Catfish Jug Lines - Cadillac Edition

I have been fishing since I was just a wee little boy. Some of my fondest memories are when my brother and I started out fishing for bluegills with my grandfather. Night crawlers on a hook, a small weight, a bobber, and a red Zebco 101 rod and reel. How many of us started that way? The sight of that bobber disappearing under the water when the fish took the bait will be forever etched in my mind's eye. I've done lots of different types of fishing over the years... bass, crappie, redfish, flounder, trout, snapper, king mackeral, mahi, bonefish... but I still reminisce a great deal about those early days. There's just something about watching that bobber.

The one problem with fishing for bluegill is if you are wanting fish for dinner. As fun and easy as they are to catch they are fairly small when compared to other freshwater fish. No kidding... it's a really tasty fish but it takes a LOT of them to make a decent meal. So if I am wanting a good old fashioned southern fish fry then I like to go with catfish. Not that fatty farm raised stuff you buy at the grocery store... yuck! No, I'm talking about catfish that you catch yourself. It's not the least bit fatty, has great texture when deep fried, and it tastes great. Serve that up with coleslaw, hush puppies, and french fries and you have an amazing feast!

The great thing in general about fishing regulations for catfish is that in most states you can employ various methods where you can catch a bunch of them fairly easily (provided that you know what you're doing). Limb lines, drop lines, trot lines, and jug lines for example. I prefer jug lines since they are much more flexible to use. If you are not familiar with jug lines they consist of a float, a main line with one or more hooks attached, and a weight. They are called 'jug' lines due to the fact that early on empty milk jugs were used as the float. Now it is common to use foam pool noodles for the float... and that's what I like to use. You bait these up (we usually use cut shad) and set out a number of them all at once. If the fish are biting it is quite a rodeo running them. Lots of fun!

I mentioned that people started off using empty milk jugs or other types of plastic bottles for the float. The goal generally was to use inexpensive materials such that it didn't cost much to make a lot of jug lines and this paradigm largely still exists today. I will tell you now... that is not what this Instructable is about. While I do wish to remain within the realm of 'reasonability'... I will say that low cost is NOT a primary design consideration here. My goal is to build a piece of fishing equipment that is a pleasure to use... durable, repairable, and well made... and that you are not fighting with all the time... as well as being effective at catching fish. I have been working on this particular design for a number of years. In fact, my first Instructable 5 years ago was when I came up with this idea. I have been using these jug lines to catch catfish ever since and have been learning things along the way. And to be honest... the cost of making a dozen or so of these fancy jug lines isn't too bad when you compare it to the cost of a brand new nice rod and reel combo. But if somehow all of this still offends your sensibilities then by all means... make something cheap and don't waste your time reading this Instructable. You won't hurt my feelings.

Instead of continuing to update the old Instructable I have decided to write an new one and capture all of the improvements I've made. I call this one the Cadillac version. An over the top... all the bells and whistles... pleasure to use... and effective... catfish jug line. Let's go!

Materials for these jug lines are available through Amazon and your local hardware store. I've included links for some of the less common items along with the rest below...

Wire Leader

Fishing Beads

Nylon Twine

Floss Bobbin

Pool Noodles

Plastic Spool

Fluorocarbon Leader

Circle Hooks - I recommend either Owner or Gamakatsu

6-32 x 1 inch Screws

6-32 x 1.5 inch Screws

#6 Washers

#6 Nylon stop nuts

1/2 inch Schedule 40 pvc pipe

1 inch Schedule 40 pvc pipe

1/2 inch pvc end caps

pvc adhesive

Zip ties

Screw eyes

Plastic milk jug

Spray paint

3/16 inch thick hardwood

1/2 inch hardwood dowel

3/4 inch hardwood dowel

3/0 Snap swivels

Lead - used for the weight

Heavy gauge wire - used for the weight

Cut the pieces to the following lengths: The pool noodle is 18-1/4 inches long, the 1/2 inch PVC pipe is 27-1/2 inches, and the 1 inch PVC pipe is 4-1/4 inches long. The hole in the spool is just barely too small so it needs to be drilled out with a 7/8 inch Forstner bit to be able to fit over the 1/2 inch PVC pipe. When the jug line is assembled there are two end caps that hold everything together. On one end the cap is glued and the other end a cable tie is used. I discovered that after several years of hard use the foam pool noodles start to degrade so I wanted a way to be able to replace it with a new piece. Now you just snip the cable tie to be able to take everything apart. Temporarily install the cap in place (don't glue it) and drill a hole through the cap and the pipe as shown in pic 3. Remove the cap and drill a hole in the end of it (pic 4) for the eye bolt that holds your gear tag. Go ahead and glue the other (unmodified) end cap in place at the opposite end of the PVC pipe... last pic.

The reel handle is cut from a 3/16 inch thick sheet of hardwood and then painted. Since I already have a laser cutter I try to use it as much as possible. Especially for repetitive stuff like this. I used the attached DXF file for the laser cutter. You can also saw it by hand if you prefer. In that case print out the attached PDF file full size to use as your template.

The knob is made from a 3/4 inch dowel along with a 1/2 inch dowel. The first is cut to a 2 inch length and the second piece is 1-1/4 inches. Drill a 1/2 inch diameter hole about a half inch deep in the center of the 3/4 inch dowel as shown. Glue in the 1/2 inch dowel and drill hole through the center (last 2 pics).

Apply a couple coats of paint to the handle and the knob. I went with black to match the spool.

During our last trip to Grand Lake my buddy Mike made a comment that it would be nicer if I could wind in the line more quickly when we were pulling in the jugs. He was sitting at the bow of the boat and would snag the jug with the jug getter hook and hand the jug to me. I would wind the line around the old spool design as he was bringing in the fish by hand lining in the main line. I couldn't keep up and he would have to wait on me. Plus I would whack him in the side of the face with the line as I was frantically trying to catch up. So that got me thinking and I came up with the idea of adding a way to crank up the line similar to a regular fishing reel. I also incorporated another section of PVC pipe to the overall assembly to make a handle. This way Mike can just hang on to the jug and reel in the fish without handing me the jug line. Way simpler! And the spool I found on Amazon has a larger diameter which takes up more line per turn than the old one.

There are two holes already provided on one side of the spool. They are just big enough to accomodate a #6 screw so that's really handy... no need to modify the spool any further. The modified snap swivel is still used as a keeper hook like in the old design and it is installed on the opposite side of the handle as the knob. I used 1 inch screws to attach the crank handle to the spool and a 1-1/2 in screw for the knob. I ended up cutting one of the 1 inch screws down to 7/8 inch because it protruded past the stop nut too much and would hit your finger when you were winding in the main line. This was the screw closest to the knob. You want the top of the screw to be flush with the stop nut.

Tighten the screw for the knob to where it is just barely snug and then back off a tiny bit. You want the knob to be able to rotate freely but with not too much slop.

Check your game regulations for requirements in your state. I mainly fish in Oklahoma and Texas. Here you are required to identify your jug lines with a gear tag that includes your license customer ID or name and address. I go with the ID since it's easier. In Texas you are also required to have a tag that indicates the date you set out the jug lines. I like to go with little pieces of plastic (1 inch by 3 inches) that I cut from empty cooking oil and milk jugs. Once the tags have been cleaned and dried I rough them up with a piece of sand paper or Scotchbrite pad. The ink from the marker sticks better when you have a rough textured surface. Once you write your ID on the tag then protect it with a piece of clear packing tape. Works great! When I have to use the date tags (not shown) I don't cover them with tape and when I'm done fishing I use a Scotchbrite pad to erase the current date so they can be reused on the next fishing trip.

Cut one of the white spools in half cross ways down the center as shown in the first pic and gather up all of your parts... we are ready to assemble!

The black spool assembly goes on first with the reel handle at the end as shown in the second pic and slides up against the cap that is glued on. Next on is the section of 1 inch PVC pipe. One half of the white spool goes in the end of the pool noodle and that gets slid over the 1/2 inch PVC pipe such that the white spool is against the 1 inch pipe (pic 6). To complete the assembly place the other half of the white spool in place, install the end cap making sure the holes are aligned and secure with the cable tie.

That's it! Super easy!

One of the bigger problems that I was having with the original version was that the leader would spin around the main line and get tangled up when we were dropping the jugs in the lake. I made a couple changes to alleviate this issue. One was to go with braided instead of twisted nylon twine and the other was the addition of these special wire leaders. The combination of these two changes helped tremendously. I recently used these leaders on the old jug design for our trip to Grand Lake and we had very few tangles! The wire leader holds the fluorocarbon line and hook away from the main line and the braided twine doesn't try to unwind and spin like the twisted twine. So big improvement in that arena.

I also decided to add another hook to the assembly. Texas and Oklahoma allow up to 5 hooks per jug line. I went with one hook within 2.5 feet of the bottom and added two more hooks spaced 5 feet apart going up the main line. The wire leaders are held in position by figure 8 knots on the main line on either side of the leaders. Plastic beads protect the knots from the ends of the wire. A snap swivel is attached to the very bottom of the main line. This is hooked to the weight when you're ready to go fishing. Another loop is added at the other end to attach the line to the spool. Just follow the steps in the pictures above. Last picture shows the completed spool assembly loaded with line.

NOTE: There are small barrel swivels attached to the end of the wire leader. They seem too light to me and I wouldn't think that they would hold up against a large catfish so I don't use them. I clip the fluorocarbon leaders directly to the loop in the wire leader instead. At some point I'll probably just cut the barrel swivels off.

I use at least 60 pound test fluorocarbon for the leader assembly along with a 3/0 snap swivel and a 8/0 hook. The line is snelled to the hook and a Palomar knot on the snap swivel. I have continuously shortened the leader over time in an attempt to reduce tangles with the main line. The shorter leaders help and I still catch fish. Hook size is a matter of personal preference. I've used big (8/0) and smaller (3/0) hooks and it doesn't seem to matter too much. But whatever size you choose just make sure you are using a sharp quality hook like Gamakatsu or Owner. That DOES matter.

I've played around with different lead weight configurations. I bought a cannonball weight mold and those are the easiest to make and they look great (not that it matters much how they look). The cube and the cylinder weights are nice since they don't roll around on the deck of the boat when you are working to deploy the noodles. However those are a bit more work to make since you need to make a mold for them. Of the two the cylindrical weight is the easiest since all you have to do is drill a hole in a piece of wood with a Forstner bit. All of the shapes are sized to weigh 2 pounds. For reference... a 2 pound cube is approximately 1-3/4 inches per side and the cylinder is 1-5/8 inches in diameter by 2-1/2 inches long.

There are other options for weights if you don't want to fool around with pouring lead. Concrete poured into recycled empty soup cans works just as well. It doesn't have to be 2 pounds... I just went with that because I figured that even a big fish would have a tough time dragging that amount of weight very far. And after years of use that has proven to be true.

These 2 pound weights anchor the jug line to the bottom of the lake so that they are stationary. You can also fish them free floating using smaller weights and let them drift in the breeze/current. I don't like fishing them this way since they are harder to keep up with but it is an option so that you can fish shallower and cover more area as they drift. Boy... you talk about a rodeo... I will admit that when the bite is on it's a lot of fun chasing down the free floating jugs when you've got a fish on.

How to use the jug lines is something that is easy to explain... where to use them is an entirely different matter and that could probably be the subject for another Instructable. Finding where the fish are in the lake at different times is something that you just have to figure out but over time you learn which features the fish like to congregate around and at what depths. Heck, that's part of the fun... figuring out the puzzle.

But using the jug lines is pretty simple. Attach the weight to the snap swivel on the end of the main line and snap it shut (pic 1). The fluorocarbon leader/hook assembly similarly attaches to the ends of the wire leaders... again make sure the swivels are snapped shut (pic 2). The hooks are baited and the line is slowly paid out until the weight hits the bottom of the lake. It's worth mentioning again... check your local game regulations because there are limits to how many hooks you can have on each jug line, how many total hooks you can have in the water, and how many jugs you can have deployed at one time. And the last step is to run the main line through the keeper hook before you toss the float in the water (pic 4). You can see how everything hangs in the fifth picture. The wire leader does a pretty good job of keeping the fluorocarbon leader and hook away from the main line.

When a fish is hooked he will pull down on the main line and the float will tip up. That's when you know you have a fish on. Some designs incorporate a weight (like a piece of rebar) inside the PVC pipe that makes the float stay tipped up but I don't bother with that. I made a jug getter hook (pic 6) out of a rake handle and a large eye hook (Home Depot sells these and they're used to hang stuff from in your garage)... I also added some fancy cord work for the heck of it. When you are ready to pick up the jug and land the fish it is best to approach from down wind to keep from overshooting the jug. Use the hook to grab the jug and then hold onto the section of 1 inch PVC pipe (pic 7) to begin reeling in the fish. We use a net to bring the fish into the boat otherwise the hook could pull out if you try to lift it by the line. Once you've taken the fish off the hook you can rebait the line and set everything back to keep on fishing. In the last pic I did a test in the pool to see how everything floated... looks great!

It's a lot of fun fishing with the jugs and it reminds me of my early days of fishing for bluegills and watching the bobber. That really big catfish shown in the Introduction section of this Instructable was 26 pounds and he pulled the pool noodle float all the way under until it disappeared for a moment just like a bobber! You should have heard us cheering when we finally netted that big monster. Ha! I was a wee little boy again.

I hope you enjoyed this Instructable and found it helpful. Post pictures if you end up making your own set... and definitely post pics of the fish you catch! Also, if you have any suggestions on improving the design then include them in the comments below.

Have fun and good luck!

SW

When we clean the catfish they are fileted... bone and skin removed. We roll our catfish in corn meal and deep fry it in peanut oil (350 to 375 degree F) until it floats and is light golden brown and delicious. Season immediately... I like a cajun blend like Tony Chachere's. The tip that I'd like to pass along is when you are prepping the filets. On blue catfish there will be some reddish colored meat on the side that was next to the skin. It is best to trim that out as much as possible since that stuff tends to be rather strong tasting. Not totally necessary but it does make a difference. Also, marinate the filets in some sort of vinegar or a vinegar based sauce like yellow mustard or Louisiana hot sauce... the hot sauce is my personal favorite. I wouldn't let it set for too long... no more than an hour before you are ready to cook.

Enjoy!