old trot line and yo-yo question

Wife and I was on beaver a month or so ago. We were moving through timber to fish. I was having a hard time because of old trot lines. Finally I took one and removed it from the lake to keep it out of the trolling motor. With the low water you can see then all over. I have also been on a lake that the water had been falling all summer and see 20 or more yo-yo’s hanging head high along the edge of coves.

You can tell from the slime that the trot lines are old. The trot lines nor the yo-yo’s are labeled

My question, is it legal to removed unlabeled and old equipment to clean up the lake?

Yank em!!! Only scumbags leave em out anyway.


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
870-635-0202

We sell XPRESS, EXCEL, and ALWELD Boats. Yamaha, Suzuki, Evinrude, Mud Buddy, and Tohatsu/Nissan Engines.
Pro Staff, Southern Pro Tackle and Ozark Rods.
Member, Tri-State Crappie Anglers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine

Yank em!!! Only scumbags leave em out anyway.


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
870-635-0202

We sell XPRESS, EXCEL, and ALWELD Boats. Yamaha, Suzuki, Evinrude, Mud Buddy, and Tohatsu/Nissan Engines.
Pro Staff, Southern Pro Tackle and Ozark Rods.
Member, Tri-State Crappie Anglers

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I agree if I come across unlabeled old junk like that I remove it too.

X2

Keep the yo yos if they work and chunk the trotlines. Yo yos are expensive. If someone can afford to just leave them there indefinitely, they don't need them that bad. I never leave my equipment unattended. To much money tied up in it.

Law says trotlines must be labeled and run every 24 hours and Yoyos must be labeled and attended in daylight hours. You are doing everyone a favor if they have not been taken care of . I find old trotlines and yoyos hanging in the air here everytime the level drops. Being a flood control lake the water level changes wildly at times. Those hooks in the air are safety hazards.

It is not illegal to remove trash from the lake.


C.J.

On a Nimrod rise people tie limb lines all over the flooded woods, then when the water recedes the hooks are left dangling head high while sitting on an ATV. It makes ATV riding or even walking around very very dangerous. Cut them down and feel good about it.

I keep a knife handy at the front of my boat for such items.

I carry a trash bag for that and other trash I find on the lake. Keep the good stuff.

keep the weights from the trot lines if they are window weights, they are going for $2-5 each.

personally i would find it hard to take someone else's property like the yo yo's even though they may not have the owner's name on them. i might cut the hook off so no one would get hurt by them but to take something someone else paid for i would have to leave it alone.

Ain't supposed to be there anyway! Cut'em down. Lake Conway is usually full of yo-yo's the locals hang and leave all season long! Wish Mr. Greenjeans would swing through there more often!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by olduckhunter

personally i would find it hard to take someone else's property like the yo yo's even though they may not have the owner's name on them. i might cut the hook off so no one would get hurt by them but to take something someone else paid for i would have to leave it alone.

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You dont have to take it, cut it and let er sink if its a yoyo.


C.J.

I see your point oldduckhunter but if they leave it there that long they dont care by now. If green jeans sees em he gonna take em anyway im sure! In the time it takes a person to clean there fish they coulda cleaned up there mess. Thats just the way i see it.

maybe you cm, but not me. maybe we are cut from a differnt cloth but i won't bother another's stuff. yo yo's are legal to use although i've never used nor owned one. cutting and sinking would be destroying others property. that, to me, would boil down to not respecting others.

Game warden on Midway a few years ago told me to cut em all down and pull out all old lines if thee weren't tagged. don't leave in water. Roll up trot lines cut down old yo-yo's and throw in trash. Used to have a lot of out of towners camp there and put the stuff out then just leave it there. Left the yo-yo's at store so if someone came in complaining they could claim them.

I see your point. I enjoy running yo-yos from time to time and would be upset if someone cut mine down. But I never give them the chance because I obey the law and remove them when I am done. If they want to keep them, they would put in the extra work necessary to do so.


C.J.

I respect your opinion and understand taking something that another person bought is wrong, but look at it in this light! No different than picking up a soda can off the sidewalk. People enjoy walking it so keep it clean.

Cut em, warden would and would recommend you to also. The cotton line tied on the end helped but sucked for those of us that use trotlines as it wasn't practical. I don't have to worry about the cotton breaking cause I'm not leaving them out long enough to lose em.
Good idea for tags if anyone's interested it to cut up milk cartons and use a perm. marker to name, addy and phone# them. Right before I tie the line off I punch a hole in the plastic tag i've pre-made and run the line through it double where it won't slip on down. Labeling them makes it tougher but if not labeled you get a buncha old lines left out by who know's who.

Pulaski Co GW told me to cut down every yo yo, limbline or trotline that I come across that isn't tagged and everything else that has been out for over a week without being run, tagged or not. I'm on the river a couple hundred days a year. I haven't had to buy a hook or mainline or yo in years.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by olduckhunter

personally i would find it hard to take someone else's property like the yo yo's even though they may not have the owner's name on them. i might cut the hook off so no one would get hurt by them but to take something someone else paid for i would have to leave it alone.

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Remember the yo-yo's has been abandon 2-3 months to have have hook line and sinker out of the water. And they was not labeled as per the law.

A yo-yo set in the water I would not touch

My stand is and will always be any yo-yo, trotline, and/or limb line left unattended and not properly mark with the correct information is fair game, and will be cut down. I have and always will dispose of them. If I see a yo-yo that has a fish on it and that fish has been there long enough to spoil or become turtle food, I will cut it down even if it is properly marked.

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Originally Posted by Lkconwayguru

My stand is and will always be any yo-yo, trotline, and/or limb line left unattended and not properly mark with the correct information is fair game, and will be cut down. I have and always will dispose of them. If I see a yo-yo that has a fish on it and that fish has been there long enough to spoil or become turtle food, I will cut it down even if it is properly marked.

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X100000000000




Midsouth tackle Prostaff www.midsouthtackle.com
Ozark rods Prostaff

Feel free to contact me at: 1-501-231-3374

Get rid of the garbage. All illegals must go. Dispose of properly!

Every year we see lots of yoyos, trotlines ,and limb lines hanging in the trees after the water drops from a big rise on these flood control lakes.

I agree with NOT taking someone else's gear, but if its unmarked and unattended, it's illegal. TAKE EM DOWN, and TAKE EM HOME!!!!!! If ya throw that trash in the lake, its littering!!!!! Same as throwing broken line in the lake to ruin someone's lower unit seals.

Like I said before, only scumbags leave em out unattended anyway.


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
870-635-0202

We sell XPRESS, EXCEL, and ALWELD Boats. Yamaha, Suzuki, Evinrude, Mud Buddy, and Tohatsu/Nissan Engines.
Pro Staff, Southern Pro Tackle and Ozark Rods.
Member, Tri-State Crappie Anglers