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How to Make Trotlines for Crabs

Laying out a trotline to catch crabs is more productive than relying on a single crab pot. Certain places mandate that a license must be obtained before using a trotline, however, as the crab populations are dwindling and the life-long careers of crabbers must be protected. You will need access to a boat twice a day in order to run, or check, the trotline. It is helpful to set and run the trotline with an additional person to ensure safety and to help load the crabs.

Things You'll Need

1 or 2 bushel baskets
2 chains, 3 feet long
2 heavy weights
4 ropes, 20 feet long
Hemp rope, 3/8 diameter, less than 1,000 feet
Floats
1 long-handled net
Tongs
Boat
Bait
Fish hooks
Fishing line

Instructions

- 1
  Attach the chains to the ends of your hemp rope. You may want to get the ends of your rope spliced, or sewn into each other in a loop, by a professional to enable the chain to be attached by hooks. Alternatively, you can tie an anchor bend knot (or fisherman's bend knot) with the hemp rope to the chains.
- 2
  Tie one of the short ropes to each of the remaining ends of the chains, using an anchor bend knot.
- 3
  Attach a float to the available ends of the short ropes you just tied to the chains.
- 4
  Attach the remaining 2 shorter pieces of rope to the floats.
- 5
  Secure the weights to the free ends of the last 2 pieces of rope that you just tied to the floats. Use an anchor bend knot again to secure these weights. When choosing your weights, you do not want to use small anchors, as they may stick into the ground and make baiting and retrieving your trotline difficult. Small boat grapnels or other weights that will not stick into the ground are ideal.
- 6
  Lay your trotline by throwing one weighted end over the side of your boat and slowly letting out more and more line as you gently move away from the first end. You will know your line by the floats that are sitting on the surface of the water. You can bait your line before or after setting it out, but it is safer to lay your line and go back to bait it.
- 7
  Bait your line by tying fish hooks to your long hemp rope in 3- to 4-foot intervals with the fishing line. Secure your bait (chicken necks, salted eel, beef tripe, bull lips) to each hook before dropping it in the water. Use caution around the fish hooks.

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