Fishing with a Trotline

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L.V and friends would float along with the jugs until one would start to jerk around on top of the water. That meant a catfish and they'd go pick him up. If it was a real good fish the big bobber would go right under. "It would be real quiet out there at night," L.V told me, "and when a jug would go under you'd hear the water "plop:"This is a delightful way to find some adventure in the night, and you come home with some fresh river fish for breakfast to boot!

How to Bait a Trotline

You bait a trotline according to what you want to catch. You can't beat worms for bullheads or drum. For carp, buffalo, and suckers, large kernels of field corn soaked overnight in a jello solution as sweetener is standard. Some say raspberry jello is the best. Some say strawberry, or even grape. I don't think it makes any difference. Put a couple of large kernels of sweetened corn on a hook and carp and suckers will come to your bait.

Gar like cut bait. Put chunks of carp, sucker meat, or shad on the hooks. Or use smelt, beef liver, or some other relatively. cheap meat.

All the above so-called "rough fish" are fine table fare when taken from good water and properly prepared. A good source of information on preparing and cooking these fish is the book Fishing For Buffalo and Other Rough Fish by Rob Buffler and Tom Dickson (Culpepper Press, 1990).

Undoubtedly, at least 90% of the trotlines set in America are intended to catch catfish. Indeed, in the minds of many anglers, trotlining is and always will be catfishing. The three major species are the channel catfish, blue catfish, and flathead catfish. At least one of these species is found in every state in the U.S. except for Maine and Alaska.

Get the Hook

Although bass, walleye, and other "gamefish" will occasionally snag themselves on a trotline, the usual catch is one of the socalled "rough fish": catfish, bullheads, carp, buffalo, suckers, drum, and garfish. Bullheads, carp, buffalo, and suckers all have a relatively small mouth and a #4 or #2 hook is about right. Catfish, large gar, and drum have large mouths and a 2/0, 4/0, or even 6/0 hook should be used. (For new fishermen, the above sizes run from the smallest hook— #4 — the largest — 6/0).

Channel catfish average 2 to 10 pounds; 30 pounders are taken every year. Blue and flathead catfish will average 5 to 25 pounds and occasionally exceed 100 pounds! Any and all are among the best eating freshwater fish anywhere; those of "eating size," between 1 and 12 pounds, are the most savory. Most of the trophy-size catfish should be—but too rarely are—returned to the waters to carry on their kind and to thrill other anglers.

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