Dropline

A dropline is a <a href="/facts/Commercial_fishing/8XF3oLTc">commercial fishing</a> <a href="/facts/Fishing_rig/omVI9IC5">rig</a> consisting of a long <a href="/facts/Fishing_line/2VzdtgBo">fishing line</a> set vertically down into the water, with a series of <a href="/facts/Fishing_bait/u82Xyvhh">baited</a> <a href="/facts/Fish_hook/jfMUlR6f">hooks</a> attached to the ends of side-branching secondary lines called snoods. Dropline fishing, or droplining, is a specialized <a href="/facts/Angling/FaWYQkUU">angling</a> <a href="/facts/Fishing_technique/ojE3swff">technique</a>.
Droplines may be set either down <a href="/facts/Oceanic_trench/sbp2PRk4">underwater trenches</a> or just into the open water column. They have a <a href="/facts/Fishing_sinker/5cn21lto">weight</a> at the bottom of the line and are fixed to the water surface at least one <a href="/facts/Bouy/84UhXr8p">float</a> at the top. They are usually not as long as <a href="/facts/Longlining/YHpRGXaL">longlines</a> and have fewer hooks.
Droplines can be contrasted with <a href="/facts/Trotline/SUu44yf5">trotlines</a>. Whereas a dropline has a series of hooks suspended sideways off a vertical mainline, a trotline has a series of hooks suspended vertically off a horizontal mainline.

Dropline open-in-new

Dropline