Trotlines James River Arm

[Fish24/7]

I wish more people would label and do their lines correctly too, but some just don't bother.

WettinLIne ,to me it sounds like you "took" that trotline, it wasn't your line and you took it .

marked or unmarked , did you have permission to mess with other people's property?

I think legally only a game warden can do it. What if a warden had pulled you over while you had that "illegal" trotline in your boat ?

so "line cutters" are just asking for trouble really,sooner or later you'll cross paths with the owner when cutting one and they won't be very nice about it. I quit night jugging and trot lining a few years ago because of people always cutting my lines when they get hung up in it, or stealing them. Got tired of replacing expensive stainless hooks every time somebody helped themselves , or cut the lines..You can't leave anything unattended around, or in the water "these days", and it's getting worse.

[jmes]

I agree there is a problem with trot lines and limb lines. I have done it for years and I always do my best to respect others and make sure I keep check on them and of course I label everything. But I agree with BB most of the people I know do everything correctly and remove everything after there done.There is always someone that will ruin it for others. If I see old line here and there I try to gather them up and dispose of them. It would be nice if everybody did what they are suppose to do but we all know that will never happen

[Jerry Rapp]

there are a lot of good thoughts in this thread.

[Fishslayer88]

I dont run lines of any kind on the lower james unless im camping close enough to see or hear if anyone is tampering with them. I have had to many of my lines cut in the past few years and they seem to get cut faster when plainly marked.

And getting your crankbait hung up on someone's line does not justify stealing or cutting a persons line.

[Alex Heitman]

I have had more problems with trot lines this year than ever before. Almost everyone of them have been unmarked or they were old and left for some period of time. Lost some very expensive baits this way and has really ticked me off sometimes. I'm not saying everyone leaves them unmarked or unattended, but it is a real pain when you snag into one or are fighting a fish that gets tangled in them. I have to watch one honey hole particularly because someone hangs them in there regularly unmarked in different areas of a 100 yd stretch. I would like to cut them since they are never marked but never have. Maybe I will leave a note next time hahaha.

[balsabee]

If they're labeled I don't touch them. If they're not and I hang up on it it's getting cut and rolled up every time. If you want to keep it, label it, otherwise I consider it trash. Same as finding old fishing line.

[bluebasser86]

I see lots of illegal trotlines on the small state lakes here in NE KS. They're illegal in state lakes, period. So if I see them, I pull them. A few years ago I found one that was run from the bank and tied off to a freaking fish feeder! Of course it had several channels on it, obviously had been there for quite awhile too. Unhooked them all, balled the line up, tossed it in the trash at the ramp. No patience for folks breaking the law and stealing fish from those that do.

[Greasy B]

I probably see a dozen or more limb/trot lines every day I'm on a river, I have never, never seen one properly labeled.

[WettinLine]

If someone is actively jugging every day, they either have a very large and poor family, or they are selling fish, likely to some independent restaurant. I suspect the selling.

Fishing and hunting isn't the cheapest way to provide table fare. After boat, tags, license insurance, and gas- I could be eating Walmarts best for decades.

[WettinLine]

Let's clean it up! Its so cheap to tie a piece of orange marker tape around what ever it your using for a base and put your info on it. People are always worried about people knowing their line spots, well if theirs shows up missing because they don't mark it made it will sink in. Maybe carry a sharpie and leave leave a short on some tape where you cut it.