I have seen some comments saying that fishing jugs with heavy weights is illegal. They say it must be a free floating device. What is the deal on this? I'm gonna ask the warden next time I see him. I know if I leave drifting jugs overnight that I'm gonna lose some of them.

Jug lines can be weighted to bottom. Free Floating refers to the "Jug" itself. The line must not be attached to a fixed object, such as a tree, dock, rock, etc...

I asked my local TPWD in Abilene, and was told that they would actually prefer me to anchor them with a weight to the bottom. Helps keep them from getting lost or drifting around fro recreational boaters. I was told the same thing that free floating meant the jug itself.

I fish out of kayaks. Un-anchored jugs result in a lot of paddling and lost jugs.

This was on the forum a few weeks back and I called and talked to a Game Warden in the Austin office and he said it was alright to put a weight on your jug lines. Depending on what you are going to use for a jug but if it's something like a bleach jug just add a hand full of gravel inside your jug and it will flag when you get a hard pull or a fish.