Trot Line- Quick Advice!!

[sprtsmn]

Gents,

Last year was my first to run a trot line and I have really ejoyed it, except tying on all those chicken necks. I am sure alot of you guys tie on some kind of clips and just clip on the necks or whatever bait you use.... but what type of clips do you use?

Thanks in advance.

I may try the narrows this weekend... I will post a report, if I do.

[Pinchy03]

If your using a locktite the easiest way is basically tying the neck on with a slip type knot. Clips would be a big pain in the rear and prob kinda expensive for 1000ft line.

Most guys use snood lines where you can just slip the neck into the snood and baiting and unbaiting is alot faster, but initial preparation takes a little time, but thet is what you do in the off season.

[snapper]

i still use the knot method,been donig it since i was a kid.i just grab a beer or two sit in the yard and bait them up.usually takes me about 45 minutes to do 1000 feet of line.

Snapper

[mburrows870]

I looked into the clips and it was really expensive. One nice thing is you can rebait while running the line but I'm cheap. I still use locktite and slip knots because I hate unbaiting a line. When your done just grab one end and hit the gas, you come up with a clean line. I would love to try snoods but just don't want to unbait. Baiting on the other hand isn't bad, 35 minutes for 1000' and the anticipation of the day makes it go quick. Good luck.

Mike

[rrr]

mburrows is right with the debaiting method. However if you are unfamiliar with how tight you usually pull your line you may pop more then a few off. I myself untwist the line and put the neck back in and retwist.


If you bait your line enough, using any method, you will become quick at it. My method's trick is to start to untwist with two hands, then grab a neck while opening the stands with your other hand. Takes me about 2 hrs when I have my necks already chopped.

[roadhog45]

the slip knot is the easyest way the cotton line is eayser on your hands when u bait it but the nilon line is easyer to unbait all you have to do is hit the gas you still have a couple necks to unbait. it all depends on how eaten up your baits are on how well they snap off

[Donnextel]

Just put together my line and plan to use the slip-knot method. I was told that snoods can be a tangled mess, and I plan on slinging my line out of a bucket, so I wanted as little snagging as possible.

[rj]

Sprt
No one has as yet developed an easy to use & effective substitute for a knot on a trotline. the closest that anyone has come is the bungee cord /fuel hose snood. if you are serious about your crabbing and want to use a trotline it is worth the effort to construct a heavy duty snood line ,it will last you a long time, and will consistently catch more crabs than a straight line. that is the reason the commercials use them.

[triplef]

I agree with RJ bungee snoods are the way to go. Easy on and off and catches more crabs specialy when the sun is up. Definitely a long initial set up time but well worth it in the long run. I did it 2 winters ago and it took about 6 hours working straight through. No tangles yet!! I probably just jinxed it though!!:eek2:

[Rudder88]

With the slip knots, I take off the anchor and the float on one end and tie it on the cleat of the boat and hit the gas. I reattach the anchor and float and run to the other end and repeat the process. Maybe 15 necks will remain on the line. less if the crabs have been busy.