New to this. Any suggestions on easy jug line set ups. I also would like to find out more on how to catch bait. I throw a cast net good. Where should I look for shad this time of year? are guts good for bait? I clean lots of sand bass.

Check out youtube my easy may not be your easy but I like the one that uses coat hangers I have both them and PVC. read the other thread bout this same subject

Use search feature, lots of good set ups on this page for jug lines
Also, I think it is illegal to use any part of a game fish for bait...

There are as many ways to set a jug as there are people who set them. When I set jugs, I'm after eaters. The way I enjoy it the most is at night when everyone else is off the lake. I like to carpet bombing an area with 15 drifting jugs and then running the trolling motor in "round up" mode. This needs to be done when there isn't much wind or you will drive yourself nuts. I will cover probably a 30 yard area and then sit back and watch them float around. When one starts running I will let it get away from the others and just round it up, re-bait and throw it back in the area I'm fishing. For bait, I will use either punch bait or cut shad. My jugs have white duct tape which reflects the green LEDs I have on the side of the boat pretty well. You will still need a q-beam but the LEDs light them up enough most of the time. Once you see where they want to bite the most, you can concentrate the circle even tighter together. When they really get going, you will have a hard time keeping baited jugs in the water. It can be a lot of work chasing them around but it's real fun when you have more than one that needs to be chased down. I never leave them unattended and am always taking count to make sure all my sheep are with me. I also never fish this way around other people because as you can see, it would be very intrusive if someone wanted to fish that area. If someone comes to the area, I will pick up and move. Lots of lake for everyone and my way of doing it can hawg a lot of water. If you are considerate about it, nobody will get upset about it.