1200' of BAITED line!

[Dave7]

Was talking to an old waterman (mid 80s) the other day.
I sometimes duck hunt out in front of his place,and he likes to watch us.

Started talking about crabbing,and he brought up something interesting.

Said law allows recs to use 1200' of BAITED line.
"Ever think about how much you're losing with every bait?"

Sure enough he took a piece of light rope,made a couple loops like he was baiting,then said "measure it now!".

Think I need to add a couple hundred feet to my line!
Them old boys are sharp!

[Antman40]

I'm a little confused(imagine that) as to what you are saying

Per Comar 08.02.03.03;

"B. The length of a trotline is measured along the bait line."

That would mean (to me anyway), that your lines would be "measured" from the first bait to the last.....so if you had an additional 100' on each end beyond the last bait that would not count as part of your 1200'...

Tony

I'm sorry Dave, I went back and read your post again and I think I got it now...
You are talking about the length you lose with the knots etc......I get it. But, with that said I've got a bunch of 1200' lines and also 1000' lines and to be honest NONE of them are the same length....some more obvious than others...You make a good point for those of you that want to get the most out what you are allowed to use.

Good Luck!

[Dave7]

LOL,I START out with 1200' every year BEFORE I bait it.
Then during a season of snags,breaks,birdnests,etc ,it gets progressively shorter!
(well,they both do)

This year,I'll start with 1400'.

[Antman40]

LOL,I START out with 1200' every year BEFORE I bait it.
Then during a season of snags,breaks,birdnests,etc ,it gets progressively shorter!
(well,they both do)

This year,I'll start with 1400'.

Dave, I'm not even talking about the "drama" that happens sometimes......
I had 4 - 1200' sections of softlay and NONE of them were the same lengths off the spool!.....never even been in the water!......so if you want to do your thing.....bait your line, stretch it, measure and go from there! Good luck!

Tony

PS.....after you measure it the first time, make sure you ALWAYS use the same size baits...

[b.dog]

so if ya want to get most line thats baited out of 1200 ,a snood line would have no loss due to loop? and are you sure offoicer would not measure knot?

[Dave7]

so if ya want to get most line thats baited out of 1200 ,a snood line would have no loss due to loop? and are you sure offoicer would not measure knot?

I can't see him unbaiting the line to do so,but if he wants to,hell, he's welcome to come by after I'm done! I'll even let him rebait!

I usually go about 4' between baits,sometimes more,sometimes less.
If I'm getting near the end of the line,and have a lot left,they go closer together.
If running low,they go farther apart.

Heck,back in the 70's I tried 2 baits about 8" apart every 4 feet or so.

[Antman40]

This whole thread is funny.......NO WAY IN HELL the DNR man is gonna measure lines......PERIOD.......
don't get me wrong.....you got a mile of line and no numbers.....PROBLEM.....but for the most part....1000'-1400'.....I can't see a problem. They (DNR) can't even show up when you CALL EM', much less for this type of bulushlt .............

Tony

[rgminer]

Whens the last time any of you ever had the NRP ask you to pull your line for measuring?

[Dave7]

Whens the last time any of you ever had the NRP ask you to pull your line for measuring?

Never.

But I DID once have one ask me what kind of fish "that"was,and "is there a size limit?" !!!!

(it was a blue)


Don't think they'd need to pull the line.Easier to measure it while layed out.

I think you'd have to be WAY over to even draw a look,BUT,I want to be right and I sometimes want to have the max in the water.

[Capt. Dale]

On the South River DNR checks both comm & rec crabbers for various reasons.
I personally know of incidents where rec crabbers had there lines measured by DNR Officers using GPS coordinates.