Hey i have never been trot line fishing before. I want to try it, so i would appreciate it if you would please tell me some tips, and about the local regulations

cant tell ya dont know where local is, my local is prob. different than your local

Whereabouts are you? Or what lake or river do you plan to start in?

I make my own trotlines. I make them different, as for the lake, concerning whether they are big water or shallow water. Then for the Navasota River, I have to make them shorter, plus I have made them run like a slow "V" with a tie line, either due to logs, drift, or coming around a bend. Last time I veed one around the bend, we had at least 10 Cats on it (of about 36 hooks). But for the Trinity River I make them longer than I would the ones for the Navasota River ones.

Patrick, a friend of my nephew's, who sometimes fishes with us, I made him up 2 trotlines for a Christmas gift- a Big Water & a Shallow Water ones like I do mine for Lake Limestone. He told Larry (my nephew) that he really liked my setup. What does he do? At my birthday party in 2009, Patrick gave me a present. It was a small special clear tub with clasps. Inside was 7 rolls of size 36 green twist trotline cord & a few packages of brass Barrel swivels. He said all he was asking for, was me to make him up 2 Big Water & 2 Shallow water trotlines. Any thing left over was mine (for my birthday). He already had/has plenty of leaders made up.

You can find all the regulations for trotlines at the link below:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/fish/legal_devices/

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/fish/definitions/

What size weights should you use on trotlines and Juglines?

Enough weight (bricks, iron, window weights, gallon coffee cans with concrete, etc.) to bring your trotline down quick so any outboard motor will not snag it with the prop; on juglines, I like to use at least 5 lb dumb bells or a gallon coffee can of concrete to reduce the movement when a large cat takes off with it.

Gallon coffe cans are heavy, if you fill one with cement it will be near 20lbs... that doesnt sond like much, but put it on a piece of twine with wet hands and it is a mistake.

for trotline weights we use vegetable or dog food cans filled with cement and an I bolt or piece of chain, for juglines we got a piece of 2.5" pvc about a foot long full of cement, and they work good without being too heavy.

matt

Thanks for the advice. I used the larger dixie cups with cement on my juglines but they kept disappearing. I'll go with heavier weights next time.

I used to melt lead alloy in Pepsi cans with coat hanger wire, as one of the 2 YellowCat instructors showed me & we had access to the lead alloy. But I am more conscious of the lead poisoning, so I have switched to making concrete ones instead.

I have found that the plastic pints from Blue Bell ice cream work well for a lighter weight & the plastic quart measuring kind you can get at Wal-Mart or Lowes is the best weight, when you fill them with concrete. Put a galvanized loop (such as a piece of the thick wire used on the bottom of chain link fences or snip a section of an old bucket handle in it, but make sure it sticks up a bit. Don't overfill. Notch a hole in the side of the plastic container & tie some cord from it to the wire loop. This ensures that your plastic cover/container stays on. It protects the concrete, as well as your boat.