I've been on the Sabine River way too many times and seen lines 10' out of the water. And I've also had many a fish taken(stoeln) off my lines that were in the water(not high and dry). I never got mad about my missing fish, I was more mad about having to duck my head so I wouldn't be decapitated or snagged by rotting lines hanging around the river.

Good Job! saving the fish, now some kid might catch the fish of a lifetime.

It is illegal to keep Bass, Crappie, Whites or Striper caught on a drop, throw or trotline.

Even if it was a legal line I would have taken the fish off becasue it's illegal for the person running the line to keep the fish anyways so it would have been a waste. If the lines were illegal (untagged) I would have cut them and removed them from the lake. The Corps of Engineers and Game Wardens dont have the time to clean up this junk unless they are already in the area and I can more than defend myself if ole bubba decides it's a good idea to confront me about it ;P

This isn't an ethical/unethical issue, but a legal/illegal issue. Regardless of who put the line/lines in the water, especially if it needed to be "tagged" if it had 5 or more hooks, once you touch that line, it becomes YOUR FISHING GEAR! How you say, if it's not tagged, then the game warden notices/watches you handling it and then comes over, he/she may issue a citation due to you "running the line" taking fish off for whatever reason. Only a game warden can remove, cut, take up trotline, throw lines, droplines, juglines, etc. if they are not tagged properly or outdated.

Now, if that line is tangled in your prop, then yes, you have to cut it to remove it from your boat motor. So many folks have been cited for running lines that did not belong to them even though they were just cutting/touching the line. They could also cite you for possession of a game fish by an illegal means.

A word of caution...

The best thing any of us would/should/could have done was contact the game warden immediately and let them handle it. I have a clear record and wouldn't want to have something like this tarnish it in any way even though I'm trying to save one fish.

Chris

since on the topic of dead fish, if u got a fish on the stringer and it dies how long before it becomes nasty? and bad or unsafe to eat?

you did the right thing, thanks for increasing the odds for someone who hasnt caught a fish that big. i would have done the same and then cut all the lines and tossed em in the trash, right or wrong legal or not i dont giva damn, im like that about somethings.

gills need to have a little color to them (Red color)no color no eat

I definitely think you did the ethical thing.

I Know guys I know! It was supposed to be funny......

Were they trotlines or throwlines. As I read it according to page 33 (of your outdoor annual hunting and fishing regulations)A throwline does not have to be tagged. We need a gw for that. I run my lines at least 2 times a day when I use them. That being said, If I was to catch any of you guys running or cutting my line!!!!! Well lets just say that would not be the only law broken that day.
I know it is illeagal to keep a bass caught on a line. So you did a good deed!
All of my lines are custom built with alot of time and money tied up in each one. I alway check and reteive my lines.
How do you know that the lines were not set by the same landowner that had the sign. To keep people out of his fishing hole?

Good point YELLA!!!!

Maybe I ain't getting the same thing out of this like the rest of you, but from what I am reading, he was fishing off a barge, that someone had walked around hanging drop lines off of. It maybe the interpretation of trotline vs. throwline vs. drop line. I find these things all the time on the crappie barges, people are limited to 2 poles usually, so some folks will take a spool of line and pull off several feet of line, put a hook and a split shot on it, put a minnow on the hook, and tie it to the rail both inside the barge and outside. Then when they leave, they just walk off and forget them. This is one of the reasons that the old Yo-Yo's became illegal to use.
I think it was right to release the fish and cut the lines, I have never released a fish off of one, but have cut plenty of them and throwed them in the trash. As someone else said the GW's don't have the time to run around and check every barge or pier for illegal set lines. JMO

Isn't that crazy? We all read the same post and have a different take. I was looking at it from my point of veiw. Fishing in a river, where I almost never even see anyone else. I don't even know what a barge is. I thought it was a big boat someone had tied up on their land to fish off of. I have been informed. The only time I have been to a lake was to get access to the river feeding it. I never stopped and fished. A piece of mono baited with a minnow that has not been checked in 10 hours is just wrong. But I will never cut a line unless it is obvious that it has not been checked or baited in days. To help you understand where I am coming from;

I fish the Rio Grande (and not for anything but cats) The other side would be Mexico. Therefore You must hide or tie your lines underwater if you expect them to be there the next morning. I have lost hundreds of lines due to mexicans theives in paddle boats that steal them as soon as you drive off. I am not tring to offend a mexican, but If you are a theif or a regular line cutter, then I hope your boat sinks ( A nice way to put it)

I think you did the right thing by releasing the
bass.

bigyella, I never could get into trotline fishing, but the guys that I know that do trotline, they have to hide them just like you do.
Up here, a lot of times people won't cut the lines, they will just watch and figure out the schedule of when they are being run and rebaited, then they'll just sorta go out there a few hours ahead of the guy with the lines and take the fish off. On here and on the hunting forum, most of us base our answers on our experiences, and sometimes don't realize that because folks in one part of the state refer to something one way or with one name, it may have a completely different meaning to someone on the other side of the state. I think to a lot of folks, any line tied off to a stationary object, whether it has 1 hook or 50, is a trotline. JMO