I make mine with Burlap sacks and #9 wire. Place the trap and drive a stake. The traps should have a swivel of some type at the end of the chain. Place the swivel on the wire, it will only slide freely in one direction, the other direction it catches. Place the swivel on the wire so that the trap will slide out to deeper water. Attatch the wire to the stake next to the trap, fill the burlap sack with rocks or mud from the river and attatch the other end of the wire to the sack. Drag the sack out and drop it into deep water so the wire has no slack in it. If the sack is light enough that you can throw it to deep water it doesn't have enough weight in it. When the beaver gets in the trap he immediately heads for deep water, the trap will run down the slide and he won't be able to pull the trap back up. You need a minimum of 4 feet of water if you are setting for a back leg and 3 feet if setting for a front leg. I would recommend you get the book, "Open Water Beaver Trapping" by Charles Dobbins. Excellent book, he goes over it all with pictures, diagrams, trap placement, sets, baits, etc. Well worth $10.