In a way I agree with you Meandmydog, it is definately not as sporting in the common mind as is pursuing game fish with rod and reel. But to perhaps shed better light on this method of harvest, let me start by saying it is still no guarantee by any means. If placed in the wrong location, used the wrong bait, wrong sized hook or any number of other variables, you will not catch piddidle. Second, in a way it is like another way of trying to master the art of fooling a fish into a frying pan. It takes time to set everything up for a 20 hook trot line. You must bait everything up, plant each end carefully and then string out your trot line without making a big tangled mess. You then leave it alone for a period of up to 24 hours per the law, when you go back it is like a kid in a candy store full of hopes and bare hooks with no fish and a missing worm. When I was growing up I would go to Sweden each year for a month and visit a foreign exchange student we had. His father in law taught me how to take a birch branch 8-10 foot long and widdle the thick end. We then went and caught murt, an oily bottom fish similar to a greasy carp. We would place a 10" murt on a sissor trap that was essentially a larg pair of metal teeth that had a spring attached. We would tie a heavy line to the top of the branch and then suspend the bait below in the water and plant the birch branch firmly into the mud. Then row away and leave it for the night. When we came back in the morning you would know right away when you would row up to the branch when it started bobbing and weaving that there was somebody home. We grabbed the branch and then found the clip that held all the line and hand lined a pike in. These would be either grilled or smoked and preserved for the winter. You are correct that a trot line indeed has a high corolation with harvest and not sport comparitavely. However, as a young man who drove 3+ hours each way to a reservoir to try and put fish on the table for a while, it was a fun and new way to try and increase my potential of limiting out on a certain species. No matter what, you can not keep more than the stated limit per specific species, this just might help you get there with an extra method of harvest. Your not wrong in your perception and opinion on this, but I wanted to share my 2 cents on what made it a fun challenge or me.
Craig
