In this economy I’ve become fond of my better half’s obsession with coupon clipping, especially if I can save big on favorite food items.  Point in case – catfish!  My wife said that she’d just clipped a coupon for $1.00 per pound off on catfish.  In my world of reality, I thought that by saving a $1.00, I’d probably pay little to nothing for catfish.  Wrong . . . the price (net of coupon) was $4.99.  It was then I realized that I would, in light of our current state of the economy, learn to do about anything to save a buck.  Next thing I know, I’ve set out to learn to catch catfish . . . trot line style (trot line:  a long strong cord with a lot of fish hooks dangling from it). 

Trotling on the Green River

So, I contacted Tom Fogle, who’s known throughout these parts of western Kentucky as the best trot liner on the Green River.  Even at 71, he can handle a trot line as smoothly and expertly as he did at age 16.  Believe it or not, just last week he hauled in 250 pound of catfish, one weighing more than 50 pounds.  And he does it all with one trotline. 

Bringing in the big ones with a net.

Off we took on the Green River early one Sunday morning.  I was so excited realizing just below me were catfish as abundant as the trees outlining its banks.  In Kentucky, no matter if you’re on the Green River, Kentucky River, or any one of the 100,000 lakes found throughout our beautiful Commonwealth, you’re going to find catfish . . . really big catfish!

Bringing up a 10 pounder.

Tom said that the only requirement for running a trotline is a Kentucky fishing license.  So, I thought I was in business.  But I soon discovered that it’d take more than one fishing expedition to learn his craft.  I watched him intently and asked all the right the questions. 

When stretching your line across the river, you have to make sure the line is tightly secured.  In other words, run the line across the river by tying one end of the line to a tree and secure the other end to an exposed root or another tree making sure it’s not too tight starting off.  You may have to adjust it so that it will work effectively.  Trotlines for sale at Wal-Mart or other sporting goods will work, but probably aren’t long enough to reach the other side of the bank and the hooks are too close together.  So, to increase your success rate, you’ll need to extend the length of your line to reach across the river.  As long as you have no more than 50 hooks on the line, it’s legal.

Tom gave me what he caught. 20 LBS worth!

With your string long enough to cross the river, make sure you’re using “circle hooks”, with each hook tied to an individual string.  The length of each individual string should be 2 to 2 ½ feet in length, with a barrel swivel attached 8 inches from the main string (which is the string  tied to the trees).  The barrel swivel stops catfish from rolling and freeing themselves.  Space each individual string with hook and swivel 5 to 5 ½ feet apart using a knot that doesn’t slip in water.  Big catfish like their space! 

Because the Green River’s depth is 25 – 35 feet in parts of Muhlenberg County and Henderson County, barge traffic is heavy.  Tug boats churning up water pushes full loads of coal running 9 feet deep.  That’s why you’ll need weight in the middle of your line to keep it from being ripped apart.  To do this you need a counter weight in the middle of your line. The counter weight can be a window weight or half brick weighing two or three pound pulling the line down. This weight should be connected to the major string with the counter weight string being 6 foot in length. This makes the line float off the bottom six feet. You’ll probably need three of these counter weights spaced out throughout the middle of the river.  With this technique, your line now has a natural bow in it and won’t be disturbed by recreational boat traffic. 

Next comes the baiting part of the process.  And hear me when I say “the bigger the bait, the bigger the catfish you’ll catch”!  Tom uses bluegills as bait in the summer and switches to skip jacks in the fall (October).  Because skip jacks contain more oil than bluegill, catfish have to fatten up for the winter.  Skip Jacks are the common bland fish you’ll see where algae is present around boat docks.

After you’ve set the trotline, go to any farm pond or creek around Kentucky and catch yourself some small sunfish or bluegills by baiting hooks with worms and night crawlers. Or you can go online and learn to make bluegill traps, which are similar to lobster traps.  But once you’ve caught a bunch of fish, go back out to your trotline and hook each individual fish to each individual line and then wait for tomorrow.

The best thing about a trotline is that you don’t have to sit with it. You can put your line out in the morning, go to work or back home, then check your line the next day.  When tomorrow comes and you’re checking your line, be prepared when you raise your line to see a monster catfish staring you straight in the eye!