July, 1955 
are secured to stumps or other supports. 
Each drop line may be a foot or more in 
length; the length depends upon the depth 
at which fishing is to be done. Live min- 
nows or small fish (young carp are pre- 
ferred by many fishermen), cut fish of va- 
rious kinds, crayfish, spoiled clam meat, 
and grasshoppers are the common baits 
used on trot lines for catfish. Dough-balls 
or corn are the usual baits for carp. 
The length of trot lines and number of 
hooks used seem to vary with the accessi- 
bility of bait, number of men to run the 
lines, and fishing conditions. Evermann 
(1899 :292) reported that he had learned 
of a trot line 12 miles long in Louisiana. 
In the Caruthersville-Dubuque section of 
the Mississippi, the lines seldom exceed 
3,000 yards. 
During the survey, only a few trot line 
sets were made. The search for live bait 
would have consumed more time than 
could be allotted to one phase of the test- 
fishing research program. An investiga- 
tion devoted solely to studying trot line 
catches in the Caruthersville-Dubuque 
area would be of value in managing the 
fishery. 
STARRETT & BARNICKOL: COMMERCIAL FISHING DEVICES 331 
Encompassment Devices 
Seines are the only type of encompass- 
ment tackle of importance to commercial 
fishermen in the Caruthersville-Dubuque 
section of the Mississippi River, fig. 4. 
Dip nets, another type, are used by hun- 
dreds of sport fishermen along this river, 
but are of little importance as commer- 
cial tackle. 
Most of the commercial seining in the 
Caruthersville-Dubuque section of the 
river is done with short seines. The seines 
commonly used there are 200 yards in 
length. In some parts of the river, longer 
seines are used. A short seine can be op- 
erated by two or three men, whereas a 
longer seine requires more men for effi- 
cient operation. The owner of a large 
seine should be in a position to handle 
large catches and sell them in distant mar- 
kets. The operator of a small seine usu- 
ally can sell his catch locally. 
Prior to making a seine haul, a com- 
mercial fisherman usually cruises near his 
selected “seine hauls” or water areas he 
knows that have bottoms clean enough for 
seining. If he believes fish are using the 
Fig. 3.—Trot lines used by commercial fishermen. On the Mississippi River, trot lines are 
used chiefly for catfishes. Usually the hooks and lines are secured in a homemade box as shown 
above. 
