I suck at jug fishing

Been running trot lines all my life but for some reason I can't get this jig line thing down

Made up a dozen of the nice noodle jigs with he internal weight to bouy up when a fish is on ( like that has really happened yet.)

Tried out at Ivie this past week and only had one fish on but pulled free before I could chase him down

Anyone have any suggestions to help out a jug newbie?

I tried a couple of depths 10-15 and drifts with no success

Whole/cut shad were the bait Is what I was using

Have the main line rigged like a Carolina rig for reference

So you was only usein 1 hook Killa?

That's how I had these rigged up this time

But even with one hook each, 12 jugs, and multiple sets you would think something would have showed up

Yeah, I've never been good at jugin' either.

I've always had luck running multiple hooks. Covering more water!


Talk too the Godfather, see if we can get a Trot line, Juggers sub forum

Yes. That would be Great. We need our own Sub.

Do you have a fish finder to scan the areas you're dropping them in to make sure there's fish around? I just got back from Ivie and there was a lot of dead water, at least on the main lake side for catfish. Didn't make it up the river arms.

Side imaging is your friend.

Once you figure it out you will love it. Gallon jug. I like three hooks. I open eyes of hooks add swivel and pinch back. Slide down line tie a knot with a little bit of a leader and do another 3 feet above it. I use 1/2 a brick for weight.been doing it this way for 14 years. Caught a 77 pounder on this rig yesterday.

1/2 gallon bleach bottles with sand in them to tip when hit. 3 circle hooks each jug. Shad or carp cut bait.
you can catch them in the bar ditch with this simple rig. Noodles with counter weights and pvc hurts to much when you loose a few. plus the bigger jug helps to set the hook better.

If this doesn't fix your catching you may have to change flavors on your beer!

What about time of the year? Is there a better time than others?

Dodge, this is the time of the year. We usually set out jug line between now and late January (when the crappie start biting).

Thanks Kodys'papa. I've set mine out a few times recently with limited success. Im sure my depth was off but I like the idea of 2 or 3 hooks vs the single hook I have on mine. Mine are set up for free drift (Guess that's what it would be considered) but what is the best way? Free drift or a weighted on bottom?

Sand in the jug? That is a great technique guy.
thx

There's really no bad time of the year. We will split the jugs up into 3 different areas. 5-7 jugs per set
. Wind blown point, river or underwater creek, and one set if we are marking on the graph.
The trick is to do something else while they are soaking. Warm weather we will bow fish for Carlton use as bait. Cooler weather when the carp go deep we will go for bass, sand bass , and hybrids.

If it's to calm you will waste your time with jugs, been my experience.

Kids really get a kick out of it!

Dixie cup (SOLO) filled with Concrete will hold most all 30 or less LB cats and cheap to make. Get some Galv wire 1/8th or a bit larger for the hook. when you fill the concrete, put the hook in when starting to dry.

Here is a simple yet effective weight

Here is my design. I'm a fan of getting the bait off the main line and the plastic helps tremendously. Also, the concrete solo cups are the only way to go especially fishing structure or treed areas. My main line is 50' long which covers you in most area lakes and I use three 7/0 circle hooks spread 5' apart. This will cover a variety of depths. Great thing about this design is that hooked "snells" easily pull out so you can change hooks or replace one that get hung up. Also, adding alert weights do nothing but alert other people you've got a fish on. The idea of the jug is to provide resistance to set the hook not alert you if you have a fish one.

I love targeting wind blown points and creek channels. I feel the circle hooks greatly assist my hook up ratio. They look big cats to small eaters who have not issues finding the corner of their mouths.

Bait wise, I'm a fan of cut shad, lil smokies, shrimp and chicken livers. Lil smokies seems to really stay of the hook.

Remember you have to clearly mark all jugs with name, phone number and date. The attached was one of my first designs and the marker quickly faded. I've switched to duct tape. Also, adding a piece of reflective tape really helps at night.

Good luck!!

Not phone number - but address...

Per TP&W...

"Gear Tag:
A tag constructed of material as durable as the device to which it is attached. The gear tag must be legible, contain the name and address of the person using the device and the date the device was set out. Date is not required for saltwater trotlines or crab traps fished under a commercial license. For juglines and freshwater trotlines, properly marked buoys or floats qualify as valid gear tags."