#1 Stoploss perfect situation?

[Kevlar]

Just wondering what is the perfect situation for a #1 stoploss. Also how would one hold up if a coon got into it. Would it hold a coon??

KEv

[multibeard]

They are good anyplace you would set a foothold for rats especially in shallower water.

Yes they will hold a coon. The problem lies in how well they are staked. If there is a good chance a coon might get into it wire it to a brushy stake so that it will act like a drag, tangling up in the brush or vegetation.

[David G Duncan]

KEv,

Like Multibeard said, a #1 stoploss is an excellent muskrat trap!

To be specific, the #1 longspring Stoploss trap. I never did like the old under spring #1 stoploss traps. But I always had great success with the #1 longspring stoploss trap and still own over hundred.

In fact, the largest mink I ever caught was in a #1 longspring stoploss trap set in a small feeder stream. This buck mink measures over 36" tip to tip, stretched.

However, the #1 longspring stoploss trap is not my preferred trap for raccoons (I like the 1.5 coilspring for raccoons), but like Multibeard indicated, you have to plan for the incidential catches of raccoons in your muskrat traps, even when you are setting out in the middle of a muskrat marsh.

The one modifitcation that I make to all my #1 stoploss traps is to add 18" of extra chain to each trap. This especially comes in handy when you are trapping out in a cattail marsh on open feeders, because the caught rat don't destroy the feeder. Also, it gives you more flexibility at to where you stake the trap, especially if you use the delayed action pin on the stoploss arm.

Using the delayed action pin on the stoploss trap is not all that necessary, but with the extra chain length, it does make it a more convenient option. I knew one very successful trapper by the name of Houghton King that never used the delayed action pin and caught thousands of muskrats with the #1 stoploss trap. He told me that if he ever found one of his traps set with the delayed action pin in place, that he knew someone had stolen a muskrat out of his trap and then reset it.

#1 longspring stoploss traps are excellent muskrat traps to use where the water depth is a problem or out in cattail marshes where there is a lot of vegetation that muskrats can get tangled in before they drown. Using just plain #1 longsprings out in a marsh will produce a lot of wring offs, unless you are setting them under the ice.