1. Get the Right Catfish Jugging Gear

So if you want to go catfish jugging like me, go out and get you some one quart, square jugs from your local outdoor store. While you’re there, pick up some heavy twine, some large barrel swivels, and some 9/0 hooks. I know that sounds like a large hook, and it is, but you are going to be going after the larger fish (just wait a minute and I’ll explain).

2. Get the Right Catfish Jugging Bait

The best catfish bait for getting the large fish is shad or perch. I have had success with both. But I tend to lean more toward perch, as I have just seen some great results fishing with this bait. So I’ll go out and catch the perch alive, take a fillet knife, and cut 2/3 of a fillet down only one side of the perch.

This will get the bait bleeding, but yet it is still alive. Sometimes I will leave a fresh, live perch on the line, after I have done the 2/3 fillet on some of them. This combines scent with live bait in the water. And let me tell you, when you have a dozen or two lines out there, with some blood and live perch, you are setting yourself up for success.

3. Find the Right Catfish Jugging Locations

Along with getting the right gear, and the right bait, you need to find the right locations. The best locations are within a set of stumps, along the edge of a drop off point or an old river bed within a lake. Catfish tend to like soft, sandy or muddy bottoms as opposed to rock bottoms, but they do like to scavenge around cover areas or large rocks, etc.

One other thing you can do is consult a topographical map of the area you are fishing and look for spots that are known to be good catfishing spots.

4. Go Catfish Jugging

Once you have the right gear, bait, and scoped out your locations, it’s time to go get ‘em. Get out there in a good aluminum or flat bottom boat that you don’t mind getting beat up a bit, troll through the stump areas, set your jug lines, and tie them off to the stumps.

Get your jug lines set in order, so you can easily come back through and check them later. Then go back to shore, wait a couple of hours, and come back and check / re-bait the lines. Trust me, it works!

Now, Lake Limestone has a name in a Texas for some good catfishing, and I can tell you from first hand experience that this lake produces some very nice catfish. Nearly every time we come out here, we’ll catch anywhere from 50-200 pounds of catfish, and we don’t stay more than 3 days at a time. But you might be wondering, how do we do so well on jug lines?

The “Hidden” Secrets to Catfish Jug Fishing

One of the secrets to using jug lines when going after catfish is the depth. Many fisherman fish their jug lines deep. We don’t. We fish our jug lines at approximately 3 feet deep. We do this for many reasons, to include the ease of pulling in the fish, less tangles and lost lines, and most importantly, when the fish are held close to the surface, they’ll stay alive. So when we are fishing, we’ll generally leave the jugs out in the water for several hours, and often overnight. So if you are fishing deep, the fish don’t have as much oxygen, and if they get pinned to the bottom, they’ll die quickly. Then you have a bloated catfish carcase to deal with. Sound like fun? Not to me.

The second secret is the catfish bait. The best bait we have found for catfish jugging is perch. We’ll catch the perch with a rod and reel on worms, then fillet 2/3 of one side of the perch, and attach it to the line. This will put some blood and scent in the water, and will bring in the catfish.

Last, if you have ever been jug fishing for catfish, you may have been frustrated by dry hooks. Catfish are crafty enough to twist off of a lot of hooks. The secret is in using circle hooks. Put a circle hook on the end of some heavy weight string with a large barrel swivel, and the catfish will set the hook on themselves! Many, many fish that we have brought in have been hooked so well, that we have to exert some real effort into getting the hook loose from the fish.

So to bring it all together, here’s what we do. We find an area full of submerged stumps, we use a quarter gallon square jug, we tie it off the exposed stump with 3 feet of heavy string, a barrel swivel, and circle hook equipped with a bleeding perch. We let it sit for several hours, then we come back through, pull off the fish, and re-bait for more action. And I am telling you, we catch fish! This morning was slow with only 5 fish, and we are looking for a much better catch this afternoon…