Ok, im not a catfisherman. But im going to Fork in a couple of weeks to crappie fish. I thought about setting out some juglines. I know they need a name an date. And im planning on putting 3 to 4 hooks on each one. Is that about right? But my main question is what bait to use? Frozen shad, liver, shrimp i judt really am not sure what might be best. Or do I do a mixture and see what works best.

I have not fished Fork so I don’t know what works best there, but I will say that fresh chicken breast has worked well for me on the lakes that I have fished.

I dont know if I've ever heard of chicken breast. Do you but a package and cut them up ?

I always use chicken breast cut into chunks, and put it in a bag, open a pack of cherry or strawberry jello, dump it in and let it sit a day or two in the fridge. I add real Mexican vanilla, or minced garlic to mine. Divide it up, put in qt. freezer bags and put in the freezer. It also toughens the meat and makes it harder to get off the hook.

I’m not advising you one way or the other, but Fork is probably not the best lake for jugs. Maybe around the dam, but there are stumps EVERYWHERE else.

I’d leave those jugs at home and bring you some range cubes and punch bait. Throw out a bag the night before and then go fish it after your done crappie fishing. Youll catch more fish on rod and reel than you would in the time it takes to bait up and deploy all those jugs. Not to mention all the time it takes to build the jugs. If you can’t catch some channel cats on fork you might as well be playing golf. There are a lot of guys on the forum like Littlewheel that are willing to help out a new guy with techniques and locations.

Do you think the range cube and punch bait will work off a dock? Or range cubes and cut bait off the bank? I only say cut bait off the bank due to it falling off when I cast.

We use Stubbys Cheesebait. If used properly by keeping it cool and using a spinning rod with no weight, the bait stays on fine. If you sling it out there with a bait caster with 2 oz of weight, it won’t. My number is 9039872315 if you want to holler and I will be glad to help you along.

Boom! Gotta love TFF bros! Littlewheel is a master Channel Catr. Pretty cool that he is so willing to help a fella out! Yes you can chum at your dock. If you chum they will come. We rent lake houses at a number of different lakes throughout the year and we always drop a bag of cubes and fish right under the dock at the lake house. It’s so easy a 1 yr old can do it!

Thanks brother . I just try to pass on info that was passed on to me by Stubby. I got about 60 years of knowledge crammed down my throat in a few years. Always glad to help.

I have been chumming several docks, and some cat tail beds on Lake Worth, at daybreak, with soured wheat. By the time I get done with the last dock, I go back to the first one. I continually catch numbers of channels, and a few blues till around 10 or so.

Most of these docks are in 6 to 8 foot of water, and Im fishing in 3 to 4 foot, about 18 inches off the surface using a slip bobber rig, and punch bait on a treble hook. I can wear them out every day doing this same routine. Until it gets cold, then its hard to get them up shallow early. Have to wait till the sun is out and shining down, warming the shallows.

Use CJ's punch bait, I can't even get it off my hook if I try.

So with the range cubes it takes about 12 hours? With 1 bag do i use all of it in 1 spot or 2 or 3 ?

I use range cubes too, it attracts all species of fish, not just cats. You want to attract them, not feed them. Go sparingly with it. I bought a 40 lb bag bag in March, still have half left. I usually take a one gallon freezer bag full, each trip, and rarely use all of that. When I use them, about 30 -45 minutes or so later, they'll start coming in. It will start to dissolve in the water.

We bait each of our holes with a 50lb bag of cubes late in the afternoon the day before a trip. Pretty common for our clients to catch 150-200 fish on a 4 hr trip.

I’ve always used the whole bag like Littlewheel. It will disintegrate rapidly and puts out a huge chum trail out. When I go back to fish it the next day I throw out about a coffee can sized scoop to ring the dinner bell. The fish that have been sniffing that cattle cube chum cloud for the last 15 hrs will still be hanging around ready to eat.