I have been an avid trotline fisherman for 50+ years BUT, I can't understand why anyone who puts a line in the water doesn't take it out when his is finished. Also, if you tie your line to a tree why can't you go back to the tree and remove the whole line with out leaving 6-8 ft. of cord hanging from your tree to cause others problems.

My Dad taught me the joys of trotlining in the early 1950's. We caught our bait, set our lines, and ran them every four hours. We usually set them out on Friday evening and took them up Sunday afternoon. The rest of the week was work for Dad. We did this every couple of months. He taught me to keep the hooks out of the boat when attaching them to the mainline, baiting and removing fish. We took the lines home and strung them out to dry before storing for the next trip. Even back in the 50's there were some that never removed their lines and they were not a problem. Even the fish camp at the lake had rental lines that people could rent. These were made from aircraft cable. They never bothered anyone. All this worked for years, and then bass fishing became popular and out of towners came to Lake Wood. Then all the problems began. Lines cut, threats when people were caught running or cutting lines, lines pulled out of the water and hung up in trees. It boiled till there was a shooting that resulted in the death of one man and another wounded.
Today there are few trotlines, no one wants to do the work for someone else to cut them. What has developed, are many many drop or limb lines. Well camouflaged and unmarked. After a rise in the river, it is a slow, watchful trip down the river looking for lines hanging from trees with a hook just about head high in a bass boat. Mother nature hung them in the tree, but a man tied the knot.Some lines are really old, but some are still fairly new. But nylon line lasts a long time. Steel hooks usually rust away, but the stainless are forever.
I haven't set any lines in a long time, but I remember the fun.
I believe a crab trap clean up type of clean up would work for trotlines and jug lines. TP&W can declare a month that no lines can be set and coordinate volunteers to clear any remaining lines.

No Sir. Not in this Camp!

It already is organized with TP&W (crab-trap removal, that is). Has been for a few years. Nothing negative meant by this post. I've taken part in several cleanups and the organizers make it a fun time.

http://www.ccatexas.org/2015-texas-crab-trap-removal-program/

The crab trap cleanup has been very successful. I think something along that line can be done for abandoned trotlines and other fishing lines.

Bass fishermen seem to enjoy their own style of rudeness. They think nothing about plowing through boats to get to that next hole, but God forbid a guy fishing with his son create a wake going by them.. I try to be polite on the water, but in reality, I'm only going to give what I get.

That's kinda' what I was thinking. Close the state to trot and jug lines for the same 10 days and have "cleanups" with designated disposal sites. (Pretty much a trash can at every ramp)

I'll tell you, I put too much work into my jug lines and trotlines to just use them once and leave them to rot. Jugging is great fun for family fishing with kids.

What I dislike more than anything is people that mostly want to take the pleasure out of my favorite pastimes. Sadly that seems to have become one of the favorite pastimes of too many people these days. You can't go anywhere anymore without finding the Grenches stirring the pot. That is one reason that I do nearly all of my fishing Monday through Friday these days.

I'm with this guy...

it's prolly the bass fishers leaving the old trotlines too. They want to try fish for the first time so they run to Wal-Mart and buy a trotline. Put it in a terrible place and catch no fish so they just leave it...it's all speculation of course

Twisted midnight I think you're right about people setting them in terrible places then leaving them, at least for many of them.

Then there's the people that just don't care about things that matter to others, an example being someone that won't think twice about throwing a week's worth of trash off of a river bridge, I have no reason to believe that type of person would care much about what they leave in a lake.

Same here Unfortunately bass fishermen have the mentality that allow them to really believe that their boats have two speeds, wide open and off. What's even more amazing are the number of people who post bass boats for sale in the classifieds thinking that someone really want ro buy a boat that has been run WOT it's entire life. I guess it takes all kinds.

I have never fished the north texas lakes, but another contributing factor to abandoned trotlines is being lost. I learned fishing as a kid in Choke Canyon when it was 20-24 foot low, picture a flooded regrowth mequite field where everything looks the same for miles on end. Lots of people set stuff and drive away and never find it again. Or set it and then the next day it storms and they cant get out to pull it and they vaca is over and end up leaving. I have never done either of those, but have seen both happen.