Fishing "The Wall" at Baxter ? Beware of trot-lines !

[Dutch]

21 hours ago, skeeter said:

If you are one of those night-time anglers usually fishing "The Wall" on the same side of the Indians as Baxter Marina.....BEWARE !   Some unnamed soul has put out and then left behind several Trot-Lines along the steep shoreline and Bluff face there and they are creating a mess with the usual bait-grabbing hang ups trot-lines create.  They are unmarked with no required name or address of the person installing them and run parallel to the shore. 

That’s one of the reasons that knives were invented.

[carpelpummel]

On 9/6/2022 at 10:00 AM, skeeter said:

From the MDC website "fishing regulations": 

Number of poles and hooks

If you use more than three poles (or two poles on the Mississippi River) at any one time, the additional poles must be labeled with your full name and address or Conservation Number. Regardless of the method or number of poles, you may not use more than a total of 33 hooks at any one time; except on the Mississippi River the maximum is 50 hooks at one time. If fishing on the Mississippi River and on other Missouri waters at the same time, no more than 50 hooks may be used and not more than 33 on waters other than the Mississippi.

Hooks on trotlines must be staged at least 2 feet apart. Hooks on any type of line, as well as the line itself, must be attended every 24 hours or removed.

SIX trotlines put out along "The Wall", not one of them marked, comprise far greater than the allowed "33 hooks". 

That “unnamed soul” was me and that ONE single line with 25 hooks clearly marked on both ends with a purple noodle about 18” long contained both my name and my conservation number was also mine.  One of the ends anchored in the lake also was held in place and tied to a big white weighted boat bouy.  This line was placed Saturday just before dark and ran twice by Sunday morning until it was cut in broad daylight.

I then moved it slightly down the bluff with only 12 hooks, marked and anchored exactly the same as before thanks to its shortened length from the individual who was so helpful in shortening it for me that morning.

Lines out Monday.

Thank you to the folks on here who know the rules and obeyed them as I did.  Also a BIG thank you to the other “unnamed souls” who cut my lines and wasted my time and work put into these.

Everything I did here was 100% legal no different than someone running down that very same bank or any other for that matter bass fishing or doing whatever made them happy at that moment within the law.

If people can’t count and can’t physically see maybe they don’t have any business operating a vessel on a public waterway to begin with.  Just saying.

Good luck out there to all of the law abiding anglers fishing for whatever they choose to target, when they want to do it and how they go about getting it done.

Tight lines!

[vonreed]

Boy og boy how I could get started on bass fishermen who think they own the lake. I've lost hundreds and hundreds of $$$$$ to them. They are always highly visible and marked. Yet way too often are cut or pulled or better yet i catch people checking them and they motor off when they notice I'm coming.  

It's the same feeling a person gets when walking into your deerstand early morning and someone has stolen it.

[tjm]

The regs don't say the lines have to be visible and they don't say the tags have to be where  Johnie Linethief  can see them either. Those tags are for Agent's use only.

Owning a knife is not authorization  to tamper with, pull or cut any trotline, If you see a line that you suspect is in violation,  call the OGT 24-hour, toll-free number  1-800-392-1111. You may remain anonymous, and you may be considered for a reward. As a bonus you won't become a thief and criminal. 

[Flysmallie]

8 hours ago, tjm said:

As a bonus you won't become a thief and criminal. 

Or jackass.