Anyone set trotline in January. I want to set 1 this weekend. Think it will produce this time of year?
Yes. You can catch them year round.
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Thanks, I might try it out.
I’m fishing out of Elliots. Going to set my trotline with shrimp and baby shad. Hope it pays off. 1 guy has been catching some nice cats off the dock every weekend when I was down there duck hunting. He says he just fishes with catfish. He saves the belly meat from the ones he catches to use for bait later. Hopefully the trotline will pay off and I will have enough fish to last all year.
Never had much luck with shrimp in the lakes. I like to net some fresh mullet or use some frozen herring.Harry’s might have some fresh dead herring at a reasonable price.Red grapes do good sometimes,they think it’s a clam.Bream heads is good also if you know where there’s a over stocked pond you can throw your cast net in.
I met a guy at the state park last year that was using red grapes and hotdogs and he was bringing them in every morning. So I tried red grapes and hot dogs when I set mine.I had better luck the next day on shrimp. Every hook had a fish on it. I guess it all depends on the day? I just have some old shrimp in the freezer so I’m willing to try it. I only set my trotline 3 times or 1 weekend. I just used an anchor on each end. I’m thinking about tying 1 end off to a tree this time.
I tried hotdogs and shrimp this weekend. Caught 1 on hotdogs and 7 on shrimp. Some guys set a line right down from us with cut shad and didn’t get anything.
I have a trotline but have never used it. I had read they need to be marked with an orange marker and have either your name & address on them, or your DNR customer number. Do the DNR check this kind of thing often?
I moved here from MD and there they didn’t allow the use of trot lines except in one river. Never mattered to me, as catching catfish on rod & reel wasn’t difficult, and we could catch plenty of channel cats.
I setup a trotline when I moved here 3 years ago, with the thought of taking my grandsons out & letting them fish, then checking the trotline. They’ve only been here once, and I’ve never got the chance to fish with them.
A fishing buddy of mine in MD, who has since passed, he & I used to use fresh veal liver soaked in garlic a few days and kept refrigerated so it didn’t spoil. We caught a lot of channel cats and blue cats in the winter on it, but we were fishing in a river, not a lake. The veal liver is a bit tougher than chicken liver, so stayed on the hook very well.
Most cats that we caught were also good eating size and under 10 lbs. I’m looking forward to giving it a try here. So far, I’ve caught a few cats in the lake, and all of them have been small.
I don’t know how often they check the lines or if they do but I have mine marked with white bouys on each end. I do have my name and customer ID number on there. I just set mine out for the weekend. I think some people leave theirs out more long term. The veal liver sounds like a good idea. I might try it.
" I have a trotline but have never used it. I had read they need to be marked with an orange marker "
Must have a white buoy on both ends of a trotline AND an orange buoy half way between the white buoys, ALL marked with name, address or DNR customer ID number.
Thanks for the replies! I’ll have to get more buoy’s then.
I live close enough to Lake Marion that I can see the lake from the house, but so far in the time I’ve lived here have never seen a DNR Officer, not even at the boat ramps, that’s why I asked.
I wouldn’t try to skirt the regs, would rather have it correct, than find out by getting cited for not being within the law!
I saw them in MD often, and never had any problems, and want to keep it that way! 