Quick Jug Kits

I occasionally like to jug fish but most of the time I prefer fishing with rods and reels. However when I want more fish, say for a fish fry, I will jug fish while I also am rod and reel fishing. The thing is that carrying around a bunch of jugs in the boat just in case I want them. I usually have a dozen but more than that just takes up a lot of room.

Until recently you HAD to use a white float to legally jugs fish for sport and orange to do it commercially. Finding white noodles was hard and a pain in the takukas but fortunately a local hardware store here kept them for fishermen. They were a little bigger than the regular ones and worth the 5 bucks each that they cost. Even making your own though by the time I made a couple to three dozen the cost was pretty high.

Now you can use any color for sport fishing. I decided to try to come up with something a little cheaper and easier to carry. After a few experiments I have come up with something that works pretty well and costs almost nothing.

I started with the tags that you have to have. My wife had changed out the mini-blinds in the living room because the cat had messed them up. I had carried them out and put them in the loft of one of my shops sure that I would eventually find a use for them. I DID! I took the little blinds and cut them up into little pieces about 4” long with my chop saw and then drilled holes in each end. I write on those pieces with a permanent marker. TAGS!

I took a 6” zip tie, a 4” zip tie and a large swivel. You put a 4” zip tie though on of the holes in the tag and then slide it and one swivel on one 6” zip tie. I pull the ties down a little leaving a 3/4” hole in the 4” on the tag and to about a 2” circle on the longer zip tie with the swivel and the tag on it. I made a bunch of these and then put them, a dozen at a time on shower curtain rings.

Put a roll of 30lb mono a few dozen hooks and a few dozen ¼ to 3/8 oz pinch on sinkers in a little baggie then put it all in a gallon zip lock bag with a magic marker. Throw it into the boat and go fishing. If you decide that you want to jug you can either carry some pop bottles or as I do gather them up off the banks of the river and make them up. I always take the jugs home and throw them away so along with catching a bunch of fish I am helping clean up the river. I salvage the swivels and the tags for next time and only have to replace the 6” zip ties that I get from Harbor Freight for a few cents apiece.

I really like 1 liter bottles best but have no problem with 20 or 16 oz bottles. They seem to work pretty well. I especially like Mountain Dew bottles and since that is also my drink of choice there are always several of them floating around in the boat. The pre-made harnesses can go on about anything that you find that floats though. I have gathered up 2 liter soda bottles and gallon jugs and they work too but not really a lot better.

If I'm going jugging I have 36 big flagging jugs but this allows me to have jugs any time I want them without having them under foot when I don't plan on jugging.

My steady 12 pvc/pool noodles are rigged to 15' and fit in a 5gal bucket
Less then $25 and they are 6+yrs old still catching fish
I sharpen hooks every new season,my 20" noodles catch 40#+ fish with ease.

What kind and size of hooks do you like to use on your jug lines? I have been using regular J hooks but have been thinking of trying circle hooks.

I use mustad #1 or #2 34009 stainless it's a J hook that works for me.But I don't target bigger fish I'm after eater channel cats.

Before noodles were fished I would keep those 20 o/z drink bottles and spray paint them white fish them free floating with a hand full of pea gravel in them so when the cat hit one it would flag.