Sweet potato for muskrats?

Do rats like sweet potato?

Baited 110's....now under some ice.

It's about eye appeal not taste when your trapping under the Ice. So It might work but orange peels or grapefruit peels may be a better choice. I'm thinking the sweet potato might be a bit on the dark side when used under the ice.

Thought I would give it a shot, as it's what I had. These are cut up chunks.....looks as bright as a carrot to me.

What about using sweet potato above coil springs on stakes or floats? Seems like they should work, but never seen them mentioned. Its always carrots, apples and parsnips. Don't have any of those in the house, but do have a big pile of sweet potatoes. One is an 18 pounder.

should work i use carrots and sometimes just some colorful ropey stuff on the trigger if it makes them curious thats mostly what it is

I use mostly boards with footholds and carrots. When I catch a rat, it goes to bottom and the next rat gets a free meal. Then when you reset, he comes back looking for more. I see where rats have been chewing on the carrot but couldn't get it off. I think a real, edible bait works best because it keeps them coming, even if you miss them. Once they "taste" a inedible bait, they are done. Conibears work, but seem to work best if you move them a little after each catch. That's just what works best for me. This was today...

Even get a few beaver.

I know that they like sugar beets. Sweet Potatoes should work. I think they both put out a sweetness in the water that the rats pick up on.

sjc, that is motley looking crew you have there. lol.

Yup.....thinking that kid on the left in waders has already forgotten more than I know. Ought to borrow him for a few days to coach me up.

So this board set.......if I understand right, it is something like a 1 x 4, with trap set below a carrot.....pushed through a hole in the ice......set at an angle.....bait just below the ice?

I agree.

Yep. The one on the left and two on the right are mine. The other one is a cousin who just went along for the walk.

That kid wasn't born in the swamp, but he got there pretty quick!
That's pretty much how the boards work. I use pieces of luan plywood with a nail for the trap, a drywall screw to hold the bait and two holes drilled thru to wire it to a stake. This cuts down on weight and allows you to adjust for different water depths. You can see in the first pic.

Can you snap a a picture of your setup? And it would seem you have to set trap and bait below the ice to keep it from freezing in?

Cold snap coming through tonight, that would freeze in my shallow sets, so pulled traps this morning, with no luck at all with the sweet potato. Should warm back up early next week. In meantime, may try to find a bag of carrots.

I'm not sure If a rat can smell or taste something under water but I know they can see. And I think that the sweet potato loses It's color when submerged for any period of time. If you don't have anything bright just use some white styrafoam on the triggers.

I agree. I doubt if anything that breathes with lungs does much smelling underwater. I do believe that they can taste, especially when they bite the bait.
I guess what I should have said, was that I think baited footholds work better most of the time and here's why. I used to catch rats in conibears and boards with squares cut out of Clorox jugs. I found that boards baited with edible bait out produce conibears with fake bait, conibears with real bait, and boards with fake bait. I also found that I had no problem catching that first rat in a baited coni with real or fake bait, but they would start coming harder after that. I don't know if it's because I wired my conibears and the dead rat stayed there. Oftentimes, if I just moved it a few feet, I would catch another.

The reason I like boards with real bait better, is because when you catch a rat, it dies away from the bait and the next one eats it. Replace the bait and he's sure to be back. If you miss one with real bait, he will be back. They did not seem to keep coming with the fake bait. Also, you can get away with chopping smaller holes with boards and fewer trapped rats freeze to the bottom of the ice. I also think 110s are too small to be very effective for baited sets. I still use some baited conibears under ice and I know some guys that use use them mostly and do pretty good. This is just what works for me.

Great pictures and tips, thanks for sharing!

sjc, Underwater, smell turns into taste. For example, could you taste the difference between plain water and water with a little Anise? Be assured that rats and beaver can.

That's what I'm saying...

I think that is why I think sugar beets have worked well. They have loads of sweetness. Wether it is a chunk in a feed bed or under water. Not to mention that I can get a PU load for $20. I pass them around to others. If they start to ferment a little, they just get better for both bait or making some wine. Lol.

I cheat and use colored duct tape on the triggers of my body grippers. I don't use bait with my footholds for rats. Most of my under ice body gripper sets are in December so I don't know how things would be in say late February or March but I have tried 4 colors of duct tape, red, orange, green and white and a mix of green and white. My limited experience shows that orange works by far the best during the period I trap. To me that would mean that bait that is orange like carrots or sweet potatoes would work quite well. Must be able to raise sweet potatoes cheaply. Here it is tough to get a good crop and I like them so much I would not use them for rat bait. I would use the carrots.

Bryce

Using a coni-clip of any variety with a BG on a stake will do the same letting the sprung rat and trap drop away to bottom. I attach my clips to a short piece of pvc with a screw eye thru it to allow them to be depth adjustable and attach to trap ring. Also lets me set trap just under ice in bubble trails as blind sets.

[quote=HayDay]Can you snap a a picture of your setup? And it would seem you have to set trap and bait below the ice to keep it from freezing in?

Cold snap coming through tonight, that would freeze in my shallow sets, so pulled traps this morning, with no luck at all with the sweet potato. Should warm back up early next week. In meantime, may try to find a bag of carrots.


Something like this will work. Sorry I just saw that you wanted a picture.

Drakej,
could you post a picture of that setup please. I can't quite picture the description. Thanks.

Drakej,
could you post a picture of that please. Thanks

Drakej,
could you post a picture of that please. Thanks

So I tried the board set a few times. I had very little luck and I used lots of different kinds of bait and different locations. The one thing I did was feed a lot of rats with out catching to many. The board set In my opinion allows the rat to get to the bait without actually crossing over the trap. And even If the rat does cross the trap It may not drop It's feet to get to the bait.
I gave up on that board set a went to baited BGs. I'm still not a very accomplished under Ice rat trapper but the baited BGs where way more productive then the board set.

I'm still nuisance trapping rats out of neighborhood ponds. Have had baited body grips and now a couple board sets out......first with the sweet potato and now carrots. Have yet to have the first baited trap even tripped. But when I find the den run, a 110 set at the entrance is getting those.

I had studied the pic where the master trapper (kid) was holding the small piece of board on a stake. What I came up with was nearly identical. What I also found out was all Victor traps (LS and CS) have a hole in the frame for the nail. A lot of others don't. Little subtle things you don't think about till you know what to look for.

Our ice has now thawed, so open water. Got another shallow, silted in cattle pond across the road that has rats......but soft mud getting from bank to deeper water is probably knee deep or worse, so had been waiting for deeper ice to set it. May try setting some board traps over there, on long poles so I can reach the deeper open water from the bank. With ice gone for now, may leave the carrot out of the water and trap barely submerged. Gonna catch at least a few that way so I know I can do it.

I do a LOT of under ice rat trapping. I've caught thousands of rats thru the ice. I can personally catch more rats, easier with footholds than I can with bodygrips. I have used bodgrips under ice for years and still use some (about one in 20), and in certain situations they work best. I'm sure there are people who use strictly bodygrips thru the ice, have a great system and do better than me, but this is what works best for me. There is a learning curve to using baited footholds, but once you get it figured, it's very effective.

I bet I can catch more rats I open water then you can catch under the Ice. LOL

Well I'm no where close to any of that, but did finally get a rat on a 110 with carrot today. Board sets.....still empty. Set by feed beds......I assume that is where they ought to go.

Ok, I can now confirm No.1 LS on a board with carrot works for me too. Sat empty, empty, empty...then water iced over for the first time in nearly 2 weeks and I caught one the first night. Coincidence?

Don't forget about 'Parsnips', which by far resemble a 'Cattail root' more than the above mentioned !