Running a TrotLine When I was a kid we used to run trotlines. For those undereducated amongst us a trotline is a line stretched between two points with fish hooks placed about every couple of feet or so. The hooks were baited and the line would be checked ever so often and any fish caught would be removed and the hook rebaited. We would usually stretch the line from one bank of the creek to the other so that it was just a few feet under water. Remember once when I was about twelve or so and we went trotline fishing overnight in Hatchet Creek near Dunhams Flat Rock area. My childhood friend Bobby Atchley, his dad, Earnest, myself and someone else who my part timers refuses to let me remember. Well just call him Billy for brevity sake. We took an old Jon boat and set out the lines and went back to the sand bar where we were camped out to wait. While there the men would sit by the fire, sip shine and tell stories and lie. My father made the shine but thats another story. There were tells of the Hatchett Creek monster and what he would do if he caught you on his creek after dark. Occasionally there would be sounds out of the woods that we couldnt identify and of course we were told it was the beast! Other tells were told of the escaped convict that only had a hook for a hand and of course others. Killer crocodiles and such were mentioned whenever there was a rustling of the water that was unexplained. We kids were fascinated and listened to every word and being naive we believed most of it! In between the the stories we would eat cans of sardines, pork and beans, crackers and such. Hot sauce all around! Theres the old story that pork and beans will make you go blind. Why you might ask? Looking for the pork! While there were plenty of beans and sauce there was only a small marble sized piece of pork in the whole can! About once an hour or so we would run the lines. This consisted of the lead man, in this case Earnest, pulling up the line and easing the boat forward while the next in line removed the fish if there was one and rebaited the hook. Pretty routine until you caught a water moccasin! Earnest just keep pulling along as it was fairly dark, a little bit drunk out and all he knew was that there was something on the hook and the next guy would take care of it! Well, the next guy was in no way gonna take care of it! In fact it was time to get the Hell outta Dodge so to speak! Next thing I know, Billy, the fish removal guy has abandoned ship! And there we are with this snake in the boat and we are faced with some what of a dilemma as Bobby and I were just there as filler mostly and to help with the bait and stringing the fish and such but we had suddenly been elevated to the role of removing said snake and rebaiting the hook. Not a task either of us relished nor were qualified to perform. Earnest after a few moments of wondering, “What the Hell is going on?” figured out what was going on and took charge. He held the line up with the snake on the hook above the water and cut it freeing not only the snake but two kids from a basically untenable situation. Then he calmly continuing running the line as if nothing had happened. Billy had by then made it it to the bank and waited till we finished running the line so we could go get him. I believe that was the last time I ever ran a trotline!
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 01:10:20 +0000
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