Disclosed is a slotted reel for carrying and deploying a trotline of a kind that has a plurality of spaced trace lines attached to it, each free end of the trace line attaching to an eye of a formed wire fishing hook , the reel being mounted for rotation to deploy the trot line. The reel comprises a spool with two side flanges where each flange has an internal face facing the spool and an external face remote from the spool, at least one side flange having a plurality of circumferential slots extending inwardly from the outer circumference configured to releasably retain and locate at least the eye on the external face of the least one side flange. Each slot has a width in the circumferential direction greater than the trace line and narrower than the greatest width at the eye of the hook and a thickness greater than the width of the bight of the hook. The slotted reel is mounted to and in a manner able to rotate relative to a mounting member. The mounting member is adapted to be towable by a kontiki or catamaran, is connected so as to be towable by a kontiki or catamaran, or forms part of a kontiki or catamaran, and the mounting member is adapted to be connectable by a mainline to at least one of a (i) retrieval reel and (ii) retrieval and deployment reel. The reel deploys a reel wound trotline and from the slots, reel located fishing hooks. The slotted reel has two side flanges and a spool, at least one of the two side flanges having a plurality of circumferential slots to receive a plurality of hooks located on the trotline in use. The plurality of circumferential slots extends from the outer circumference to the inner circumference of at least one of the two side flanges. The width of each of the plurality of slots is less than the wire gauge of a fishing hook shank. Each of the plurality of slots are longer than the overall length of the fishing hooks. Each of the plurality of slots has a width such that, in use, no part of each hook touches upon any line wound
