I was thinking about getting my trotline out . In Florida we can run one up to 25 hooks without having a commercial license.

I have always caught plenty of catfish on one. I mainly bait mine with old dead shrimp leftover from saltwater fishing. Cut pieces of fish work well too.I’d like to hear Your experiences with them, what you use for bait , etc.

We use to bait ours with cut bait.  Usually shad or sunfish.  Caught a lot of catfish and more than a few turtles.

I had a large soft shell turtle one time . He had gotten the line all tangled up and had almost drowned by the time I came along.

Another time a gator ate several catfish off my line all but the heads...

I don't like them. Too much of a hassle to bait and set, waste too much bait, and more of a small fish technique. People here love to set them and then never remove them from the water so they're left to rot with fish on them at times, plus they're hook magnets and a nightmare for swimmers and boat props. I prefer limb lines if I'm going to set lines. I can target a prime area with a prime bait for a big fish easier that way.

They definitely have their pros and cons. I did the majority of mine in the past when I camped Out in backwoods lakes. Set it up before dark, better get the camp stove or grill set up because it was literally all you can eat. Mostly butter cats (yellow bullheads) They are so tasty.

It was a tradition in our family. A good way to get supper in a short time. Most Florida lakes are chock full of bullheads, unless otters have come through. I always remove the trot lines except once when I set one, ran it a few times, went back in the morning and couldn’t find it. Can’t remember how, I think the marker jug came off or something. The hooks weren’t stainless so ... I’m sure the Gators and turtles had a feast.

We aren’t allowed to set bush hooks in Florida or Id do it.

When I was researching what trot lines were and if they were legal in NY I stumbled upon the YouTube channel Hook, Line and Chill. 
 

A guy from Kentucky that runs Trot lines and takes a different girl out every episode to check them. I paid attention to the fishing part of the video to see he uses bluegill and goldfish a lot. Sometimes live ones. He caught some big blue, channel and flatheads.

 

For some strange reason I subbed to the channel even though I don’t fish this method. I wonder why...