I don't carry scatterguns either, I carry at least a .40 cal & usually a .223 with me whereever I go! I've lived my life by the simple rule that my dad told me as a boy, he said:"BOY, IF IT DON'T BELONG TO YA, KEEP YOUR BUTT SCRATCHERS OFF OF IT"!!!!I still live by those rules today as an old beat up, crippled up man & I expect the same from oothers around me or we will have a helluva problem! Like you so eloquently said Thompson, I have no qualms about shooting a damn scumbag either, whether it be stealing from me or shooting at me either, I'll deep 6 his oss!!!This is all I am going to say about this subject, just keep your damn hands off my things & we will get along just fine if that is what you choose to do!

Far from it actually tiny. I don't mess with trot lines on the water unless they get tangled in my prop, not worth ruining a good day's fishing because some moron thinks that a string with hooks is worth getting into a fight or worse over.

BUT I do on the other hand wish someone would do something about all the abandoned trash on the lakes. Reporting the [censored] to the GW is a waste of time, I've reported the same three abandoned jugs to the wardens 3 months in a row now and they are still in the water every time I go by.

I am also tired of hearing/seeing people claim this or that is illegal without being able to back it up with anything but hearsay. I'm also tired of the handful of idiots that see a post about removing ABANDONED and ILLEGAL jugs and trotlines and they start attacking the people for messing with legal lines. The past 4 times this thread has been beaten to death the same 4 or 5 idiots did the same thing. Not one of these threads has even remotely talked about removing or cutting LEGAL lines, so why do the idiots even go off on their tangents, even worse why do the moderators allow them to?

The people starting these thread have good intentions, clean up the lakes, make them safer for boating and fishing, and to police ourselves. When idiots start attacking them all the idiots are going to accomplish is to piss off the right person and that person is going to say just the right things and soon you will see the TP&W making juglines and trotlines illegal.

Well that was a long time ago. And I regret what I did, but it did happen and my little pee shooter did put several holes in his little john boat and it did sink. Like I said I wouyldn't do it now. Too old and quiet frankly, it's just not worth all the problems down the road. I guess most people have done something their not proud of. I know I've done too many thing and I wish I could take them all back but thats the past and now I try to help anybody that needs it.

Yes it is the correct answer.
http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/PW/content/htm/pw.005.00.000062.00.htm#62.0125.00

It is also a Class B Misdemeanor (go straight to jail) not just a citation.

Beat that dead horse....beat it!!!!
Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Anyone remeber that line???
Has anyone noticed that folks don't care much about thecat section anymore.....I wonder why???? Becasue it seems to be filled with idiots and gullable folks(I gues like me,,,dang it) that are willing to have these types of discussions.
Man!!!! Lets all get a life and leave each other alone.

The log out icon is in the upper right portion of your screen. You are free to use it anytime.

A better research idea would be for everyone to call at least 3 game wardens, 3 police officers, and ask them them if it's legal to:

a) Pick up someone's trot line to see if it's tagged correctly.

b) Run someone's trot line and take the fish off.

Write down the names of the wardens, officers you talk to. And then post your results here. We may see different responses, but it will still be interesting to see how they interpret the law.

Thus far, 6 wardens have quoted me 62.0125. HARASSMENT OF HUNTERS, TRAPPERS, AND FISHERMEN would be the offense. It may not be the spirit of the law, but it is spot on for the letter of the law.

That would be correct *IF* the lines were legal. BUT the wording of that statute states LEGALLY fishing, hunting or trapping. Since this thread refers to OUTDATED, UNTAGGED lines that law does not apply as those are ILLEGAL fishing devices. So obviously you did not ask the correct question of the 6 wardens, or you had an agenda to prove which you've wasted not only your time, but theirs as well.

My boat is a bit bigger than a john boat, and I'l sure that no pistol/rifle is going to put enough holes in it to overcome the 3 1100gph bilge pumps that I installed for offshore. MIGHT be possible with a scatter gun, but even that would be questionable.

As for doing things we regret and wish we could take back, I'm sure we all have those in our past.

Read the first post and then tell me if this thread has anything to do with outdated, untagged lines or if you should get the bronze medal in the special opimpics for reading.

If you run through a trotline with your trolling motor or the big motor and it gets wrapped up in your prop and the line is tagged, is the owner of the trotline responsible for the damage?

if the trotline is legal then the boater can easily avoid runnin' thru it IF he/she is paying attention & has regard for other folks property ... i would say the boater would need to replace the trotline, just common sense

And how you know if it was outdated or untagged if you are not running a line that does not belong to you. As it was pointed out earlier in this thread, the only way you will know if it is illegal is if you run it because the only way to see a tag is to pull the line out of the water.

So this whole thread is about individual rights, those who don't like trotlines and those willing to usurp those rights. I have fished many lakes in Texas running trotlines, juglines and using rod & reel but I have to say I have seen very few abandoned trotlines. I had a boat dock on Cedar Creek lake that I would tie a throwlines too, water was 12 feet deep and I would angle them toward shore. You don't have to tag throwlines by the way but they were no less mine. I tied them so you could easily see them yet I must have had 20 incidents where some jerk snagged my line and cut it to save his crappie jig (5 for a dollar) or rattletrap. I gave up my throw lines and set lines out of heavy nylon braided rope and ran them tight around my dock supports 6 feet down and began collecting lures. If they were going to show my property no respect I felt it was OK to recoup my losses.