Ive got a john boat that im fixing up for this summer when ill be off of school and im making some juglines. all of my bottles are 64oz and i was wondering about how much of a brick should i use to weight the thing? thanks, wyatt

old window weights, or 1lb dumbell weight that you can get at academy. I think they are 2 for $1.00 or $1.00 each. I use the dumbell weights. They work great.

This is the weight from Academy, approx. 49 cents each.

Wyatt,
Rail road spikes:
Easy to get
Priced right
Just the right weight

Wyatt, you didn't say if you plan to freefloat or anchor your jugs. For freefloating my jugs, I like to use a 16p common nail. They're cheap, hold the bait down sufficiently, and don't hang up as bad as something like a bank sinker.

Figuring out the weight for an anchored jug is a little more complicated. I want as heavy a weight as possible, so a fish can't carry it off so easily. But, the heavier the weight, the more work it is to bring it up to the surface; more importantly, if the weight is too heavy and a cat carries it out to deep water, it can cause the jug to sink and never be seen again. Everybody's got their own preferences, but mine is to figure out how much weight it takes to sink one of my jugs, and use about 1/2 that much weight for an anchor. That means, for a 2-liter/half gallon jug, I use a 2# weight. That means that if the jug goes into deep water so that the jug has to support the weight, about 1/2 the jug is still sticking out of the water, making it fairly easy to spot, or for a catfish to hold under the water.

I use a 1 pound weight on my jugs and have caught cat's from 12" to over 40lbs and have never had a jug carried off by a fish. I've had 16 jugs carried off by people/ scum bucketts though.

I fish my juglines with no weight. They usually consist of a two liter bottle, three to six foot of line and a 5/0 circle hook. Bait with a big perch or goldfish, and hold on.

thanks alot for all the replys, i think i might go with the dumbells, but if i ever get brave enough i might try free floating them with those nails on the guadalupe or somthing, thanks

You may want to try just pouring your own using a 12 or 16 OZ cup filled with concrete and just put something in while wet to tie it with. Maybe even a piece of close hanger bent like you want.

I always have just broken a brick in half and tied it on...hey, whatever works right?

Go to a nearby service station or tire store, and ask them if you can have some of the disc rotors that they save to later pay someone to come and haul them off. They're usually kept in a little fenced-in structure at the side of the building.

These are also excellent for weighting down christmas trees or other wooden structure you want to plant in a pond or lake.

I work in a machine shop and the day shift just scrapped 8 of the purtiest jugline weights you ever saw, they look like anchors. Otherwise I have a bunch I made fron 4 inches of 2 1/2 inch diameter round stock stainless steel with a 5/16 eye bolt threaded into it. They weigh around a pound.

I have made many a trotline weight out of scrap parts myself.

All of these are good suggestions, but I like SKIP_48's idea best. If you loose one, you sure haven't lost much. Thanks! I believe I'll try a few.
jerryg

I usually use a whole brick and it seems to work really well. Ive got alot of them around the house so thats probably the main reason that I use them.