Fishermen most commonly use trot lines in rivers.
One of the most common ways to run a trot line is off the bank of a river and into the water. Trot lines have multiple hooks on them -- some have as many as 25 or more -- that are hooked with bait and dropped in the water. While many fishermen who use trot lines target catfish, they potentially could hook a wide variety of fish species. Fish that anglers are not targeting generally can be released, so most fishermen who use trot lines check them at least once a day.
Instructions
1. Find a spot in the river with good fish habitat. Look for features such as deep holes and pools and undercut banks. Spots where the river swings also can be good.
2. Attach one end of the trot line to a stable object on the shoreline, such as a stump or tree. If there are no natural objects, a stake driven into the ground also works as a ground anchor.
3. Grab the unstaked portion of the trot line and get into a boat. Motor straight away from the anchor and into the river. As you go toward the middle of the river, feed line out and bait hooks as you come to them. Night crawlers are good all-around baits. Strips of minnows also work well.
4. Tie a length of nylon line to a milk jug. The line length depends on the river's depth; it should be sufficiently long to suspend the hooks a foot or two above the bottom. Tie the float line to the trot line about one-quarter of the way between the end of the trot line that's onshore and the end that will be anchored in the river.
5. Drop each hook and bait into the river as you continue motoring out. Once you get to the end, tie a 2-foot piece of rope to the end of the trot line. Tie a cinder block -- or a 1-gallon milk pail filled with concrete -- to the other end of the rope. Drop the anchor and trot line to the bottom.
6. Check the trot line at least once every 24 hours.
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