A new invention for setting trotlines.

We mix business with pleasure. Angler Ed White demonstrates a trotline device he invented that blends recreational with commercial fishing. We head to Lake Barkley for a closer look at how the two come together.

Learn more about Ed's trotline device at:

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[Goodellsam]

My dad was a Mississippi River commercial fisherman. He used something called jump boxes. He put out a thousand hooks in no time. It was a simple, low sided square box, with notches cut on the top edges for the hooks. They had been used before I was born, and I am 70.

[Warrendab]

I like your Bailey Bridge Boat! Great to see these on the water and not many people know what potential or the work horse this boat is.

[OhioRiverFisherman]

I set trot lines in my local river with a canoe and I put out 25 hooks. 4 different baits. Chicken liver, bluegill, live goldfish, nightcrawler. I done that all the way out. Let it soak for 4 hours. When I went back to check it, I caught 25 nice catfish. I kept 2 and released the rest. Had a blast doing it and I never done it again afterward. I've set jug lines in my mamaw's farm pond. Caught 2 huge channel cats that looked identical. One weighed 22lbs the other weighed 23lbs. Released em both.

[benboland]

would like to see how you retrive and load the system

[speedmouse]

For those of you that posted about wondering how he was removing the hook from the fishes mouth so fast you can see the tool on the floor of the boat at 3:03. I make them out of a long screwdriver. Grind the tip to a smooth blunt point then heat it up and bend it into a hook. Hook the tool into the fish hooks bend, turn it upside down then let the weight of the fish pull the hook out. If you get this right, you'll never want to use anything else.

[shawnmaher]

Gentlemen, in Missouri we call that bank lining. Trot lines are designed so that the hooks NEVER touch the bottom. Any time your line is on the water from a fixed point on a bank or anchored near the bank and your hooks are laying on the bottom, is not trotlining, its bank lining. Good video though

[boysiedoherty]

I made those hook removers 50 years ago . And the first one that I made I still have . Magic .

[ronnieinbama]

What I use and I'm pretty sure these fellas use something very similar is I use a brazing rod that's used in welding metals together with a torch, that way it'll never rust. I sharpened the end, made a small U in it and added a screw driver handle that works really well for me. Then I use circle hooks which allows for just about a straight out pull on the hook.

[rickeggers]

I would like to see you load the line in the cylinder

[BillyCarmen]

That screw driver hook remover should be a product!

[funray]

Never could find out where to look at it or but it!

[TheBosshog]

Never saw it put back into the tube...betting it came out much easier than going back in. Would not be ideal for live bait. . . but, great system and nice video.

[jordansing]

That idea is so simple it make Trot line more easy in my opinion .

[indianacreekwalker]

Hey Ed, at the end of the video you said when it warms up you will catch a lot more fish. End of March? April? May? Very curious. When i caught mine it was June, July, August, first part of september

[UncleMikecan]

I've done the same thing with a 5 gal bucket!

[robsgarage]

very nice. my m.o. is too first stock the freezer, than go out with rod and reel and it's hard to beat catfish on the dinner table. yum-yum. nice vid, , , rr

[semco]

All that catfish is plenty of good eating and would have me on that lake daily looking to fill the freezer and be eating all year long. I love that invention and it seem to work just fine for that kind of fishing.

[thomopolusrex]

I drowned once while setting trot lines. My friend saved me. A hook got me and pulled me off the boat. I sank to the bottom and had no knife to cut loose from the line. My friend jumped in the water, cut me loose and put me back in the boat. I regained consciousness while he was squeezing the water out of my lungs.
I always carry a knife, now.

[indianacreekwalker]

my favorite fishing hole... easy easy easy catfishing there

[flamedrag]

@NONNIE357 huh? I don't get what your saying? I didn't specify the length because you may need a longer or shorter tube since some states have different trotline length laws, no point in having a large tube when it's not necessary but it's also good to have a large one when necessary, so I can't just throw out a length and expect it to be universal, . I also forgot to mention to use a smaller PVC pipe(1/8" or smaller), metal rod or a grooved piece of wood to hold the baited hooks.