Well I reworked some of my older trotlines and built another with 24 hooks. Looks like I will be running 74 hooks this year until I am tired of it. I usually use a good stout 5 foot pole cut from a stand of trees that are too close together making them straight and 2-3 inches thick for stakes. I seldom set them in water more than 3 feet deep so I can run them wading if I want to. As for tricks try to get the main line as tight as possible and back in the good old days I would put a piece of rubber band line in the middle of the trotline to keep it tight and to give it some flexibility. Seems like I get a lot fewer missing baits and more catfish this way too. Nowadays the band line is hard to come by so I buy 6' workout bands cut them in half and tie home made hooks on each end and tie it to the trotline with just a bit of slack between it's length and stretch it while pushing the 2nd stake into the mud. I don't mind the main line being on the bottom but a few inches off is the best. I use 5/0 Eagle Claw straight shank bait hooks. I sharpen every hook new or old with a file. As for bait I like cut perch and buffalo best with carp coming in last. Normally I am in the process of catching bait in between checking the trotlines, 74 hooks is a lot of baiting. I like to use the bait cut in strips 3/4" to 1" wide by as deep as the bait fish was before I cut it up vertically. I find that rough scaling carp and buffalo is a good idea. While the trotlines are fishing I am either fishing for bait or bowfishing for bait till I have plenty then I might go squirrel hunting during the breaks. If your setting your lines out in good water the only issues are how many fish you want to clean and continually baiting hooks.

Good write up

You been doing any good on Alvarado ? I set some this weekand and pretty much got skunked . Bait was a little trick but I managed some shad. Had bullhead and a bent hook was about the most action I got all night

I may try to noodle come time but I don't think I'd run a trotline by wading.

A long handled net comes in handy for sure.

The only thing I do on Alvarado is test run boats I'm working on.

What lake you setting trot lines?

Nice tips on the shock absorber thank you....we have done the same for many many years For us We used 5 and 6/ 0" self sharpened hooks" also,we finally tried the circles on our lines after a saltwater trip where they proved themselves to us, with the circles we eventually settled on the 7 to 8/0 octopus circles that worked well the lrg cut baits we were using after we changed to circle hooks our "empty" hook ratio went way down and our catch rate went up at least 25% and gut hooked fish went down to nearly zero..
generally used live bait if possible our results were just as good when we used cut bait as long as you leave plenty of the hook hanging out of the bait so it can grab doesn't matter sharp or dull and the black Nickle coating lasted for more than ten years then most were changed only because we went to 9/0...

Barlow's in Richardson use to carry the old style rubber band line rubber, they may still have it if you happen to need some the stuff lasts a really long time if you keep it wet once you used it or gotten it wet..I bought some moving rubber bands they are about 1 inch wide and 8 to 10 ft in length once cut.. Sometime we have used bicycle tubes if you can find one cheap enough to keep our trot lines tite. one of the best things we did was tie a knot in main line add a couple plastic beads then a swivel then 2 more beads and another knot all as close together as you can ..It really prevents the twist