Made myself 10 really nice catfish jugs and am ready to tie my lines to them. Never made these things before and could use some tips.
Does anyone have some advice on what type of line to use for my main line, what type of weights to use to hold them to bottom, tips on leader lines coming off my main line? Should my leaders have a bead? What size hook? Are three way swivels necessary?

Thanks for any advice or things you've done that work well.

CF

Lots of You Tube videos on it.

And lots of opinions on weights and depths. Both will really depend on where you use them most often. You�ll have to figure that out (most likely) in your own.

Come on, guys, help the fella out.

Yeah, lots of options. Personally I prefer free-floating jugs. You can rig these Carolina-style or Paternoster-style. I tie two hooks per jug: one on the very bottom, another 18 inches up. Above that I put a weight from an old castnet. It's only 2/3 ounce, enough to keep the line down on windy days.

From there I use a snap swivel--shameless plug for my Triple Threat Swivels--to connect to the the jug's eyelet. Use any swivel you like.

I peel of 12 feet of line. By the time I tie all the knots its shorter, maybe 10 feet. It's a fixed length jugline. Easier to manage for me.

In our area free-floating jugs work the best. In other areas anchored jugs work best. 10 jugs is all I care to use anymore, 15 at the most.

Sorry for the double post, but the best way to do anchored jugs is a Paternoster rig. Most people call it a Kentucky rig. Again two hooks: one about three feet up from the weight, another three feet or so above that.

Anchored jug are best for adjustable line lengths.

The best weights to use are the ones from a railroad track. Get the pointy nail-like ones. Don't get in trouble or anything, just find an old country road with a railroad crossing. That way you wont draw much attention to yourself. Otherwise you could use Dixie cups with cement just like how the shark fishermen use in the ocean.

Man, I'll try to get a video up this week on that for you.

Okay let's see type line: I use monofilament exclusively. 50 lbs test is plenty. I have used as light as 30 lbs mono. The blue catfish record in Alabama was caught on a 40lbs test jugline. Despite what most people say 30 to 60 lbs mono is all you need.

Three way swivels: Na, you don't need them. Learn to tie a dropper loop. Leader coming off the main line: Na, you don't need them. Learn to tie a dropper loop. If it works for deep sea fishing it'll work for freshwater catfish.

I use 4/0 circle hooks for meat fishing. A true salter water circle hook is best, especially since they're usually made of thicker wire and can hold very big fish despite the smaller size.

Sorry to hog the post, but man I love jugging! I'll never get tired of explaining the basics.

Like Willie does except I use a quality trotline cord for my main line. Attach swivel to bottom for easy on/off of weights. I use the pyramid style weights. Two hooks about three feet apart.

Go to Lowe's and get a 1" dowel rod. Then head over the the garage organization section and get a drywall hook that is used to hang bicycles. Cut dowel rod to desired length (mine is 3' because of the height of my boat) and screw the hook into one end. Makes snagging the jug much easier, at least for me.

When I lived on Lake Lewisville, I would put out my jugs and head down wind and anchor the boat and watch the jugs drift towards me. I tied a white bleach jug to my anchor line. If one flagged, I just untied the anchor rope and retrieved the jug. The hook makes it easier to snag the anchor jug and tie back on to the boat.

concrete in a Dixie cup with wire in it, or duck hunting decoys weights work for us, i use braided line, twisted line will untwist for us. no more then 2 hooks, more then 2 fish fighting each other or to many hooks get to be pain to bait and fish. i like preset lines so i look for that deep of water and stay in there, not have to keep setting each jug for depth. go play and try, best way to learn what u like and work best for you. lot of good ideas they put on here, good luck

On my jug lines I use a main line of # 72 this gives you a braided line with the strength of 500 lbs. On my drops, I use #15 or # 18 braided line. This is a line that has the strength of 120 lbs to 160 lbs. Plus this braided line threads through circle hooks very easy for tying. I prefer using a tarred line. This helps from rot on your line over time. I also will use a barrel swivel to tie my drops to the main line. The barrel swivels are to 2/0 sizes. Make sure you get the ones that are weight rated not just any brass swivel. The swivels, some don't use them, but after catching a few blue cats, you will see they love to twist when hooked. The heavy swivel helps to keep them from getting off so easy. I use gallon jugs up to 5 gallon size for my floats. My weights are bricks. Hooks, the bigger the hook, the bigger the cat.


Myself, I fish for big cats so I go larger on everything. Build your jug to what size of cat you want to chase. I got floating jugs that are Carolina rigged with 2 oz egg weights about 12 inches above the hook. These lines are 8 ft deep. My jug is a 32 oz powerade bottle. These are ties with #15 braided line. I love setting these out and letting them float while I crappie fish. These jugs are great for those skillet size cats. I buy all my line, hooks and swivels from Catfish Connection.

Thank you for the tips my friend! I'll give this a try. Appreciate your time Willie.

Do you have a youtube channel?

Following is a video to the easiest and least expensive jug lines I have found on the internet.
http://www.louisianasportsman.com/details.php?id=10731

I add extra line and roll around the float. When I put them out I let it unwind to the depth I want then put a half hitch around float to hold it there. holds the length and very easy to get undone.

Placing them along rip rap, the weights frequently get caught in the rocks. I put a swivel on the bottom with a short section of 20# mono so if get stuck good I can break off the weight.

I use bolts from the hardware store for weights.

Conway, yes, I have a YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOyiF5ft3mQ&list=PL33pk1OEpFSocpAJLoGXBmlBkX8kuZZdO

If you are stationary jugging I love using weedeater string as my main line and leaders. You can get electrical fencing wire crimps at tractor supppy that fits the string. I use one color for my mainline and other colors for my hooks so I know bottom leader is blue, and top hook leader is yellow for instance. This makes it super easy to deploy. On the mainline I place a snap barrel swivel at the bottom so I can attach my weight. About 3 feet above it I place a crimp, bead, barrel swivel, bead, and a crimp. This is where you can crimp on a leader to the barrel swivel. About 5-6 feet above that I would attach another leader in the same way.

Weights depend on the size of juggling you make. I use a styrofoam block about the size of a shoebox so I have 1 pound weights made from concrete solo cups. I run my main line through the block with a 2inch square car bumper on both sides for strength with the weedeater string crimped to a trotline clip. This allows me to quickly set the depth of my mainline because I have 50 feet of mainline wrapped around the block. Let out string until it hits bottom then clip it.

The styrofoam blocks took special tools to make that most ppl won�t have and not sure I would do it that way again. You can stubstitute it for the biggest swimming noodle you can find and a piece of pvc to fit through it for back bone. Drill a hole all the way through it maybe 4 inches from one end. Run mainline through it and secure to trotline clip and start wrapping mainline tight to it....

For juggs I prefer ones that are big and firm with just the right amount of bounce
For catfishing I prefer Abus and Shimano

Aaaaaoooooooh