Thread: making jug lines/and weights

About 2 years ago I started making the jug-lines using the kiddie noodles as floaters. One of my fishing buddies here in Arrowhead Estates showed me how to make them.

He uses a 20oz styrofoam cup filled with cement for weight and I copied what he does. I've only lost one of my juglines using this much weight and I suspect a big ol flathead took off with it.

For night fishing I adapted those little solar powered pathway lights you can buy at Walmart. Set your jugline out in the day and the sun charges the battery, then it glows all night long.

I fish the channel right here at my place and at any given time of the night, I can step outside and view the lights on my juglines. Its kinda neat to be able to view them anytime I have them set out.

I've got some ideas of how to know there is actually a fish on, but haven't had time the last year to incorporate my ideas into reality.

I experimented with one particular jugline and made a frame from 3/4" pvc and the light sets up on top. Just imagine a minature oil derreck floating on the water with the line\hooks hanging straight down from the middle of the frame. The large concrete weight keeps it stable and I have caught so many catfish using these juglines that I actually started releasing large catfish (6-12 pounders) because I no longer had room in the freezer of my fridge to hold them.

Plus I hate cleaning fish (especially catfish) and was too lazy to clean anymore.

Unfortunately a lot of the lost jugs are actually stolen. Especially those fancy ones with rebar and all that. My old man lives on grand lake and we've yelled at people stealing our jugs right out in front of his house before. Its pretty sad but is reality. Thats why I make pretty simple noodle jugs that are cheap and effective. We use a garden rake to retrieve our jugs from a deck boat that sits similar to a pontoon in the water.

Yes, we saw a man and woman right next to our soon to be missing jug. They saw us and pulled out their rods and reels to fish. Later, we thought maybe there was a fish on and they took the whole thing in case we came back.

So what happens if you lose a jug? It has name and address on it, but is there any fine?

Stink....post a picture! The Catfish Derrick! I fish the same area, but closer to the house on the point. Do the hooks get tangled up with your derrick?

Peke

Peke

Forgot one of my questions....do I take the cup off when making the concrete weights?
(I had typed concrete floats.....what an oxymoron....I'm surprised I caught that! )

What about putting concrete in 12 or 20 oz plastic Coke bottles? (Or Pepsi, if the fish prefer? ) Would I take the plastic off or leave it on?

Peke

Leave it on, it acts a shock absorber when you bang the weights up against your legs. As far as using coke bottles, I don't think it would take but one dose of trying to stuff concrete down the little hole in top to convince you they're not user-friendly.

I'll post a pic of my "catfish" derreck later on............lol.

Originally Posted by cricket george

Peke - I almost forgot get the monster noodles in orange or yellow or Lime green. They seem to be the easiest to see at a distance. Buy plenty of monsters because I cannot find them in OKC Walmarts. I would be tickled if I could locate and buy 3 or 4 extras just to have.

I have about 10 cases of them. But shipping would kill you. We buy them by the case as we use them to make our jug and floats.

Also heres you some jugs. Wild Wolf Products

Pete

Those are great Pete, thanks for sharing!

Here's a picture of my "catfish" derreck:



The original color (bright pink) has long ago faded due to ultraviolet light from the sun and I might have to get a can of spray paint to bring it back to being easy to spot.

In between the two uprights down on the base, I used a simple clothes hanger to bridge the gap and the fishing line attaches to a swivel in the middle of the clothes hanger. It drops straight down into the water and the weight helps keep the derreck upright.

I did experience one tip over and the light up on top was upside down, came off, and disappeared into the water. I replaced that light and used glue this time. If a large gust of wind comes along, it might tip over again.

This 1st derreck was just an experiment, later I plan on building some more based on this design, but they will be refined somewhat and hopefully I can incorporate some type of flag or light that will indicate a fish on.

Right now I'm just happy my catfish derreck didn't leak any oil. From the best I can tell, that would mean trouble, big trouble.