What is everyone using for their setups? What line weight for your Mainlines and Drops? Do you use Paracord, Nylon String or Braided String? Trotline clips or not? What type & size hooks do you use? Do you use different methods for lakes and rivers? Share your knowledge please.

Milton1allen, check out YouTube, tons of videos on there about the topics you are looking for. What I didn’t see is how long to y’all let them jug sit out? Put them out at dark and pick them up first thing in the morning?

Hey there!!!

Lots of great questions! A lot of what I do depends on the size of the water I am going to fish. What I mean is that I will do things slightly different for the Cibolo than for the SA River or Choke Canyon when it is full. In the catfishing area at Walmart, they tend to have 2 different sized strings. I usually use braided string. The thicker one is what I will use for main trotline string and the thinner one is what I will use for the drops. I will often use the clips but have seen that if you clip to a swivel, the clip tends to pull out for some reason. When I am building my own trotlines, I will usually make a drop loop in the main line so that the leader cannot be run up and down the line by a big fish. The size of hooks also is guided by where I am fishing. I do try to use circle hooks whenever possible. In the SA River and Choke kinds of places, the potential is there for REALLY big fish, so there is often a desire to use bigger bait and the need for a sturdier, bigger hook. In places like the Cibolo, a smaller hook is ok as usually you are catching fish less than 30lbs. That isnt to say that bigger fish do not exist in the smaller bodies of water, but that they are rarer to run into. The last thing you want is hooks being bent straight without seeing the fish that did it. I will always use live bait on trotlines and limb-lines in creeks and rivers. I have family who set jug lines in Choke and they swear by but shad and small whole carp, alive or dead. I prefer live perch as that is what seems to do the best in the Cibolo where I tend to fish. Recently, I set lines in the Cibolo and bought a bunch of crawfish, goldfish and bass minnows at a baitshop on the way out. The bass minnows were a HUGE hit for good sized channel cats but nothing really touched the crawfish and most of the goldfish tended to pull off the hooks. I would say that I left both claws on the crawfishes, and I should have cut at least one of the claws off to increase the chance of them being eaten. Many say to remove one but not both as the one claw can be used to fight off smaller fish. I also would say it is of no use to put out fresh live baits to soak during the day as gars tend to enjoy my live bait a bit too much. I usually will bait a couple hours before dark and check in the morning. If you have time, I would recommend running the trotlines and maybe jugs at around 10 or 11 to re-bait the empty hooks and remove any caught fish as there is no guarantee that they will be there in the morning. Remember that a lines, the trotlines, jugs and limblines need to be tagged. What the tag needs can be found in the rule book that is usually available at the counter where you bought your license. Lastly, enjoy fishing with this method! It is one of my favorite ways to fish but there are a lot of folks who will give grief for not fishing with a rod and reel.

Thanks for all the good advice! I do fish with rod and reel also but its mainly for eater size channel cats. 1 to 3 pounds.

I make my own. I will try to post specs sometime Sunday, but I am booked until about 2 PM

#72 for main line and #18 or #12 for drops.
I check them every 3-4 hours to remove fish and rebait. Not to mention it often makes it easier to find the jugs.

Great info.

I've been working on a Cadillac version for several years now. Certainly not the cheapest way to make jugs but that wasn't my goal. Even so... they come out to be somewhere in the ten to fifteen bucks apiece range. Not too expensive. One of the bigger cost drivers is finding reasonably priced pool noodles. I try to find sales in the fall when places like Walmart and Target are trying to get rid of them. They are still a work in progress. Here's a link to a tutorial I posted on making them... Jug Lines

OK, I have not gotten back to post, as somewhere I have listed how I do my SW (Shallow Water) trotlines.

The BW (Big Water) trotlines are quite different, as I came up with what I call my "Planters". Not for the weak, as they utilize a 60 to 75 pound anchors (concrete in 3.5 gallon buckets on each side When you drop one, it plants itself on the bottom. And its fun to retrieve them. They also utilize fender floats, at least two on each side & two droplines.

Anyway, as to my SW trotlines, I set them up as 36 hooks each, in 4 sections of 9 like this, with loops for weights & bottles:

6 foot cord/ the first three hook drops (I use brass brads & 4/0 to 6/0 or at least 3/0 SS barrel swivels or brass ones, never nickel as it degrades if left out)// loop// 6 hook drops/ loop// 9 hook drops// Center loop// 9 hook drops// loop// 6 hook drops// loop// 3 hook drops// 6 foot cord.

I used to utilize size 36 3 strand green cord for main line & leaders. But I have used braided for the leaders. I did in 2018 & lost the Giant. It seems I had the core style braided and not solid braid. The Giant snapped the leader & took the hook. I never had one snap size 36. He did not snap my 4/0 to 6/0 SS swivels though. I now have size 72 to 96 cord for that trotline now.

I used 10 to 16 ounce plastic or vinyl cups (flexible, not the cheap thin party cups) with concrete & a galvanized loop sticking out with I also slit a notch thru on one side to tie a short cord to make sure if the concrete separates, it won't litter my cups. They stay attached. My leaders are 24 inches long. My cords for the weights are 36" long. This gives me about a foot off the bottom as to where the hook is dangling. Also, tying to the loops are a water bottle. Actually, I am getting away from the flimsy ones & will use Pepsi bottles. I will remove the wrapper to keep litter to nil (nothing). I only use a short cord to attach the bottle to the loop. After you get your lines out, you can put on the weights first or the bottles. But come time for the bottles, take off the cap and fill with lake or river water, then dump just a small amount back out & put the cap on. This allows the weight to pull the line down, but if too much slack, it could drop a hook on the bottom, so the bottle will have just a bubble to make it float upwards

The 6 foot of cord each end allows you to tie to a stump, but if too large, have a spool of cord ready to tie around the stump, then tie to the main line to it. Also, as you set out the main line, you will notice you have 3 drops before the first weight. This allows 3 hooks to be up higher & hopefully lower so nobody runs over your line with a prop. You do not need a bottle on this loop.

I also burn the ends after making the knots- main lines, leader lines, weight lines & even bottle short cords. One YellowCat fisherman (one of the two that taught me) showed me how to do it. It helps to prevent a hook to pop loose a knot. Be careful, melted nylon melts right into your fingers or arms. I use a little propane bottle double burner stove. (only one Burner). Plus I have a cord stretched out to hang the leader lines on by the hook or throw over for other lines so they can dry.

Almost forgot. You are limited to 100 hooks all devices, and 2 trotlines at maximum of 50 hooks each. By using 36 for each of the two, it totals 72, You have 28 hooks free for juglines and even save a hook or two if you want to rod-n-reel also. Most of my jugs in deeper waters have 4 or 5 each. But in shallower water say 8 foot to 13 feet, 2 to 3 hooks. I usually spread leader drops somewhere just over 3 foot apart on SW trotlines. And 4 to 5 feet apart on the "Planters" for BW. A "Planter" needs at least 20 feet deep of waterto work properly.