a farmer has two small cattail lined ponds that he asked me to get rid of the rats in. i havent trapped rats in about 50 years and then only in creeks where dens were easy to see and set with conibears. i walked the edge of the ponds and can see where they are sitting on the mud flats but never saw a den? my guess is that the den holes are out in deeper water that i cant get to so my thought was to just set those flat mud areas with an apple baited 110, will that work?

I know apple baited body grips work but I have never had much luck with them. However, baited floaters with foot holds have done quite well.

I've read your comment/question a couple times. It's hard for me to get a feel for the place.

Not sure if the ponds are natural or man-made?

I'm not sure, when you walked the ponds, were you on the bank? Or, walking the water side of the cattails?

Years ago I trapped a "flood control dam", that sounds similar to your spot. That dam is over 40 acres, I trapped around, maybe 1/3 of the shore line.

Wearing hip-boots, I could wade at the outside edge of the cattails. So, you're looking at 2 feet deep, or so? Part of the pond was frozen over, that I could walk on, part of it was just skim ice. I used my ax as a prod. Just to kind of feel around. A shovel would have worked better, but I needed my ax.

Today, if I'd trap the same pond, 40 acres of it, I'd use funnel traps.

Do a search in the archives, should be in the "trap/equipment" section.

That flood control dam was drained and rebuilt, about 20 years ago, there aren't many rats in it today. But I remember nights after school, checking traps, I'd turn the truck around and see 8, 10 maybe a dozen rats sitting on the ice, in the headlights. 40 yards away.

each pond is man made about 2 acres each with the edges lined with cattails. i walked the shore and saw flattened feed beds but no dens? i can see it drops off deep off the cattails so im leary to walk out there so im thinking just a baited 110 in the feed beds?

Search in the "water trapping" archives. I found a funnel trap, link. And 3 more links about muskrat floats.

There is another link, that I can't find, but that one had "float sets" that were made with corrugated black plastic pipe, and pool noodles. It's a good read. Not sure how it's listed?

One thing that I want to clear up from my other comment, above where I said I was using my ax as a prod. I was using it to kind of feel along the bottom, looking for muskrat runs.

Above where I mentioned that a shovel would have worked better, I mean a full size, just regular ditch shovel To more or less use it like a cane or a walking stick.

Tell you what, if you get stuck in the muck, where it's trying to pull your boots off and there isn't anything there to get a grip on. It's hard to keep your balance. Reason for the walking stick.

Here on the forum, we've got young folks that have probably never been stuck in the mud. Not yet anyway.

Talking about baited bodygrips, I've tried that before. I've never had good results.