In one episode of "Survivorman" Les set up a Figure-4 trap but forgot to attach the bait (cashew nuts) to the trigger. He spread the nuts around underneath the trigger stick but failed to catch anything. Also, just getting everything balanced seemed to take a lot of work. The deadfall kept collapsing.

Two things occurred to me. First, me using a needle, pin or fishhook to more firmly attach the bait to the trigger would help. If the creature needs to tug on the bait the trap will definately be sprung.

Second, prehaps using a Y-shaped support stick to hold up the deadfall might make it more stable and easier to set.

-Blast