Author Topic: staking muskrat traps. (Read 486 times)

fishdaddy · « **on:** November 26, 2004, 04:57:16 PM »

how do you stake foothold traps on lodges?
thx.
fish.

RdFx · « **Reply #1 on:** November 26, 2004, 05:58:18 PM »

You can use lathes or long alder branches... I never liked lathes as if a coon swam out to hut and got caught he could get away .. the alders gave some but still stayed stuck in the mud and coon wouldnt get leverage and works great for rats... Some fellas use bamboo (long) when in high grass marsh so they could see where there traps were as they flagged them on top of long bamboo. Maybe Bog has another method as he is a good rat trapper.

Bogmaster · « **Reply #2 on:** November 27, 2004, 04:28:55 AM »

Fish,do you get the Trapper and Predator Caller magazine.I had an article on just this subject--No Latheing Matter--was the title.I go into depth on how I stake for rats at houses.
Tom

fishdaddy · « **Reply #3 on:** November 27, 2004, 12:23:50 PM »

no i dont get the mag. but i get the idea how to do it.
thx.
fish.

jim-NE · « **Reply #4 on:** November 29, 2004, 08:19:18 AM »

I think main point is to use something adequate to hold your rats and traps, and certainly you want something long enough to stick up above the water level at least a foot or so. Idea is that if water levels rise, you can still find your sets...and if things freeze over you can still find your sets. I like the lathes in the cattails and weedy areas where huts and runs get hit for sets. I like my stakes to stand out a little from the surroundings so that I can find them in the low light periods. I trap a lot of very private lakes though. I would keep things very low key in more public lakes though, and would probably lean toward more natural branch-type stakes to blend in better.
Jim-NE