I was wondering what kind of sets can you make other than den sets(its illegal in NY) and such, ive been using baited trigger with very limited success and i have alot of places with an abundance of rats. But id like to know what sets you guys have used with good success??
Thanks Nick

Obvious trails and runs with bodygrippers. For bait sets ditch the bodygrippers and use footholds. A chunk of apple 8-10 inches above and just behind the trap, a dab of either Lenon's or Hawbaker's muskrat lure, stake trap to deeper water, move on down the bank. Make sure to stake this set well as it is a killer coon set also.

I also am having trouble with rats not liking my sets. I have floats, leaning poles, apple baited 110's, 110's in runways, (Edit..foothold..Ric) in pockets, toilets and feed beds and nothing is working. Everyday I see new sign in the swamp and I don't understand what I am doing wrong. Today an idea hit me and I am wondering if anyone here has tried it. What if I wrapped a piece of stranded wire with white coating around a 110 trigger? I think it would look like roots, what do you guys think?

Foothold is a more accurate term and the one we use

are you setting too deep? are you having any sprung traps? you are sure you are seeing new sign daily? i agree with you, it doesn't make sense. if i'm setting up for coon with just pockets, i can't keep the rats out. if there is an area with alot of rat sign, usually half a dozen stop loss blind in climb outs or toilets and almost every trap is full for at least a couple days. You are sure you aren't looking at old sign?

NEbowhunter makes a very valid point. How old is the sign. I have been fooled far more often than I care to admit for far too many years than I care to remember about the volume of sign and how recent it is.
In streams and even some marsh environments the rats can move frequently.
If the sign is fresh and you are finding places to bait 110s, ditch the bait and find areas where the rats are traveling right along the overhangs at the water level along the shelves with 1-6 inches of water. If you have rats you wll get them in those areas. You can put footholds along the better foothold locations along these shelf areas also.
I have never used bait for rats so I can not respond to regarding those methods.
I am still guilty of over estimating rat populations due to sign and underestimating coons based on sign for my area here in WI.
If you are not getting rats on baited sets, or floats and on smaller feed beds, my guess is you don't have as many rats as you think you may have, or you are not setting those slides or entrance exit points of the stream where most of the rats are going in and out of the water.

Bryce

i have been trapping rats in runways leading to bank dens.. at first they were getting around or under the trap, i moved my sets close as possible to the holes and started connecting. i tried baited 110's with no luck..

yeah ive connected with a few in some runs that are long enough because laws in my state restrict me from placing a trap within 5 foot of any feed hut or den entrance. and ive made a new float set that im trying tonight but ive tried some baited sets with apples but there not working. also i found a new swamp and theres only three or four dens and some food piles that are 10 foot or more away from the water and they seem still active but with the ice coming in i dunno if there active or not i did find some air bubble trails leading to them and my question is how would you trap them. also ive tried some some footholds in areas where it looks like theyve crawled up onto the bank and put lure but i havent had luck with them and how deep do you have to anchor your trap for them to drowned? Thanks for everyones input everybit helps!

As far as depth for drowning 6" is a bare minimum i try to shy away from that and go deeper because i have had some bad luck with wring outs so i usually wont set unless its about a foot deep or i have a guarded trap.

6" is too shallow to relieable drown muskrats.A foot is about the minimum with standard traps.

Rabbit you are on thin ice with me.Your answers are comming from books not experience.Stop with the answers on this page

I think you guys must be right about misreading the sign. I caught one rat yesterday in one of the runways. There are 7 small ponds in the "enhanced wetland" that I am trapping and there are I am guessing 75? trails leading from one to the other but the rats must have moved on. After setting 20 traps in the area I figured the first morning I would have a basket full. I guess I learned something about how few rats it takes to create all that sign. Thanks guys