What's Biting
I'll periodically post fishing reports that could be of interest to you in planning your trip to Lake Palestine.
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Article, 12 Sep
Updated: Sun Sep 18, 2016
Article, 12 Sep. Popular on Lake Palestine, and many other East Texas lakes, are jug lining and trot lining. Both of these involve using unattended set lines, to be periodically checked for fish, and then either rebaited and reset or brought in. The following is a summary of the rules for these, as found in the "Outdoor Annual", published by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for each license year, as applied to fresh water only. There is also another method in the regulations, referred to as throwline, which many East Texans may use, just don't know that there is a separate classification for it.
The primary differences between using these "put out and leave" methods are the number of hooks allowed and how they are anchored.
All three of these methods have one very important item, the gear tag. The gear tag is defined as a durable tag, attached to the device, legible, and have the name and address of the person using the device, and the date it was set out. Any of these devices that do not have the gear tag, placed as prescribed, therefore becomes an illegal device that may be removed or destroyed. It is not legal to take fish from an illegal line. A gear tag is legal for 10 days.
Jug lines are single lines marked or supported by a single float. The line may be anchored to the bottom by a weight, or may be free floating. There can be no more than 5 hooks per jug line.
A throwline is very similar to a jug line, also having the 5 hook maximum.
The difference between these two is that the jug line is supported by the floating jug, but the throwline is attached to a "permanent fixture". An example of a throwline is a single line tied off on a dock or bridge piling.
Both of these must have a gear tag, placed within 6 inches of the float or the tie. They are restricted to a single line for each device, each having a gear tag and no more than 5 hooks.
A trot line, often mispronounced as a "trout line", however, can be a lot longer and have many more hooks. 600 feet is the maximum length for a fresh water trot line, and up to 50 hooks can be attached. The line must be tied off at both ends, but the tie is not specified, so either or both ends may tied to a floating or a fixed object. It is common to see trot lines out in a lake that are tied to floating jugs at both ends, and maybe a support jug or two in the middle. What is specified is that any end of a trot line can not be tied to a metallic stake, and that hooks must be at least 3 feet apart. The gear tag for trot lines must be within 3 feet of the first hook at each end of the line.
Again, any of these devices that are illegal by definition, including date, may be removed or destroyed.
These devices can only be used to take nongame fish and channel, blue, and flathead (yellow, or op) catfish. Any other game fish taken must be released.
Another consideration for those using these devices is date. The regulations allow 10 days validity, but another section prohibits wasting of fish, which should lead to checking of lines well before hooked fish might die from stress, hunger, heat, etc.
Jim
Newer Fishing Reports
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Older Fishing Reports
If you're interested, you can see what the conditions on Lake Palestine were like on:
