Tim- hopefully we can help each other !
I was asking the questions for a couple of reasons. I personally think the 1.5 cs is the perfect all around trap- if by law I could have only one trap- that would be it. I find **** not at all hard ot hold on land, and I don't worry about tangelements, etc. Only "secrets" are- 1) as one poster stated- bed your traps as for canines 2) use a dog guide stick. #short chain. I use Dukes. On land- my instances of pullouts are very rare- almost non existant.
Now in water- in general, I have little problem with pullouts. On staked or drag sets ( I use logs on small streams) I again have little problem holding ****.
But on drowning wire sets- I have more pullouts than any other type. I find more of this occuring in "high lever" type traps such as the older Victors. I find these empty at the end of the wire 2-3 times a week. My theorey is that as the **** tries to go down the wire, his feet push on the springs, and he looses the grip enough to pull out. The wet foot surely helps this happen.
I thought #11 might take care of this problem, and that problem they do- but I found that, for me, the number of snapped traps was just way too high. In water, most catches are by the back foot, and the back foot on a **** of any size can easily span a #11.
A #11 on land, although I hear of some that have success with it, to me is worthless- it just can't come up through the amount of dirt needed to bed traps properly.
Comments?