New Beggs City Lake, 7/12/2013

[Allen Morgan]

Wanted to try something a little different today.  Brought six pool noodle jugs for catfish with me today.  I figured while the bait was soaking, I could do a little trolling and graphing, trying to learn how this little lake is laid out underwater.

 

Started off the day by catching some sunfish for cut bait.  Worms under a float in a shallow, weedy cove yielded a lot of sunnies.  I only used the small ones, the big ones I let go.  Here’s a couple decent Sunnies:

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img42/3072/zqfs.jpg[/IMG]

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img51/8776/hhi7.jpg[/IMG]

 

Once bait was caught, I paddled out to deeper water.  The weight on my jugs is about 10’ below the jug, so I was looking for water to be just over 10’ deep.  I was already trolling a Rapala Clackin’ Minnow in silver/black, size 7.  I found a 10’ contour on the upwind side of the main lake basin, and started baiting and dropping jugs.

 

I didn’t even get all six jugs in the water when this hit:

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img534/1023/fm75.jpg[/IMG]

 

Got my last two jugs dropped, then decided to go do a little exploring and trolling while letting the bait soak.  I was headed south, parallel to the bank, in about 15 FOW, when I realized I had a hard time seeing all my jugs behind me.  I decided to cut across the lake basin, get a read on how deep the channel is, then head back to the north to start checking my jugs.  I got about halfway across to the west side when this hit:

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img849/3851/6x9d.jpg[/IMG]

 

Not bad! I continued heading north, as I planning to just make a large loop, ended at the northern-most jug, to see if anything was on them.  I almost made it all the way up, when I got another Bass:

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img163/841/05h2.jpg[/IMG]

 

About the time I got this image captured, I realized one of my jugs had managed to bury itself in a weedline on the bank.  I paddled over to see how badly tangled up it was.  Before I got there, I noticed the jug was spinning around, moving a little bit here and a little bit there, and flagging a couple times.  Alright!  Fish on!

 

I pull it up, and had this on the line:

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img27/7205/7wop.jpg[/IMG]

 

The next several hours didn’t give me much in the way of trolling time, except when I was repositioning jugs.  I caught nine Channels.  One of them managed to flip off the hook just as I got it up.

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img834/6282/ddwr.jpg[/IMG]

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img580/3449/wxq1.jpg[/IMG]

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img541/2007/mplu.jpg[/IMG]

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img713/8647/9j0a.jpg[/IMG]

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img46/374/gyys.jpg[/IMG]

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img12/9497/jk7w.jpg[/IMG]

 

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img17/7647/weft.jpg[/IMG]

 

I also managed to catch a fourth LMB, but it spit the hook just as I was about to boat the fish.  Oh well.  I let them all go, anyways, except the sunnies that ended up as bait.  The Channels weren’t big enough for me to justify filleting.  I could have cleaned them as “whole fish”, cut off the heads, clean out the innards, skin them, and remove the fins, but, my other half refuses to eat fish unless it’s been filleted.

 

All in all, it was a fairly nice trip.  This is the most fish I’ve caught on jugs, ever.  Too bad they weren’t a little bigger.  It was kind of interesting, paddling up to a jug that I wasn’t sure if it had a fish on or not, and suddenly it starts flagging and bobbing.  At least they weren’t running like crazy, like my biggest cat on a jug did.

[John Sheehan]

Great account of a productive multi fish technique day Allen ! What suggestions do you have as far as rigging pool noodle Jugs ?Got a pic of your set ups ? My nephew/God Son recently moved to a lake and wants to jug channel cats . How many 'jugs' can ya make out of one pool noodle? Got lots more questions regarding this .

[Allen Morgan]

I'll have to get a pic of one of my rigs.

I make my setups out of the "magnum" pool noodles.  5' long.  Cut it into five 12" pieces.  I also go the extra measure of getting a 5' length of 3/4" Schedule 40 PVC.  Cut that into five 12" pieces.  CAREFULLY twist/slide the PVC into the section of pool noodle.  You have to be careful, as the PVC will slice right through the pool noodle if you get it going sideways.

I use the black tarred nylon line that you can get at Wally World, that's meant for use as Trotline material.  I cut a length, probably about 13' long.  Tie a loop in each end.  Make one a big one, probably a couple inches long.  The other loop can be rather small.  Run the small loop through the PVC.  Once it makes it out the other end, thread the large loop through the small loop, then pull ALL the line through that small loop, and cinch it down.  It won't stay tight, but you don't need it to, as it will tighten up when the fish starts pulling.

I like to measure down the line, and at about 10' down, close to the big loop, I'll double the line and tie another loop.  Measure up 2 1/2', and repeat.  I use these as connection points for the hooks.  I usually only run one hook per line, but I could run two.  Here in OK, it's legal to have as many as 5 hooks per jugline.

I'll put a size 5 swivel on each of the attachment point.  I just thread the loop through one end of the swivel, then pass the loop over the other end of the swivel, and pull it tight.  Basically, a loop-to-loop connection, but one end is line, the other end is a swivel.

For the hook, you can use whatever hook you like.  One of my jugs has a 3/0 circle hook, the rest all have size 2/0 (or is it 4/0, I can't remember?) Kahle hooks.  Cut a section of line, double it, and tie an overhand knot in it.  Thread it through the eye of the hook and pass the loop over the end of the hook.  Pull it tight.  Now, pass the other side of the loop through the other end of the swivel, and pass the hook through that part of the loop, pulling the hook shank and the remainder of the loop through as well.  Don't poke yourself!  Basically, I use loop-to-loop connections for everything.

Now, my rigs use the same size 18 tarred line that I use for the jugline itself.  However, most hook eyes aren't big enough for this stuff, unless you go up to size 7/0 or bigger, or use O'Shaggnessy (sp?) hooks.  You can probably get away with some braided Dacron line, which you can find in well-stocked catfish tackle shops anyway.  If you find yourself getting broken off at this point by bigger fish, you'll want to upgrade your rigs to bigger hooks and use the tarred line anyway.

For weight, I just pass the large loop at the bottom through the eye of a 2-oz bank sinker, pass that loop over the end of the sinker, and pull it tight.

[Allen Morgan]

John, tell your nephew to read up on the laws concerning juglines in his State.  Laws vary from State to State; most States outlaw it completely.

In Texas, jugs have to be white.  Here in OK, we don't have a restriction on color.  Some of my jugs are green, most are pink.

If you run jugs at night, I would recommend wrapping the device with reflective automotive tape, so it will shine when you point a light at it.

Here's a shot of one of my jugs, with the line fully extended:

Here's one showing how the line is attached to the jug:

Here's a shot of how the hook and the weight are attached:

Lastly, here's a pic showing how I store my jugs:

Using the pool noodle is nice, because I can just stick the hook into the foam to secure it.  I also do that right over the line for the weight, as close to the weight as possible, as this will secure the weight as well.

[John Sheehan]

Thanks Allen and guess what ! It's not legal here in New Jersey .At least not according to this source : http://www.fishingnoodles.com/jug-fishing-laws Apparently in a community NJ lake it's going on to a degree .I need to make a phone call to see if this is   accurate info .It even states it's not necessarily totally accurate .

  BTW ,thanks for your lengthy reply filled with info .Glad I helped stimulate your archival desires!  Enjoy you're freedom to fish that way ! I may have to just catch Channels like I have been doing with Spinning gear and Hot dog chunks for bait .

Just called Fish and Game had to leave a message .Hope I get a call back and answer today.

[Allen Morgan]

I just tried doing a quickie internet search for the regs for New Jersey (many States publish a .pdf with that year's fishing regs in it).  I didn't find anything, but, since this is NJ, I wouldn't be surprised if it's illegal.  Jug-fishing is more of a Southern thing, like trotlines, limblines, and noodling.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Sadly, I cant jug fish on my Southern home lake, Lake Murray, SC.

As big as it is (56K acres), the boaters and homeowners around the shore have caused the activity to be forbidden. I suppose having jugs drifting around and getting in the way of weekend partying, boating and jet-skiing is enough to swing the law to their side.

Up the road, at Lake Greenwood, it is legal. Fewer people, less notice taken. So check your regs.

[Allen Morgan]

Both of my home lakes, Pretty Water and Sahoma, are "city lakes", owned and operated by the city I live in.  Jugs, trotlines, and limblines are forbidden.  The lake that I was jump-fishing for LMBs at the past couple of weeks, Bixhoma, is also a "city" lake, and jugs, trots, and limblines are not allowed.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I know some good back water areas where I could probably get away with using jug floats. If I stayed with them and fished nearby as you do, things would probably be fine.
I'm in the market for another kayak, a larger one. Once I get it, who knows?

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Great stuff Allen!