What is "dropline"

n. a headline with the top line flush left and succeeding lines indented to the right [syn: drop line, stepped line, stagger head, staggered head, stephead]

Dropline may refer to:

• Dropline, a commercial fishing device
• Dropline GNOME, software

A dropline is a commercial fishing device, consisting of a long fishing line set vertically down into the water, with a series of fishing hooks attached to snoods.

Droplines may be set either down underwater cliffs or just in the water column. They have a weight at the bottom of the line and a float at the top. They are not usually as long as longlines and have fewer hooks.

Droplines can be contrasted with trotlines. Whereas a dropline has a series of hooks suspended vertically in the water, a trotline has a series of hooks suspended horizontally in the water.