Best use I recall was just outside a reservation they would burn the fuzz off and drag the springs out onto the ice all tied together in a big in a big matrix.
When the ice melted they sank to the bottom just down stream of a big dam and a very popular fishing spot.
The mattress wires would snag most every lure that touched bottom.
After fishing season closed they would tow them out with a tractor and harvest all the lures to sell in the local bait shops as used lures.
Would thoroughly PO the fishermen, but I always thought it was simply making use of what nature provided.
I never actually witnessed this, but can attest to losing more than a normal amount of lures there.
