Thread: Need some catfish wisdom

I usually let them go for a few minutes. I have mine set up to where they will stay upright if they get tugged a little, they are made of pool noodle, with PVC ran through them, A T on one end, and a cap on the other. There is a piece of rebar on the inside, and it goes to the opposite end when tripped, thus standing up the jug. If the fish gets off they usually lean to the side and dont move around anymore. Just FYI, if you put that bait on there in tact, even if it is dead, a game warden may still write you a ticket, it is best to cut any bait you put on there. The game warden will most likely think it was alive at the time you hooked it. (If it is a whole fish) You were very lucky, you should never throw out jugs and leave them, or go to bed, that is what "those guys do" if a 20+ lb blue grabbed it, pulled it under the water, and got tangled in a log somewhere, you probably would have killed that fish. They cold have also traveled to a very remote part of the lake and been completely lost. Which is why I said "Don't become one of those guys". I hope you understand I am not trying to be a dick to you, but I jug fish every summer, and hear and see these things over and over again. A 15lb flathead will pull that jug so far under the water you cant see it, Please stay with them any time you put them out, it will save yourself the trouble of wondering what happened to it.

Matt, points all well taken and appreciated. I'll definitely adjust to stay with the jugs and cut my bait. Some questions:
What size and type bait do you use for bigger fish?
Do you cut baits in half and use each half in separate jugs?
Do you always put the bait on the bottom or do you sometimes suspend the bait?
Do you put lights in your jugs at night?

Thanks again for the guidance.
TW

Question 1, Bait size is pretty much non determinant of what size, the largest cat I have ever caught was caught on a 1 inch piece of cut eel. My second favorite is gizzard shad, or what ever the cats eat, some lakes it is perch, some are shad.
2. if the shad are 5-6 inches long, cut the tail off, and cut in half at a diagonal, then use on 2 jugs. If you catch big perch, cut them in chunks, if you get big shad, fillet them, and use cubes of the fillet, but not all lakes get the big shad.
3. My baits are never on the bottom, I make some jug lines 4ft long, and some 12 ft long. I usually keep them fishing depths of 18-25 ft. Sometimes the longer lines will drift into the shallows, and sometimes catch fish.
4. We bought the reflective tape strips from Tractor supply wrapped it around the top of them, but unless the water is flat calm, it is still tough to see. We will put them in a cove at night time, and place the boat so that you can see them all easily.

I will try to take a picture of our set up and send it to you this weekend.

Most people are also not targeting big fish with jugs, they are good for locating eater sized cats, as big cats will make them disappear. Most of the ones we catch are from 3-15lbs, with the occasional 20lber that we usually turn loose. I would rather have 2 10lb fish with thin firm fillets than a 20lb fish with mushy fillets.

I throw all of them back. I really want to catch a big cat....25+. Should I forgo the jugs and fish live bait on down rods?
TW

Tarheel now that you know what kind of bait to use and how to label your noodles,The main channel just south of Long Island is a very popular location for " juggers" although I don't catfish I see guys doing it all the time. The pros seem to set them out late at night after the boats are off the water and pick them up before they get out at 10.00 am the next morning. Both sides of the island has a deep channel and flats to both sides of that channel . As I hear from the Pros the female blues have just finish their spawn and have left the beds so they should be hungry. I also hear the flatheads have just started to spawn so they will be close to ramps, overhanging banks, placed to hide in general. Again I don't fish for catfish so this information is just a repeat of what I have heard from the Pros.

I can tell you the (noodlers) those nuts that dive down and reach in and grab them have been pulling 20lb fish from the above mentioned hideouts. Seen it myself.

I've always wanted to try noodlin'. I've seen some pretty big cats around my pier, maybe 8-10 pounds. I put on a snorkel mask, hold my breath and dive to the bottom and look around. The problem is every one I've seen is 8-12' deep and I'm a little nervous about grabbing it and making it to the top. When you noodle, do you run your hand/finger out the gills?
TW

If you plan to stay within good distance of them (Less than 100 yards) then you can fish the jugs, but you will catch smaller cats on them most of the time, since that is the majority of the population. Large cats get large based off of many things in their life, genetics, and diets. But for the sake of safety, I would target large cats by using electronics on a boat, and fishing with rods for them, don't even have to have live bait, chunks of cutbait will catch big fish. Just have to put it in front of them. Like I said my largest 38lb blue cat came off of a 1 inch piece of eel. that was maybe half inch in diameter. That fish was just hungry that day, and wanted to eat it. But you would be amazed how strong a 20 lb blue cat is. I have had a jug disappear for a minute, and then pop up somewhere away from the pack. If we didn't see it stand up when we looked, we would have never seen it leave. I have caught a 14lb flat head do the same thing, we drive up beside the jug and they sound down so deep you cant see a brightly colored (Green and pink) pool noodle anymore. It is fun, and a good way to locate fish, but now a days people are doing crazy things that give us all a bad reputation. Putting them out at night and leaving them unattended, then never finding ones that escape is the #1 complaint, because it is littering the waterways. #2 is people that set out the limit (75) I believe now, blocking travel paths and leaving with huge cooler fulls of fish. My largest concern is a decent fish grabbing it, and going under a log, the line gets tangled and the fish is killed fighting with it, and all you know is a jug has gone missing. Small things like this is what causes the privileges we have to be taken away, no matter how good I try to do, there is someone somewhere doing bad, and one jug fisherman is as bad as them all. Personally I don't set out more than 10-12 because they are so much work to move around in the places I fish, but we do ok fishing them. I would just assume to fish with rods on the bottom, but my girlfriend loves to do the jugs, so we set them out, and then put the rods out, or try to catch a crappie.