There's really no bad time of the year. We will split the jugs up into 3 different areas. 5-7 jugs per set
. Wind blown point, river or underwater creek, and one set if we are marking on the graph.
The trick is to do something else while they are soaking. Warm weather we will bow fish for Carlton use as bait. Cooler weather when the carp go deep we will go for bass, sand bass , and hybrids.

If it's to calm you will waste your time with jugs, been my experience.

Kids really get a kick out of it!

Dixie cup (SOLO) filled with Concrete will hold most all 30 or less LB cats and cheap to make. Get some Galv wire 1/8th or a bit larger for the hook. when you fill the concrete, put the hook in when starting to dry.

Here is a simple yet effective weight

Here is my design. I'm a fan of getting the bait off the main line and the plastic helps tremendously. Also, the concrete solo cups are the only way to go especially fishing structure or treed areas. My main line is 50' long which covers you in most area lakes and I use three 7/0 circle hooks spread 5' apart. This will cover a variety of depths. Great thing about this design is that hooked "snells" easily pull out so you can change hooks or replace one that get hung up. Also, adding alert weights do nothing but alert other people you've got a fish on. The idea of the jug is to provide resistance to set the hook not alert you if you have a fish one.

I love targeting wind blown points and creek channels. I feel the circle hooks greatly assist my hook up ratio. They look big cats to small eaters who have not issues finding the corner of their mouths.

Bait wise, I'm a fan of cut shad, lil smokies, shrimp and chicken livers. Lil smokies seems to really stay of the hook.

Remember you have to clearly mark all jugs with name, phone number and date. The attached was one of my first designs and the marker quickly faded. I've switched to duct tape. Also, adding a piece of reflective tape really helps at night.

Good luck!!

Not phone number - but address...

Per TP&W...

"Gear Tag:
A tag constructed of material as durable as the device to which it is attached. The gear tag must be legible, contain the name and address of the person using the device and the date the device was set out. Date is not required for saltwater trotlines or crab traps fished under a commercial license. For juglines and freshwater trotlines, properly marked buoys or floats qualify as valid gear tags."