[mudcat_xpress]

How do you like to set your trot lines? And what size hooks and bait?

 

[Desperado]

I used to set them with 25 hooks (2/0). Using milk jugs and coffee cans filled with concrete with a round lag on top of them to tie the trot line to. I used bluegill pieces and whole live ones. Caught lots of nice cats. I set out yo-yo's now.

 

[bud1110]

Mudcat,

There is several pages about trot lines in the Boc library. Everything from how to set them up, and where, to what type of baits to use.

Go to the top of this page and click on search, then type in trotlines, it should show the information your looking for...

Everybody is a little bit different when it comes to setting trot lines and the bait they use...

Good luck..

 

[Desperado]

WOW, big letters, way to get your point across....lol

 

[bud1110]

Desperado,

I don't think I was much help to that fellow. The link took me right back here. I don't think they have the library feature turned on yet on this site .

I tried to go to the library on the old site, but it was locked down and I could not get in it. I was gonna post a link for mudcat to go to but it didn't work out....

 

[jtrew]

Try this link:
http://www.catfish1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1329&highlight=trotlining

 

[LilRyjoe04]

You can get premade trot lines. I usually use the 50 hook premade ones and I use sun cured garlic chicken livers (toughens them up so they stay on the hook better.), cut baits ( for big blues), and live bait like blue gills or creek chubs. Just try to throw a variety of baits at them and you'll usually get good results. If I were you I would go Live, liver, cut in order all the way so that you know what the cats are hitting. Also, I swear by using circle hooks for trot lines. I use 7/0 or 8/0 circles. On the cuts, you can cut anything and use it. Shad work well, but skip jack usually works best. You might even want to try blue gill heads. Blues love cut bait. When you are pulling your lines, I would get a styrofoam container and line the hooks up on the edge. This helps from getting the hooks and line tangled. Good Luck and let me know how you do!!

 

[TOPS]

I do not trot line fish anymore. I now set out yo-yo's or put out noodles

 

[jtrew]

Using a styrofoam container to hold your trotline, with your hooks stuck in the edge will certainly work, but it doesn't give you any advantage in baiting your hooks, or putting out the trotline. A jumpbox will let you bait your lines before you put them out--or before you put the boat in the water, if that's what you want; and you can put a trotline out using a jumpbox faster than any other method I've ever heard of.
Here's a picture, but it's of a 2-holer jumpbox, which I've never seen used. Normally, they are simply a square box; the sides may be vertical or tilted.

 

[three_rivers]

Back when i was trotlinnin all the time i would always find me a spot on that i thought might produce fish. Once i found a spot that i thought could hold fish i'd find a cypress knee, snag, pretty much anything that could hold the weight. I'd take a roll of nylon(heavy stuff) and start workin my way down the line tying loops about every 24 to 30 inches. About a third of the way through i'd tie a long loop for a weight and go back to tying small loops. Two thirds of the way through i'd tie my second weight loop and work my way across to the bank. I'd find a cypress knee and temorarily tie off to and work my way back across adding hooks. As i'd run the small loops through the eyes and push my hook through the loop after its went through the eye tying it to the line at which time i'd be baiting as i went along. Go back and tie my weights on and go back to the where i tied it off temporarily and pull all the slack up and out of the line. And shes ready to go. It seems like alot but once i got it down i could string a line in 10 minutes or less.

The only other way i ever ran lines was when i didn't have something to tie off too. I'd just bait out hooks the same way with a big weight on the end to keep it where i wanted it.

Hope this helps.

 

[peewee williams]

The single most important thing,is to check out your area.If your trot line gets hung up,you may lose most of it.At best,it is a pain.Even if you have used the set before,something may have floated in.I have suddenly found a tree in a set that I have used for 20 + years.I set them to clear boat motors and as much trash as possable.I used from #1 to 6/0 hooks,as you target areas for different size fish.The same with baits.The bite slacks off,try a new depth,(top to bottom)a new bait,or several types.Sometimes it works,some times it don;t.peewee

 

[jtrew]

Some of my best spots for trotlines have been where I consistently had my trotlines hang up. As a matter of fact, at my very best spot, I never checked my line without it being hung up somewhere. One day, it would be hung at one spot, and the next, it would be loose there and hung somewhere else. When I finally pulled the line, I had to retreive as much line as possible from one end, then do the same from the other end, leaving a few feet stuck to a stump. I've never found a worthwhile place to set a trotline except near woody or rocky structure.