Beav I don’t know if you remember the plastic pocket poppers Jim Blakely sold. I’ve used them for rats as well as mink a number of years ago and they are pretty slick where you have no banks.They had notches for a spring or springs of a 110 or 120. Still might have a few around somewhere. Forgot all about them until I started reading this. Something like that might work. Maybe a rat lure with a ball of grass inside.

Check out Non Grip traps. They are essentially floating colony traps. A bit pricey, but should eliminate all the issues you're having.

I bought some muskrat sized live traps and placed them on floats. The guy I bought them from said he used them In those back yard ponds in subdivisions. He made them so once the rat was caught It struggled enough to tip the float over so the rats died. I tried It never caught a rat In One.
I would have to check our colony trap laws but It states we can't bait a colony trap. But wouldn't a dry land colony trap be the same as live trap? I'm just not sure If a rat would push open the gate on a dry land or above the water colony trap. But I will give It a try.


That might work In some of my situations. It sure would cut down on those bait stealing gueese. Will give It a try.

You can make a floating colony type trap with an underwater basket.
Use a platform 18 by 24 inches with a 4 inch hole drilled in the middle so the rat goes down the hole and drowns in the cage.Make a 6 inch tube of chickenwire and staple to hole on the bottom so rats cant get back up through the hole.You can make the basket out of chickenwire also,but make the colony trap and doors out of hardware cloth like a normal type colony trap.
I have used these to catch rats in spring,they work well where feeder creeks enter a stream or river.
I use a little rat gland lure on the platform and cover the platform with grass.
These traps are repeaters so dont forget to cut a door on the basket to remove all the rats.

Sounds good but with WI stupid laws your colony trap needs to be completely under water. And you can't bait a colony trap.

Snaring muskrats works far better on land than trying to do it in the water