you have to keep in mind coon habits also. They prefer to stand on top and or the side and reach in...they are reachers and grabbers. Block the sides down with grass, brush, whatever and force them to work the trap from the front. Also, have the bait and lure in the back and make them go in. They are extremely curious animals...but if you satisfy that curiosity they will not work the set long. If the bait is easy to steal, they will steal it, and you will even sometimes find your bait or lure holder a few paces away from the set...dropped after the curiosity was satisfied. I run a lot of dryland dirt sets for coon, and have seen it time and again. If I make the hole deep, and pin the bait at a right angle to their direct line of pull against my bait pin, they have to work the bait a little harder to get anything, and they shuffle their rear feet around just a bit more for a set connection. I use either a very high backing, or no backing at all.
Pocket sets made on low, shallow banks will sometimes get coons working the pocket from above rather than in front of and in the shallow water in front of the set...where the trap is normally placed.
Cage traps I believe often face these same curiosity issues when used to take coons. The trap has to be fairly stable, have a very strong attractive lure or food inside, and it has to be only accessible from the front opening (or front and rear on 2-door models). My live traps have extra layer of wire mesh around the back 1/3 of the trap to prevent reach-ins. I also pile some grass, brush, etc up around the sides and top to keep the focus on the open end. Bait or lure is set dead center back of the trap by the pan. Depending on the model of trap you are using, just keep some of these points in mind when setting for coons. Also, sounds like you have a great location...and at least the coons are working set which means all the right elements are there for catching them...just tighten things up to keep their curiosity going and make them enter that trap instead of taking their natural approach of reaching in through the sides or from the top.
