Had to leave some jug lines.....

out on the water this morning on EM. Had to get out of the water at 5:30 this morning. Waiting on completion of cooler installation. Looks like another couple of hours. Hope no one messes with them or takes them. Better yet, I hope there's a couple of cats on them when I pick them up. It was a beautiful morning and I hated having to leave when I did. Its a weekday so there'll probably be little traffic. I need to get back out there soon.

Was wondering how folks generally fish with jugs - do you set them all then return within 1 hour or so to check? Do you leave them overnight?

I don't jug fish in the summer at all because I like to put them out at night right after dark and pick them up in the morning just before dawn. Leaving a fish hooked in summer time water temps is likely to kill the fish so I just don't do it.

when we set them we usually drop em off and go drift for an hour or so.. head back and check em. rinse and repeat.

For Me, Depends on the lake. One lake I fish I set them out, then RR line fish a few hours, then run the jugs and usually always have some nice fish. Another lake I fish , next in the same river chain, I have to leave them overnight. 12 or 24 hours gives you a better shot at one passing by your rig and taking it. But also one could pass by in an hour or two. So, put'em out and see what happens

I normally wouldn't leave them out for so many hours unless it was colder. I finally got a chance to go and retrieve them yesterday afternoon around 4pm. hooks were clean.

what kind of hooks do you put on the juglines - circle or just plain #1s? targeting eater-size channels.

Stay with em. better at night, use reflector tape on tops for easier finding. Summer time fish die off on jugs/trots is very high.
Use flagging Jugs so you know when a fish is on. Then go get it right away. airiate keepers. Circle hooks catch more. Channels have a knack for bait steeling nutter good reason to stay with em. shrimp works for eaters when you cant find shad. Better if you can set them in a pattern. I use one in center 12 around like a clock. If the pattern breaks too much start circeling around setup til you locate the missing jug. Have fun

I use circle hooks with the first being about a foot from the bottom and the next about another foot up. I usually do pretty good with jugs setting them at night in about 20 to 30 ft near a slope, then leave to r&r for an hour or two. I've got reflective tape on them so I can usually find them with the spot light. They used to get pretty far until I started using 1/2 lb weight. It might be a little overkill, but it beats finding them 50 to 100 yards away. Left on last year near twin points and found it being dragged by the center of the dam.
Here's the bad boy that took it that time.
Some cat just do not stay in the same area. Especially the big ones.