They shine when rat trapping in winter with ice on. All my 1.5 coils would not fit down a plunge hole when a rat makes a very small feed bed. I ordered multiple dozen #1 coils for this and they all fit threw the small holes in ice. I am not talking about the huts that are large and visible from a hundred yards - I am talking the small under baskball sized push-ups visited by a single rat. Those holes are the diameter of a single rat and once caught a 1.5 coil spring will catch that rat up and it freezes solid. A #1 coil will fit through the hole and you have a drowned rat that you can reset the hole. Those rats that year payed for my #1 coils. No other trap other than a #0 would not fit.

Don't hear of many current long liners or past legends that outfitted with a few hundred # 1's. The only one's that comes to mind are Don Bolte and Blackie. Don was said to use B&L #1LS w/ booster springs held in place with a forked stick thru the chain ring. I remember Blackie saying he liked #1 NW's on his OH canoe lines... I'm sure there are others.

4" drain tile can be very effective in eliminating 'coon from your set. Unless I hear otherwise, I will make every effort to reduce the 'coon from getting into my sets.

The pan on this #1 Bridger coilspring comes from a Duke #1 1/2 coilspring. To the Dukes I added the Wild River mink pan and use that where drowning depth is immediate and I can still snug this in to help eliminate 'coon.





Cut a long, narrow pocket, place bait way in the back, set that #1 coilspring halfway back out of the 'coon's reach. I've got drowner cables equipped with two drowner locks. Each of 'em will have a #1 coilspring attached. Set the furthest one back in the hole, other goes in the entrance. You'll find two critters at the bottom of the drowner cable.



Bonus points: Run two cables to a common terminal end in deep water. Bank ends maybe five feet apart or so. One to your pocket, the other to a blind set for mink. Blind set: shove a stick at a 45 degree angle into the bottom and lodge it into the bank leaving enough room underneath for a mink to pass but the 'coon will go around. Three critters at the terminal end. Doesn't take all that long to set up and once set up, easy to process. Critters are dispatched so set should be good to go.

In the right situation, take a 3" auger and drill a hole up on the bank (assuming it's only a couple of feet high) that will connect with the back of your long, narrow pocket. Elbow set.

Are mink gonna shine again this coming season?

My last few hundred coon and mink were 100 % drowned . 1 1/2 coils ,

Personally, I like them on really small dirt clumps rats are using. They take up way less room than a 1 1/2 coil or any long spring which is nice for some of those little clumps that are clearly being used. I actually prefer #1 jump stoploss in this situation, HOWEVER, some of these situations I know will involve a raccoon. In places when these small clumps could see a raccoon, I like the double coil of a #1. Sleepys, Monties, and Northwoods made about the best #1 coils, but Vics weren't bad either.

Absolutely correct! It doesn’t take very deep water to drown a large buck mink in a Duke 1 1/2 coil!

Great information everyone! Thank you all for contributing.

lots of rocky areas here . I use some Sleepy Creek #1 coils double jaws and they work fine for me. the smaller trap is easier to fit into some sets