WEBVTT - Ep. 111: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - Catching Catfish with Trotlines 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.240 Welcome to this Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves, 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.680 from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.040 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:18.479 my stories and the country skills that will help you 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.360 beat the system. This Country Life is proudly presented as 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.880 part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.960 outdoor podcast the airways have to offer. All right, friends, 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.040 pull you up a chair or drop that tailgate. I 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:38.320 think I got a thing or two. The teacher catching 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:42.519 catfish with trot lines. You're in for a tree Today. 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:46.120 We're talking about catching catfish with troat lines. We're going 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:48.680 to talk about what a trot line is, how to 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:51.519 make one, what to use for bait, and word a 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:53.880 fish them. Now, if you'll just tie it knut and 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:56.360 hang on with me till the end, I'll share the 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:59.560 Reeves family recipe for frying up a mess of falaise 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.080 that will knock you out so hard you'll be hollering 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:05.920 who flung the chunk? But first, I'm going to tell 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:15.440 you a story. I graduated high school in nineteen eighty four. 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.680 Graduation night, about twenty of us were packed and ready 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:22.080 to roll to Florida for a week of doing what 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:26.360 younguns did back then went away from adult supervision, which 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.319 probably pales in comparison to what some do now. But 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:33.760 as the time of our departure grew nearer, my interest 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:37.840 in leaving for the week grew weaker and weaker, especially 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:41.440 after I overheard a couple of acquaintances discussing the drugs 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:44.640 they'd acquired and were taking with them. Now, I had 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:47.800 no interest in that or being around it, which was 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:50.960 the same view my friends had. They were just folks 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.320 that were kind of hitching a ride and going along. 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:56.440 It was also kind of ironic that a few short 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.120 years later I'd be up to my eyeballs and the 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:02.280 drug culture and making a living pretending to love it. 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:06.200 But I wasn't there yet, and at the last minute 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:10.600 I decided not to go. I surprised my family by 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:13.280 showing back up at the house, explaining my decision and 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:16.160 calling my older brother Tim and asking him if he'd 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:18.080 liked to go camping for a few days down on 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:22.960 the Slain River. You know that Selin river, the one 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:27.880 that Dree'es family owns. Anyway, he said, of course, So 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:30.120 we grabbed up all the camping and the fishing gear 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:33.160 we could lay our hands on, loaded them and his 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:35.480 old flat bottomed boat in the back of my truck, 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:37.960 and took off for the river. The next morning, at daylight, 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:40.320 we put in the river at the boat ramp that 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:43.800 would eventually be named in honor of my daddy. We 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:46.840 set off for the adventure of living off the land, 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:50.000 vowing not to return to the truck until we'd spent 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:52.720 our week in the bottoms getting fat and slick off 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:54.600 all the fish we were going to catch to go 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:58.000 along with all the side items we'd brung with us. 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.880 It was going to be a week long on fish fry. 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:04.600 We were prepared, Jack, this is the kind of stuff 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:08.240 we do, and others only wished they could. I hadn't 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:11.640 regretted my decision. There was nothing in Florida that I 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:17.520 didn't have Right here. I had sand, water, sun, plus 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:20.840 my brother, two tubes of crickets, and an ice chest 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:24.160 full of eggs and bacon, a grub box full of necessities, 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.280 and an advanced degree in snatching brim out of the 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:30.520 river from my suffer. The river was low and just 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.679 right for fishing. We had a little nine point nine 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:38.040 Johnson outboard motors that would push Thams fourteen foot long, 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:42.680 thirty six inch wide aluminum deercraft boat downstream, slightly faster 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:45.920 than a sugared up toddler on a tricc. Coming back 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:49.160 up stream was a different story, but it beat paddling 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:52.440 like a rended mute. We'd already made up where we 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:54.400 was going to camp. It was going to be just 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:56.880 below the swimming hole at the head of the Stretch, 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:00.200 just about our favorite place to fish. The Stretch, which 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:02.680 was a section of the river that was deeper than 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:05.560 most and had a gradual turn back to the west 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:08.920 before sharply turning back east at a spot we call 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.640 Bug Island. From there it continued on down its crooked 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:16.800 path towards the confluence with the Washtaw River, some fifty 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:20.719 miles further south. As the crow flies at the Stretch, 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:23.400 you could easily float down either side of the river, 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:26.520 fish in the shade, trading back and forth as you 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.320 went to the best spots. Because we knew where every 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.160 tree top and structure that was under that muddy water 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:35.960 that always held the most fish. Bug Island had a 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:39.680 gravel shoal and a good cool, shady spot to clean, fish, 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:43.160 swim and cook. I'd be scared to guess how many 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.880 meals we'd met there over the years, much less how 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:49.760 many fish we'd cleaned. In hindsight, it would have been 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:52.279 a whole lot better place to camp. And while we 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:54.800 didn't think about that before setting our tent up below 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:58.720 the swimming hole, I do not know it also wouldn't 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.000 be the only thing we failed to think about that week. 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:04.119 After emptying the boat of supplies and getting the camp 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:08.320 made that morning, we hit the river fishing for our dinner. Now, 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:12.160 once again, for everybody keeping score at home, dinner where 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.679 I grew up is aut at noon, and supper comes 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:21.039 after that. Breakfast, dinner, supper. Don't make me pull this 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:24.200 boat over. We'd had a good breakfast that morning before 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:27.760 leaving Tham's house, so when we started fishing, the noon 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:30.560 meal was our target. It didn't take long to get 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:32.760 a good mess to eat for dinner and a big 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:36.039 head start on supper. The fish were biting and we 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:39.360 weren't culing nothing. If it was big enough to bite, 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:42.559 it was big enough to eat. Some folks might think 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:45.880 we get tired of eating fish all week, but they'd 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:50.120 be wrong. We eat a lot of fish all year long. 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:53.880 Back then. In the summertime, it wasn't unusual to eat 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:56.760 it several times a week, whether we was camped or not. 0:05:57.279 --> 0:06:01.680 Brim fresh caught was our favorite is and then everything 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:04.960 else after that. So we decided we had plenty to 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:06.880 eat and headed back up to the stretch to our 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.640 camping spot. We done got hungry, and the only thing 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.920 standing between us and the best groceries on the planet 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.520 was getting some taters peeled, the fish cleaned, and a 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:21.240 pot full of grease hoop. Tim said he'd start cleaning 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.839 fish as soon as we got there. I'd get the 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:26.520 fire started in a coal bucket, put some oil in 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:29.120 the Dutch oven, and start peeling the taters. So as 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.000 soon as we hit the bank by the tent, we 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.400 both bailed out of that boat and went to work. 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.359 I started the fire and opened up the grub box 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:39.760 for the Dutch oven. All corn meal, taters, onion, salt, 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.760 and pepper, the basics for any fish fry in a 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:46.400 civilized country. Staring back at me from that old wooden 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:49.000 box was a box of salt, a can of pepper, 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:52.360 a gallon of cooking oil, and a loaf of light bread. 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.440 Oh lord, we didn't bring a tater one, and it 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:58.880 wouldn't have mattered if we'd had a wagon full. We 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:01.680 didn't have nothing to cook them in. We had a problem, 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:05.800 especially with the oath we took about not going back 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:09.440 home for anything we didn't have with us. I walked 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:12.080 down to help Tim and give him the bad news 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:15.280 about not bringing the Dutch oven. We cleaned the fish 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:17.720 and walked up to where I had the fire gone 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:20.560 in the coal bucket, and that's when I saw our 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:24.200 savior poking up out of the sand a five pound 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.880 metal coffee can. That joker was covered in rust, but 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:30.560 not rusted through, and Tim took it down to the 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.240 river and scrubbed it out with sand and river water. 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.560 To clean it up. We boiled around the water in it, 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:39.520 poured it out by grabbing the top lip with a 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:42.920 pair of flyers, refilled it with oil, and started prepping 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.200 the fish to fry. We felt confident that when the 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:49.440 grease got around three hundred and fifty degrees, anything that 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:52.040 was still living in that coffee can that the hot 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.480 grease didn't kill was probably going to get us anyway. 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.200 Then I told Tim we'd forgot the taters and onions too. 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:03.800 Didn't a word He didn't look up, he didn't make 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:08.400 a sound, He just sat there, looking sad. His shoulder 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:11.200 seemed to wilt a few inches downward, like I just 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:14.560 let the air out of him. I thought he might cry, 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.600 and back then men didn't cry, especially in front of 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:21.000 another one, not and live and tell about it. So 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:23.840 while he sadly stared at that rust colored oil that 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:26.960 was starting to bubble in our maxwell house fish friar, 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:30.200 I looked back way towards the river to let him 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:32.760 have his moment, and so he wouldn't see me if 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:36.480 I started squalling. And that's when I saw mister Jones. 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:40.280 Mister Jones wasn't a local, a fact that would come 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:43.400 into play very soon. He lived an hour or so away, 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:45.880 but he was retired and had a nice camp back 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:48.560 up river, and had had it for years, so we 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:51.920 all knew who he was. He come down by hisself 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.240 and stay for a few weeks at a time at 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.200 his camp, and I knew immediately where our tators was 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:00.400 fixing to come from, because everyone where I'm from looks 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:03.240 out for one another. I hollered at him as he 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:05.440 fished by our boat that was pulled up on the bank. 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:09.640 Mister Jones. I'm Buddy Reeves's boy. Me and my brother 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:11.920 Tim's down here cavin for a few days, and we 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:15.280 forgot our taters. Reckon, you got some back ap of 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:18.160 your camp. You could let us borrow or let us buy. 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:22.720 Who are you? He said? I told him again, we're 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:28.280 Buddy Reeves boys. Oh yeah, how's buddy? I say he's good. 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:30.760 He'd be better off knowing we had some taters deep 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:33.320 with all these fish we caught today and the ones 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.120 we're going to catch the rest of the week. Well, 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:40.320 he started laughing, and so did Tim. Tim was back 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:43.440 from that dark, taterless place he'd gone to only a 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:46.880 few moments ago. I think he, like me, could see 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:50.080 that mister Jones was fixing to hook us up. You 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.120 boys got some onions now. When he said that, I 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:56.560 knew we were home free. He's fixing to give us 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.280 some taters and onions. Good night, nurse. We fixing a 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:02.720 hit a lick with me, Jones. And that's when we 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:07.280 were betrayed by our raisin. We were raised to be 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.160 thankful for what we had and not be a burden 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:13.600 to others. If you didn't have something, you just had 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:15.880 to work harder to get it or do without it, 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:19.400 but you never asked anybody for it. So when mister 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:22.400 Jones asked if we had any onions, Tim's brain went 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:26.400 on autopilot of not wanting to be troublesome, and he said, oh, yes, sir, 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:29.320 we got plenty of onions. I thought to myself, you 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:34.160 need to shut up. He's offering onions too, we'll take them. Huh. 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:39.240 Mister Jones didn't hear Tim, so I repeated the lie, yes, sir, 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:42.800 we got onions. Well, if you boys got onions, that'll 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:46.600 be plenty. Y'all don't need any taters. And mister Jones 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:49.960 floated on by like we weren't even there and like 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:54.280 that conversation had never take place. We stared at him 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:57.400 in silence as he floated and fished plumb out of sight. 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:01.360 We talked about him a lot that week, mostly about 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:04.040 how to we'd like to drive by him sitting on 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:05.960 the side of the highway with a flat while we 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:08.320 did donuts in front of him on the highway, eating 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:11.360 fried tatters and chunk and onions at it. I learned 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:13.920 a lot on that trip. Besides double checking the grub 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:18.080 box for all your supplies, you can survive quite efficiently. 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:22.240 I might add on nothing but light bread and fried fish. Also, 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:24.600 a baled up slice of light bread dropped in the 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:28.000 hot greases no substitute for hushbuk. And that's just how 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:38.720 that happened. Let's get to work with a question. Why 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:41.400 would you go to the trouble of making a trot 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:43.679 line to catch some catfish when you could just go 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.040 to a restaurant and eat them, or go to a 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.360 store and buy them. Well, I'll tell you why, because 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.040 this is America and we ought to be doing American things. 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:54.480 And one of the most American things you can do 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:58.199 is gathering up your own grocery from Nature's grocery store 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:01.720 to feed your family. So you ready to beat the system, 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:04.600 the system that tries to dictate what the quality of 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:07.840 our food is and how we feed ourselves. A lot 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:10.440 of you listening are probably already doing this, but most 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:12.719 folks get all the groceries from the store, and we 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:15.240 ain't about that life. So I'm going to tell you 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:18.880 one way to do it yourself. Baiting of a trot 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.200 line and teaching an ice chest full of fish how 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.720 to ride in a boat is about as red, white 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:28.439 and blue as you can get. Also, it's fun Bailey Suzanne, 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.319 tell you o Mama to get the grease hot we 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:33.280 fixed and catch a miss a fish. All right. You 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.520 ain't got nobody to show you how to do it, Yes, 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:39.720 you do me. Lots of good online articles and videos 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.560 will give you all kinds of methods and techniques to try. 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:45.960 You can get trot lines pre made with hooks and everything. 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:49.000 It's just about any bait and tackle shop or the 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:51.480 supplies to make your own, which is what I like 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:56.439 to do. Don't be scared. This ain't hard. There's literally 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.600 no way to mess this up. If you can get 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:02.760 one end of a line tied to a stob or 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:05.520 a tree and the other end with a hook on 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:09.360 it and bait and in the water, you win. But 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:12.520 just like anything else, the more you do it, the 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:16.120 better you're gonna get at it better. Yet, to practice, 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:20.120 you gotta go fishing. So what is a trot line. 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.080 It's a length of line suspended horizontally near the bottom 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:25.360 of a body of water, with hooks attached by individual 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:27.280 links of a line at a measured intervals from one 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.280 end of the other. I can't believe I did that 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:33.640 makes sense? No, of course, it don't, But do this 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:37.320 for me. Picture a section of power line between two 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:41.520 poles in your head. Now, if every ten feet along 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.440 that pier line you had a smaller line hanging down 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:47.920 five feet from it with a hook on it, that's 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:51.000 a trot line. And for the record, there's no such 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:53.600 thing as a trout line. You can call it that, 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:55.839 I guess, but that ain't what it is. You can 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:57.920 say a rooster dip snuff, but that don't make it 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:00.240 so until you seem spit, and I ain't never seen 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:03.560 want to do that. Another thing. You can rig a 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:05.680 trot line and make it as fasty as you want, 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:09.000 but it's not necessary. One bottle of string and a 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:12.240 few hooks will get it done just as well. Them 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:14.839 filatis are going to taste the same regardless of how 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:17.960 you turn them loose into grease. Last summer, I was 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:20.520 digging around on the innerwebs and found a spot across 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.200 the river called the Memphis Net and Twine. These folks 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.600 have been serving commercial fishermen and anyone looking to fish 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:32.040 with lines or nets since nineteen sixty two. They got 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.760 more stuff on there than Carter's got liver pills, and 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:37.000 will fix you up and help you out with what 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:41.800 you need. You can look them up yourself at memphisnet 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:45.840 dot net. That's how you get them anyway. Here's a 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:49.800 recipe for a simple but effective trot line. These are 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:56.520 your ingredients. One roll of number thirty six twisted tard line, 0:14:56.560 --> 0:15:01.200 one roll of number eighteen twisted tard line, one bag 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:05.760 of trot line clips, one bag of six aut circle hooks, 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.520 and some weights around threety five pounds each. Depending on 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:12.160 how long the line is will determine how many weights 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.200 you use. On one hundred foot line, I put a 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:19.640 weight in the middle and then one on about halfway 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.320 to each end, for a total of three. Now this 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:25.080 is one of a million ways to make a trot line. 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:28.160 Notice I didn't say thee way to make a trot line. 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:30.760 We're just talking basics here, and this is how I 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.960 make a basic trout line. The twisted line has been 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:37.080 dipped in tar and makes them easier to hold when 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:40.400 they're wet. They're not as slick as regular nylon line, 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:43.920 and it helps protect it too. The number thirty six 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.760 is our main line. The drops where our hooks go 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:51.400 are made from the smaller number eighteen size line and 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:54.800 just like the number suggests. The number eighteen is half 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:58.280 the diameter of the main line. You ain't got to 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.160 use two sizes of line, and if you don't want to, 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.480 but the smaller line is easier. Thread through the hooks 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:06.240 and the clips when we go to putting them on 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:10.040 the main line. Now, stretch out about one hundred feet 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:13.120 of that rascal out in your yard and tie each end. 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:15.960 Here's where you need to check your local regulation so 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:19.840 you don't get jammed up by mister Greene's. First, make 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:22.240 sure trout lines are legal for the water you want 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:24.920 to fish, and what the minimum spacing is for the 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:27.840 drop hooks. If they're too close together, it could be 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:30.640 considered a snag line, and that's a whole different animal 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:33.840 when it comes to fishing regulations. I like to space 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.920 mine about four or five feet between each drop. That 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.600 gives you plenty of room for my caught fish to 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:44.200 ramble around without filing himself on the next hook, making 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:46.360 it easier for me to get off the hook, and 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:49.480 when I run the line. Also, it keeps that hook 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:52.320 fishing instead of jobbed and the fish I've already caught. 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:54.600 So take one of those clips and clip it on 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:57.760 the line and repeat that every four or five feet. 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:00.560 Give yourself plenty of slack on it each end to 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:03.280 tie your line off before you start adding the clips. 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.600 Now doing some quick math in my head thanks to 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:10.119 Miss Brenda McDougall, my most favoriteiss math teacher, who not 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:12.879 only worked on my brain but also the seat of 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.800 my breeches when my focus went from math to anything 0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:18.760 else I'd rather be doing at that time. You're going 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:23.920 to wind up anywhere between twenty and twenty five clips, hooks, 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:27.680 and drops. Before we start adding the hooks, make sure 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:29.800 you know where the youngs are and you've got your 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:32.760 pet squared away. The last thing we want to do 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:35.719 is wreck our truck line with a non targeted species, 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:38.479 especially one that can tell Mama on you. So how 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:41.760 do we make a drop? This is easy. We want 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:45.480 that hook to hang about two feet below the main line, 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:49.280 so take four foot of that smaller line and cut 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:53.640 it off the row. Match those two ends together, tie 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:56.960 an overhand knot and take a lighter and burn the 0:17:57.000 --> 0:18:00.000 cut in so they don't start fraying and come unwound. 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.639 Which reminds me of a horse I was setting a 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:06.639 straddle of one time that come unwound. Before it all ended, 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:09.119 I done travel from one end to that rascal to 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:11.399 the other before he picked out some soft rocks for 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:15.080 me to land on. Me and him parted ways. When 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:18.800 something unexpectedly comes unwound, it's never good, So tire a 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:24.679 good knot and burn the ends. Now you got a 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:27.720 two foot drop of number eighteen line and you about 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:31.440 to rock your first drop on your first trot line. 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.800 Take a hook and feed the double line through that 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:38.240 eye and pull the hook through the loop it formed 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.360 on the other side, securing the hook in one end 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:45.480 of the drop. Now repeat that process by looping it 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:49.159 onto the clip you've already attached to the line and bingo, 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:52.560 you got it. Now do that for the rest of 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:56.240 your line, and you're ready to fresh. But Brent, what 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:58.840 am I gonna do? Now? How do I get my 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:02.320 trot line from the to the river? I hope y'all 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:06.200 really don't sound like that. But remember Memphis net and twine. 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:09.359 They make an item called a plastic wine, or you 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:12.000 can buy or you can make one out of a 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:14.879 scrap piece of paneling, or you can just use a 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:18.239 five gallon bucket, hang the hooks from the inside and 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:22.439 have all the line contained inside the bucket. Personally, I 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:24.680 like the wine because it takes up less bait in 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:27.760 my boat, but using the bucket is usually faster to 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:31.199 each his own. To me, the best tasting catfish is 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:34.200 the belly meat off a flathead. But we're not gonna 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:39.120 worry about targeting specific species of catfish right now. Outside 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:41.760 of the mudcats. We'll take a blue cat, a channel cat, 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:46.040 or a flathead. Sometimes the mudcats are fine. It just 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:49.200 depends on the water you're fishing, and since we're headed 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:52.399 to the river where the water's moving, we're gonna be 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:55.119 good with any of them. There's really no way to 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:58.879 wrongly fish or trot line. Some are just better than others. 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.760 Right now, talking about fishing the river, and the example 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:05.760 I can give you is the Mighty Celine River in 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:10.359 Cleveland County, where currently, as my niece continues her research, 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:13.879 the count is up to eight generations of reefs that 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:17.880 ran around that part of Arkansas, breaking hearts, killing animals, 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:23.080 and catching fish. That's where the Lloyd Wilton Buddy Reeves 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:27.320 Celine River access is located. I have so many wonderful 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:29.680 memories of this place, and a lot more stories from 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:32.080 down there that I'll share with you all in the future. 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:34.800 But now we've got to get some bait. And you 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.000 can catch some flatheads with live bait, but you can 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:39.760 catch them all with bait that leaves sin in the water. 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:42.240 So on the way to the river, we'd stop and 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:44.919 we used to get some beef liver or chicken hearts 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:48.240 or livers at the grocery store, and some folks would 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:50.880 just buy some pre made stink bait to use. Lots 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:53.400 of folks make their own bait, and we might talk 0:20:53.440 --> 0:20:55.800 about how they do that sometime, but right now we're 0:20:55.840 --> 0:20:58.800 going to go with this. The river wasn't real white, 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:02.040 and we could stretch a line across it pretty easy 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:05.000 in most places. We just had to make sure that 0:21:05.200 --> 0:21:08.000 we waited it down enough where the boats wouldn't hit it. 0:21:08.440 --> 0:21:10.479 And that shouldn't be a problem if you have it 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:12.760 said right, because fishing on the bottom is where you 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:17.159 catch catfish, So don't forget your weights, get one end 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:19.320 tied off to a stob or something solid on the 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:22.159 bank near the water, and run that line out at 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:25.760 about forty five degree angle to the opposite bank. Now, 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:30.240 catfish feed upstream on the bottom, and having your bait 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:32.760 close to the bottom and at an angle, gives the 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:36.040 fish more opportunities to find it as he makes his 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:39.920 way upstream. Once you've tied off each end, go back 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:42.800 and get on the downstream side of your line, catch 0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:45.560 a hold of it, and pull yourself across the river, 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:48.760 baiting as you go. Remember to put enough slack on 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:51.360 each end so your weights will pull it down near 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:54.399 the bottom. Now, we'd usually bait up an hour or 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:57.040 so before dark and then either go back to the 0:21:57.119 --> 0:21:59.639