO GOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Moosetrot

Good job stay at it and most of all enjoy

Ok check no 2 on this line, 2 more skrats today! Thanks for all the encouragement guys. Im keepin after it dont worry. 1 perfect and 1 foot catch on 110s. Id guess a large and an XL compared to yesterdays DX if Im right.. Got em on the boards hangin now. Slick Pan, Eagleye reached out since hes in my area and we met. He gave me some lure and directions how to make my own plus tips on my tactics. Ive been talking to The Beav a little as well since hes not too far. Moved one of the sets from the first day and had one of my new sets from yesterday hit. I could have 20 sets in this marsh but the ice is at the point where I dont want to venture to far from the edge yet. It will be great next week when Ill be able to kayak it, and then again when it re freezes. Absolutely loaded with huts. Will probably go scout another area tomorrow.

As a side note, any tips for not busting open the stomach meat when skinning? Ive tried hanging them and doing them on the bench. I finally got the head/face done right on the last one, but had the guts pop out on all 3. (Not split open, just pop out of the cavity).

About all you can do is work very carefully around the belly area. As you know, its pretty thin on those rats!
Glad to see you are having some success. You'll just get better with time and experience.

Congrats on the catches! Persistence pays off - learn from each catch that connects and also the ones that didn’t connect . Always ask yourself why certain sets connected vs ones that didn’t? Patterns will start to emerge and in time you’ll get a sharp eye for locations and sets. Your definitely on right track!

As to the rat bellies tearing- use your knife to LIGHTLY score the connective tissues attaching the hide to the brisket area ( just below the front legs on belly side) . Lightly pull / put pressure on the hide with one hand while scoring the connective tissue with your knife. You Usually only have to get the hide down an inch or so until it’s freed up enough to just peel the rest of the way off without tearing. If it still feels like it might tear pull the hide with one hand while applying pressure to stomach membrane holding it in place can also help prevent it from tearing. It seems like for me at least if you don’t score that first point of connective tissue they tend to tear off with the guts much more frequently .older or leaner rats with less fat tend to be harder to peel and need more scoring to get the hide off of the belly without the stomach membrane tearing. It’s hard to explain but hopefully this helps

Added to the above a hand towel for a grasping help to hold the belly membrane in place is also something that will help you.

Nice prime big muskrat there. Look at the white around the legs. Good job boarding and skinning it ! Lots of rat trappers use just 110's although its more fun to catch um in a foothold. You should be able to buy some good used 110's on trap shed but if not then this summer at the conventions you can get used ones.

Two more today guys. Stackin up fur in the shed. Lol. Thanks again for the support. Pulled em today since breaking through every other step of the ice was pretty inconvenient. Will reset on weds or thurs when the ice is gone. Skinning went better, one good face and guts stayed in for the most part this time. Other face was good but eye holes got big. Opened up a hole fleshing too but doesnt matter since im using them myself.

Fun, ain't it????!!!!!!

Moosetrot