I need some help regarding trotlines.I have never put a trotline out and I and wandering with the hot tempertures in July and Aug. Where is the best place to put one at. Would it be best put in standing timber in deeper water or put in shallow water? I fish Ray Hubbard, and Joe Pool a lot. Any help from some of you catfish experts will be greatly appreciated.

I don't fish either of those lakes, I have a great deal of experience with Livingston and Toledo Bend though, and the same should apply. I would suggest getting those line pretty close to the bottom of deep water as you can. The standing timber would be good, but if you could find a place where that timber was covering a section that was on a slope, that would be much better.

This summer I have been catching on Dropoffs at about 20 feet, or maybe a little more. If you can find a shelf and place the bait perpendicular to that shelf, then as the cats come up at night, they will cross you bait, and hopefully, you will catch them!

I hope this helps, and don't let anyone tell you that you can't catch in the summer. It might be a little slower, but we caught a 47lber, a 21lber, and a 16lber all in one weekend about two weeks ago, so it's doable!

just think like a fish if you were a catfish were would you go hint: summer what insects and aquatic animals come out this time of year and were they hide. now if i were a catfish on a cool or not to hot summer night i would probably be were grasshoppers are in dry grass because grasshoppers hoppers usually come out in the summer in the day and especially at night. heres another hint listen for insects & animals like crickets & frogs and etc. i would fish different depths because they'll be more active during the night and will move around allot. this should help you pinpoint catfish.

F3,
I ran several lines on Pool in the late 80's early 90's up past the bridges where the timber starts. Would do well in a spot for a few weeks and then catch only smaller fish. Ended up moving my lines around to produce. I would go into the timber on a creek channel in 15-18 ft, run my lines about 10 -12 ft deep and use cut perch. Watch out for heavily fished areas - had several lines cut and even caught a guy running one. Good luck.

I keep a journal of my fishing trips. Over the last 15 years I've been catching cats in the wooded area of the lake where the river channel runs through it. Alot of standing timber had a channel running throught it at one time. Find these deeper areas in the flooded woods.

Thanks Guys. Will look for channels in the standing timber. Willow Cat did you catch some nice size ones at JP?

Do it right, do not use a store bought line. Build it yourself. Learn how to tie your hook and staging and you do not need bait. Just make sure yo follow the laws. Main thing, get the hook about 1-2" off the bottom. Use weights, floats, make sure the line is extremely tight. These are the main basics. Make sure you check it every day also. If you learn how to tie it right it fishes 24/7/365 with no bait. 8-12' near a channel would be my interest right now. Depends also if you are fishing for flatties or channels. JP has both.

Riverrat,Thanks for the info about building it myself, I thought about that. Any other hints you can give me about building my own such as rope, hooks and length of line for hooks I will greatly appreciate it.

well lets say your just going out there for a day trip what ive seen some people doing on the vine is take a 20 ounse soda botle mark it like you usually would take about 3-4 feet of fishing line tie one end to the neck of the bottle your hook at the other end bait it and just drop them in the water if your coming right back for them. otherwise you will want to but some weights on the bottom . this works for just about any fish you could want.

My suggestion is to get #96 and #120 line from Academy, it is like mason's line. Use the thicker for the main line and the thinner for staging line. You cna put up to 50 hooks on a line but I use 48 because of how it works out for me layout.

I recommend about an 8 or 9/0 stainless hook, Eagle Claw J type hook.

Here is the train of thought to get you on.

1) Utilize your garage door rails to tie you a "tester" to get your measurements.
2) Tie the thick line 24" up on each side of the garage door.
3) I use the plastic 16ounce Solo cups for my weights. I pour them to almost to the top with fast setting concrete and put a cotter pin or eye screw in the bottom, then let them cure sitting on a brick with a hole in the bottom so the screw/pin can not be crushed.
4) After it is cured, strip the cup off the weight by cutting the cup and carefully pulling it away.
5) Get a swim noodle and a cooler of water. Cut the swim noodle about 2-3" thick and sit the concrete weight in the water ON TOP of the float. Make sure it does not float the weight up. Make sure it is JUST the perfect size so it isnt too small but does not float the weight. It will pull the main line tight to keep the hooks at perfect level 2" off the bottom.
6) Sit the cup screw/pin facing up and tie your staging line to the cup, then to the main line. Make sure it is not pulling the main line down too much but isnt too loose either. Before you tie to the main line, make sure you thread the center hole of the float on the line so it slides freely, then tie to the main line with a good knot that will not come loose.
7) Get your hooks out and measure them for the height. Cut your staging so you have enough to double the line up. You will tie the hook on, then tie the staging to the main line using 3 half hitches. THE TRICK IS TYING THE KNOT FOR THE HOOK. I CANNOT GIVE YOU THAT MUCH INFORMATION, I AM GIVING AWAY ENOUGH ALREADY
8) You will have to use trial and error when tying your staging to make sure the hook is 2" off the garage floor. Keep track of the length you cut your stagins so when you get it right you know what to cut the rest of them. I typically can figure about 40-42" for the staging line so you have enough to double it up. THis will make the staging between 20" and 21" somewhere, it just veries and differs from line to line since it is manmade and not perfect.
9) Cut 48 pieces of the correct staging line length.
10) Cut 9 pieces of the correct length of weight line.
11) HEad to the lake. One the way, or when you get there, find a VERY heavy rock or soemthing. I usually use a sack of concrete that is wet down and hard like rock.
12) You will tie one end of the line to the weight/rock. Drop it to the bottom. Let out your main line all the way and then stop and tie the other end of the weight/rock to this.
13) VERY IMPORTANT: STRETCH THE MAIN LINE AS TIGHT AS YOU CAN GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, make sure you have something attached to the main line so you can pull it up and start tying the hooks/weights to it. You do NOT want to tie the hooks/weights to the main line until it is set in place.
14) Your main line will be about 600' long if you want it to be. Find the exact place you want your hooks to be.
15) Tie a weight with the correct staging length to the main line. Tie 6 hooks starting 3' from the first weight and put a hook every 3'. Put a weight after every 6 hooks. PUT A NAME/DATE TAG WITHIN 3' OF THE FIRST AD LAST HOOK, I TIE MINE TO THE WEIGHT/STAGING COMBO LINE ON EACH END.
16) If you do not learn the proper knot, this will still work as a baited line also. The purpose of it being so tight and tying the hooks right is to not use bait. It hooks the fish automatically.

MATERIALS:
50 stainless hooks
1 roll #120 line
1 roll #96 line
Solo Cups
Fast Set Concrete
Eye bolts/cotter pins
Swim Noodle
Two large weights

I think this all makes sense, ask anything else you want

This is fun. Make sure you mark the line with GPS so you know where to find it. The tags do not have to be visible. Also make sure you have a grappling hook or a VERY LARGE treble hook to find the main line on the bottom. It is also smart to have a rope with a D Ring on the end so if you feel a large fish, you can attach the "fighing line" and wear the fish out by letting him swim out and then pull him back repeatedly.

Make any sense?

Riverrat, Thanks so much. A lot of info to digest. will do my best to follow. Again from one fisherman to another thanks.

So if you dont use bait how do you intice them to bite the hook????

Well, it is quite simple really..........they do not "bite" at all. They swim in the area, thats why you look for the right area to put the line. It is as simple as tying the knot right, hooks them every time. The hook turns into anything that touches it.

At Academy anyway the mainline should be their #72 or 80 line and the stagings are usually #18 or 15. you can use the plastic ties pulled really tight on either side of the barrel swivel you tie your stagings to also, cuts down on the amount of knot tieing.

Thats a snagline, I tried one for a while, didn`t care for it. It become a question of ethics to me. I ain`t a doo gooder, but somehow the challange of outwiting the fish just wasnt there for me. To each his own. The lines are or can be built to legal demensions tho. With the long stagins on 3' spacing thier can be a nice tangle when you catch a nice one. Just wasnt my bag.