I was wondering what setup would work best for my mink line not too long ago and after discussing this with some top notch trapper friends I have settled on a setup. Firstly, there is no single way that will a lock to work every time, but I have found that this setup works best in most situations.

From the trap I run at least 4 feet of chain with a toggle on the end. Approximately 1 foot up from the bottom I put a split ring on a link of chain. I can run that chain around whatever root or anchoring point at the set location then put the toggle through the split ring and I'm immediately anchored off without the use of any tools. I also have water line drags that are pretty slick- in the event that I can't tie off as mentioned above (or don't want to disrupt the set location) I can run the toggle that's already on the end of my chain through the D ring at the top of the drag.... I like to run a line with the minimal amount of tools necessary, so this works best for me. Hope it helps.

Drags are a one and done purchase so I like using drags on water line. If in rocky streams run drag out into deeper water and throw some rocks on it. If roots nearby hook onto them. If in a area with higher chances of coon catches I prefer to just leave drag loose to avoid set being demolished or if pre hooked always have it hooked near some type of object tree bush root cluster log so coon can get away from set and tangle up to stay away from set. Good pocket locations aren’t always the easiest to come by so avoiding them being wrecked by a coon is always a good idea when possible.

I've had to many coon get In a culvert or climb a tree when using drags.

I use hard wood stakes and about 3" down from the top I drill a hole and shove a length of 3/32 cable through that hole. I normally use about 24". On one end I place a quick connect and the other end gets a small washer and a crush on stop button. I made a steel pocket driver that Is about 2" deep. With a shaft about 2' long.
In most cases you have to leave them when you pull since they swell up and are just about Impossible to pull.

You be wrong with assumptions muskrat.
I learned from Old Guy Rockburn how to drown beaver with tangle stake,which is how he drowned all his open water beaver and his otter.
If your trap is not heavy enough all you need to do is add a small weight to the chain near the foothold.for beaver and otter.Just as positive as a slide lock as long as you have the depth to drown where you drive your pole/stake.
The old timers did not use the added weight for the bigger animals like Old Guy they used a heavy trap only with one spring removed.
It is why there are still old wolf traps and small bear traps found at old camps with only one spring.
I use tangle stakes also to drown beaver when I have to use a snare to take a smart beaver in open water.
Its not legal here to snare beaver unless you drown them.
Tangle stakes were also used by natives to close the nets when they netted beaver under ice.
Tangle stakes and how to properly apply them is likely a lost art since the advent of bodygrips.

Anyway this is all abit off topic since the OP was about MINK.
There are endless what ifs I suppose but if your set is multi species or not species specific anchor accordingly,

I'd wager Old Guy didn't trap 'coon with a single strand of 14 gauge and tangle stake. Again, no doubt about the beaver. And yes, the topic is mink, but it got sidetracked to 'coon and that's where I threw the flag.

Ya whatever.

Trouble with wooden stakes is, they are only usable on creeks that aren't mostly rocks. On lots of good mink water you could not drive a wooden stake to save your life.

I’ve caught a 10 pound coon on my turtle line before and it didn’t break trot line even tho it could have easily chewed it. I’ve heard of people using 14 gauge for coon but I guess it just depends on how big your coon are. The ones I catch I wouldn’t trust them on 14 gauge wire but that’s just in my area

I wouldnt use wire to hold a live animal.Only for dispatch sets.
99% of all sets I make for all species are lethal sets.
I dont want to mess with live animals when trapping.Not efficient.

So . . . 1% of your sets must be for 'coon.

Lynx-your going off in the weeds again.

LOL

Try using a brake rotor in some locations

You can use wood stakes (often can cut on site), you can get fancy and drill holes through them as others have described. Or you can just cut them the right diameter so you can drive them through the ring on the end of the trap chain, leave a stob on the top so that the ring cannot come off the top of the stake when you cut. You can also wire traps off to stakes, roots, large rocks, etc. I never use 14 wire, I use 11 wire, that will hold an incidental catch also. The tangle stake is a good idea if the situation is correct, or you can always run a slide wire setup if you are worried about incidentals. I wouldn't bother with a slide wire for mink, unnecessary effort, but it will work well for larger incidentals.

[quote=Boco]I wouldnt use wire to hold a live animal.Only for dispatch sets.

X2


I do a lot of mink trapping. I mainly use bottom edge sets with 110's or 120's. With these i use 14 ga wire & secure to available brush or root system.
Now for FOOTHOLDS i always use a 3/8" stake with CHAIN. You need to do that to hold other animals, especially coon, that will get into your mink sets. I do almost all blind setting for mink but a coon will even get into those on rare occasions.
Coon are a BIG problem on most mink lines. Think of the biggest animal that might get into your sets & secure accordingly

Used to go that route but bumped up to #150s and paracord.

earth anchor. depending on soil conditions add about +-30 inches of cable

Wooden stake with a grapple drag also attached if a coon might be a problem.

Back in the day I used the black 16 gauge wire doubled up, attach the double bent over end to the trap chain and the double loose ends to the stake, i had rats and mink cut up when the double ends were attached to the chain, never lost a coon or even my first otter with that set up

Nowadays I use 6/7 feet of 3/8 rebar it can be gotten cheap from dumpsters at construction sites just ask first, essentially all it is is a smaller version of a beaver drowning rod

Minnesota has a 72 hour check law and the rods allow me to take advantage of that in that I run two separate lines alternate days

Brick and a length of wire. Brick tossed in deep water. I have a hook on my wading stick to retrieve the catch.