Except as otherwise provided by division rule, two types of trotlines may be used in the Lake Erie fishing district. One type shall be one line of not more than seventy single hooks attached thereto, and the second type shall have over seventy single hooks attached to any number of lines. No person shall use in the Lake Erie fishing district a trotline other than those described in this section.

No person shall set, maintain, bait, pull, or remove fish from a trotline having seventy hooks or less attached thereto which does not have all red buoys or floats.

No person shall set, maintain, bait, or remove fish from a trotline or trotlines with more than seventy hooks attached thereto that do not have all white buoys or floats.

No person shall set, maintain, bait, pull, or remove fish from a trotline in the Lake Erie fishing district that is wholly or partly made of wire line, does not have floats or buoys made of non-shatterable material, does not have the licensee's name on the end buoys or floats, can be removed from the water by pulling from shore, or is set on a reef.

No person shall set, bait, pull, or remove fish from a trotline in the Lake Erie fishing district during the time from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise. All fish taken from such a trotline shall be brought ashore during the time from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.

No person shall fail to comply with any provision of this section or division rule adopted pursuant thereto.

In addition to other penalties in the Revised Code, the license of any person who is convicted of two violations of this section that occurred within a twelve-month period is suspended upon the second such conviction by operation of law for a period of five fishing season days immediately following that conviction.

In addition to other penalties in the Revised Code, the license of any person who is convicted of three or more violations of this section that occurred within a twelve-month period is suspended upon the third or subsequent such conviction by operation of law for a period of twenty fishing season days immediately following that conviction.

During any period of suspension, no person shall use or engage in fishing with commercial gear owned, used, or controlled at the time of conviction by the licensee whose license has been suspended.

Effective Date: 10-20-1994.