# Jug fishing for catfish



## Buckyt (Oct 1, 2007)

I am trying to learn to jug fish for my small grandchildren. The only problem is that I am having so much fun, I might turn my Ranger bass boat into a jugging boat. Last weekend, we took the grandchildren out to bait the jugs and to place them so the wind would move them toward productive water. I caught bream for bait, and hooked some thru the lips, and some thru the back. I cut 2 bream up and put each half on a hook. We waited 2 hours before we had to go ceck the jugs. We only had 2 cats 1-3lb qnd 1-5 lb. They were beautiful, slick fish. The kids lovrd it and I am sure we'll do this again. In fact, we deployed the jugs today and landed 2 and lost 2.

I wonder if you could do this in the bays, and what would you catch??

Buckyt (Master jugger!)


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## choppedliver (Apr 4, 2009)

Ask Angus_cow_doctor, he is a master jugger from what I hear!


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## bamagator (Mar 31, 2009)

I have been jug fishing for many years, and it is a lot of fun. Wait till you get one on that is big enough to take the jug down and run with it! It will remind you of that seen in Jaws where the shark takes the barrels down.


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## Croaker Chris (Feb 22, 2009)

*Buckyt.............. Congrats on a good day jugging. Sounds like you and the grand-kids have a good day on the water.....*


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## Sea-r-cy (Oct 3, 2007)

You didn't say what state you are fishing in, but in Florida:

[*]<p class=Body>Black bass, peacock bass or any part thereof may not be used as bait.</p>[*]<p class=Body>Live goldfish or carp may not be used as bait.</p>[*]<p class=Body>Whole pickerel or bream (e.g., bluegill, redear sunfish, redbreast sunfish, spotted sunfish, flier, warmouth) or parts thereof may be used as bait for sportfishing by he angler who caught them.</p>[*]<p class=Body>Whole pickerel or bream or parts thereof may not be used as bait for trotlines or bush hooks or any method other than by rod and reel or pole and line.</p><p class=Body>Sea-r-cy</p>


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## angus_cow_doctor (Apr 13, 2009)

I used to go jug fishing all the time on Lay Lake in Alabama.

We used pool noodles as the floats. The fish were so big, that we decided on 80# test minimum line size, and a minimum 3-0 circle hook.

We used bream that were bigger than your hand as bait. 

Alabama has since passed a law that only allows you one big catfish a day. Which is stupid, because there are so many of them.....


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## 69Viking (Oct 30, 2008)

We have a pond at the Hunting Camp in Conecuh County and it's full of Catfish. While were up there working on the food plots we set out a bunch of jugs with "live bait" and usually by the end of the day we have enough Catfish to have a huge fish fry that feeds 6-8 of us! I had never fished like this growing up in MN, wish I knew about this when I was a kid!


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## Buckyt (Oct 1, 2007)

Thanks for the positive feedback! I was afraid that you serious fishermen would make fun of me. I made my jugs from swim noodles with 1/2 inch PVC glued in the hole. I drilled the pvc to tie the cluth line onto the float. I used a 5' line wirh 1oz line, a swivel, a 2; leader and about #5 catfish hook. This makes a neat package. 11 floats will fit snugly into a 5 gallon bucket. Easy to carry, bait, and deploy. Each float cost about $1.

Now I just need to learn how to clean a catfish.


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## Eargills (Mar 25, 2009)

You just gave me a great idea for a marker bouy.The ones I use now are hard to see in rough water.I'll let you know how it turns out.


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## angus_cow_doctor (Apr 13, 2009)

electric fillet knife is the only way to go on catfish.

Get a piece of plywood and drill a hole in it big enough to stick the side fins into the hole. That will help to hold them while you use the knife on them.

The wider blades work alot better. I use American Angler electric knife, and I have cleaned several hundred. The big cats will give you some trouble, but just have to work at it. When I say big, I mean 20 pounds plus. The 1 to 15 pound sizes are a breeze with an electric knife.


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## Jighead (Feb 11, 2009)

Buckyt, 

I was helping a friend on Logan Martin install a trolling motor last spring and we tied some white string to a milk jug and baited with chicken Liver. We just tossed it out and let the wind blow it around. It didn't go far and the whole jug went under the water. Then shot stright up several feet. We went to check it and there was a catfish on there as long as my leg. No net, no boga we tried to stick a pair of pliers in it mouth to pull it over the rail. splash got away. 

You could set a few out and pick them up on your way in from catching those Weiss Lake pigs. As for cleaning. My grandfather taught me to clean them whole. Nail them to a tree make a cut from pectoral to pectoral then pull the skin back then take the head off. bread and fry whole. 

Thanks for the article I test those spots


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## Buckyt (Oct 1, 2007)

I'm going to have to cook some on my grandchildren's next visit. My 5 yr old granddaughter wanted me to take them to a restaurant to let them cook her some fish. We just didn't have time to cook any that time, but we'll make that our next great adventure!

I have they jugs out now and will check them before dark.

I really want to put some reflective tape on them and try at night!


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## JoeyWelch (Sep 25, 2009)

Buckyt I use to fish noodles about 3 times a month. I loved it . Still do I guess but I got back into saltwater. Anyhow what I was gonna say is this ( and the kids will love it). I had a bream buster, didn't put any line on it only a snaplock and big treble hook. Cut the points and the barbs off the treble hook and connect it directly to the bream buster with a snaplock swivel. when the fish is on all you have to do is get close enough to catch the noodle line with the bream buster and its game on. You will put alot more fish in the boat this way because they can't snatch the hook as easily. The pole will be limber enough to play them down. I've caught several 30lb. cats this way. when you catch the noodle line just pass the pole off to one of the kids and sit back and watch. they'll have a blast. Now you got me thinking. I might have to get my noodles back out.

I had to edit. Left something out. One of my favorite baits is shad. they are caught pretty easy at nightwith a 3/8 mesh bait net. get a spotlight and shine it directly in the water (HOLD IT IN THE SAME PLACE, DON'T MOVE IT AROUND) for about 5 minutes. while the light is still shining in the water throw the net. if the shad are there it will only take a couple throws to get enough bait to fish all night. keep the shad on ice, don't bother trying to keep them alive. It's very hard to do. As long as they are on ice they will stay fresh. This and skipjack are the best catfish bait you will ever get. Also helps avoid those pesky live bait laws that I never understood. I fish the Tensaw and the Alabama river. This has always worked for me.


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## Buckyt (Oct 1, 2007)

I retrieved my noodles this afternoon. I took a friend out to aid in finding and retrieving. We only got 1 out of 10 noodles, but it was about 4 lbs. I'm still using live bream, and all but 1 had no bait. I want to try some other baits. I'm defrostong some old shrimp that i believe might work ( can't believe I let the shrimp get to old for me to eat!)

I plan to try liver, and a friend said they used chunks of Ivory soap (???) Same stuff Momma used to wash my mouth out with when she heard me cuss.

Any other suggestions?


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## nowakepleez (Oct 17, 2009)

I would assume your not doing this in fl. " the use of any free floating unattached device" is illegal in this state.

Also, bream can only be used as bait with rod and reel. Boy!! they would throw you under the jail in fl.!!!


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## lastcast (Oct 12, 2007)

It's a blast and have fun with it. Ivory soap will work- believe it or not. If you try livers, put them in a piece of old nylon stocking. Your grandkids will look forward to it everytime them come to visit! Happy Huntin! Also if you can find a place that sells the 1" Glo-sticks for cheap, they make huntin downyour jugs alot easier!

Skip


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## Buckyt (Oct 1, 2007)

My jugging is being done at Lake Weiss in Alabama. Thanks for the tip about Florida.


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## snapperfan (Aug 30, 2009)

Here are a ton of videos on how to clean catfish.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+clean+catfish&aq=f


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## xl883lo (Oct 24, 2007)

> *Sea-r-cy (06/05/2010)*You didn't say what state you are fishing in, but in Florida:
> 
> [*]<p class=Body>Black bass, peacock bass or any part thereof may not be used as bait.</p>[*]<p class=Body>Live goldfish or carp may not be used as bait.</p>[*]<p class=Body>Whole pickerel or bream (e.g., bluegill, redear sunfish, redbreast sunfish, spotted sunfish, flier, warmouth) or parts thereof may be used as bait for sportfishing by he angler who caught them.</p>[*]<p class=Body>Whole pickerel or bream or parts thereof may not be used as bait for trotlines or bush hooks or any method other than by rod and reel or pole and line.</p><p class=Body>Sea-r-cy</p>


In Alabama:

Use of Bream for Bait</h1>220-2-.90Use of <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Game Fish for Bait - Use of Sunfish (Bream).</h1>It shall be lawful to use the following species of the sunfish family for bait in the streams and waters of Alabama: <span style="text-decoration: underline;">bluegill, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">redear sunfish (shellcracker), <span style="text-decoration: underline;">green sunfish, and/or any other species of <span style="text-decoration: underline;">bream; provided, that nothing in this section shall be so construed as to allow any person to have in his possession any sunfish or bream in excess of the daily creel limit, regardless of size. (Acts 1953, No. 644, p. 903; Acts 1967, No. 572, p. 1327.)


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## angus_cow_doctor (Apr 13, 2009)

> *xl883lo (08/05/2010)*
> 
> 
> > *Sea-r-cy (06/05/2010)*You didn't say what state you are fishing in, but in Florida:
> ...


Yup... We used to catch 500 bream (approx.) to go fishing with from a private pond that was LOADED. It was illegal to have all the bream onboard the boat with us, so we would split them up into several aerators, and only take the "legal creel limit" on the boat to use as bait. When we ran short, we would make a trip to shore again.

We would put out as many as 500 "noodles" at a time. It would keep you REAL busy.


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