Printable View
I'm planning to set some noodles on Norman Friday night. My plan is to use live perch. I'm going to try to pick up some pre-made noodles unless you guys think that is a waste. My bigger question is where I should be putting out the rigs this time of year - main channel, cove, point, dropoff, flat, etc. How deep etc.
All advice I kindly appreciated.
TW
I would be cautious of boat traffic this weekend. I dodge noodles and respect noodle fisherman but I am a fisherman. The pleasure boaters this weekend might not be so kind. Find less traveled area if possible. Good luck!
Live bait is not allowed on jugs, they are non-game fishing devices. Very Illegal. Also, save yourself a lot of hassle and do not fish them at night, I tried it one night and lost 2 in the same night rode for 2 hours looking for them with reflective tape on the jugs. They are something you have to stay right with even in the daylight. I use fairly big noodles and cats over 10lbs will take off with them and disappear. I also would not recommend using more than 5 or 6 at night. Please read up on the regulations before you go, as it is clear from your post you have not read them very well. Right now most pole fishermen hate jug fishermen because of things that the bad ones do, do yourself a favor and don't become one of the bad ones. Be responsible and stay right with the jugs, never leave them.
If you can find a bar of freshwater clams, that is a good place to start, We usually fish varying depths from 6-12 ft with the water being 18-20 ft. All jugs drifting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattbowen61990
Good advice. and don't forget to ID your devices. Name, phone # and NCWRC ID #(on your fishing license).
Yeah, be careful not to set your jugs near where friends of yours might find them, or they could end up mysteriously moving one cove away by themselves. My buddy Colby and I did that to another friend's jugs on Jordan one night. He swore he'd set around the bend in the other cove & just couldn't imagine how all his jugs had moved a couple hundred yards... He also caught nicer cats than he usually did, so we really did him a favor. He thought it was funny when we told him (probably because he caught bigger fish), but at the time he thought he was either losing his mind or somebody stole 'em. That's what friends are for.
Jim
So no live bait then what's the best legal option? How deep and where do I fish?
TW
Use the bait you had planned to use but cut the heads off and use the heads on other jugs. That gives the cat a better blood and oil trail to follow anyway.
You can use cut bait of any kind, you can also use things like dip baits, punch baits, and other things. Our favorite is a 1" piece of cut eel, and cut shad. Please fish them during the day first, and then you may not want to try them at night. They are a handful to keep up with when boat traffic gets rough, The slightest chop makes them hard to see even during mid day light.
Find a flat somewhere, doesn't matter where, catfish roam a bunch, and a set of jugs will cover a lot of water. I have caught them from 2ft to 30ft.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarheelwx
Okay, I think I did everything legally. I fished 2 milk jugs with my name, phone, and license number. I used whole DEAD perch for bait. We had about 10' of 30lb mono to a barrel swivel to about a 5/0 circle or J hook. Set the jugs out near our pier at 11 pm and got up at 6:30 to check them. Both were gone but within 1/4 mile. We had one 25" blue catfish (very small mouth) and the other jug still had dead bait. I suspect it may have had a fish at one time as the bait looked pretty beat up. We reset the 2 jugs on the main channel by 7 am and stayed with them. Both got hits, but whatever it was didn't stay with them. We reset yet again and had hits but no hookups. We picked up and were off by 9am. When you guys see a fish on a jug, how long do you wait until you get it and bring the fish in?
Thanks
TW
I usually let them go for a few minutes. I have mine set up to where they will stay upright if they get tugged a little, they are made of pool noodle, with PVC ran through them, A T on one end, and a cap on the other. There is a piece of rebar on the inside, and it goes to the opposite end when tripped, thus standing up the jug. If the fish gets off they usually lean to the side and dont move around anymore. Just FYI, if you put that bait on there in tact, even if it is dead, a game warden may still write you a ticket, it is best to cut any bait you put on there. The game warden will most likely think it was alive at the time you hooked it. (If it is a whole fish) You were very lucky, you should never throw out jugs and leave them, or go to bed, that is what "those guys do" if a 20+ lb blue grabbed it, pulled it under the water, and got tangled in a log somewhere, you probably would have killed that fish. They cold have also traveled to a very remote part of the lake and been completely lost. Which is why I said "Don't become one of those guys". I hope you understand I am not trying to be a dick to you, but I jug fish every summer, and hear and see these things over and over again. A 15lb flathead will pull that jug so far under the water you cant see it, Please stay with them any time you put them out, it will save yourself the trouble of wondering what happened to it.
Matt, points all well taken and appreciated. I'll definitely adjust to stay with the jugs and cut my bait. Some questions:
What size and type bait do you use for bigger fish?
Do you cut baits in half and use each half in separate jugs?
Do you always put the bait on the bottom or do you sometimes suspend the bait?
Do you put lights in your jugs at night?
Thanks again for the guidance.
TW
Question 1, Bait size is pretty much non determinant of what size, the largest cat I have ever caught was caught on a 1 inch piece of cut eel. My second favorite is gizzard shad, or what ever the cats eat, some lakes it is perch, some are shad.
2. if the shad are 5-6 inches long, cut the tail off, and cut in half at a diagonal, then use on 2 jugs. If you catch big perch, cut them in chunks, if you get big shad, fillet them, and use cubes of the fillet, but not all lakes get the big shad.
3. My baits are never on the bottom, I make some jug lines 4ft long, and some 12 ft long. I usually keep them fishing depths of 18-25 ft. Sometimes the longer lines will drift into the shallows, and sometimes catch fish.
4. We bought the reflective tape strips from Tractor supply wrapped it around the top of them, but unless the water is flat calm, it is still tough to see. We will put them in a cove at night time, and place the boat so that you can see them all easily.
I will try to take a picture of our set up and send it to you this weekend.
Most people are also not targeting big fish with jugs, they are good for locating eater sized cats, as big cats will make them disappear. Most of the ones we catch are from 3-15lbs, with the occasional 20lber that we usually turn loose. I would rather have 2 10lb fish with thin firm fillets than a 20lb fish with mushy fillets.
I throw all of them back. I really want to catch a big cat....25+. Should I forgo the jugs and fish live bait on down rods?
TW
Tarheel now that you know what kind of bait to use and how to label your noodles,The main channel just south of Long Island is a very popular location for " juggers" although I don't catfish I see guys doing it all the time. The pros seem to set them out late at night after the boats are off the water and pick them up before they get out at 10.00 am the next morning. Both sides of the island has a deep channel and flats to both sides of that channel . As I hear from the Pros the female blues have just finish their spawn and have left the beds so they should be hungry. I also hear the flatheads have just started to spawn so they will be close to ramps, overhanging banks, placed to hide in general. Again I don't fish for catfish so this information is just a repeat of what I have heard from the Pros.
I can tell you the (noodlers) those nuts that dive down and reach in and grab them have been pulling 20lb fish from the above mentioned hideouts. Seen it myself.
I've always wanted to try noodlin'. I've seen some pretty big cats around my pier, maybe 8-10 pounds. I put on a snorkel mask, hold my breath and dive to the bottom and look around. The problem is every one I've seen is 8-12' deep and I'm a little nervous about grabbing it and making it to the top. When you noodle, do you run your hand/finger out the gills?
TW
If you plan to stay within good distance of them (Less than 100 yards) then you can fish the jugs, but you will catch smaller cats on them most of the time, since that is the majority of the population. Large cats get large based off of many things in their life, genetics, and diets. But for the sake of safety, I would target large cats by using electronics on a boat, and fishing with rods for them, don't even have to have live bait, chunks of cutbait will catch big fish. Just have to put it in front of them. Like I said my largest 38lb blue cat came off of a 1 inch piece of eel. that was maybe half inch in diameter. That fish was just hungry that day, and wanted to eat it. But you would be amazed how strong a 20 lb blue cat is. I have had a jug disappear for a minute, and then pop up somewhere away from the pack. If we didn't see it stand up when we looked, we would have never seen it leave. I have caught a 14lb flat head do the same thing, we drive up beside the jug and they sound down so deep you cant see a brightly colored (Green and pink) pool noodle anymore. It is fun, and a good way to locate fish, but now a days people are doing crazy things that give us all a bad reputation. Putting them out at night and leaving them unattended, then never finding ones that escape is the #1 complaint, because it is littering the waterways. #2 is people that set out the limit (75) I believe now, blocking travel paths and leaving with huge cooler fulls of fish. My largest concern is a decent fish grabbing it, and going under a log, the line gets tangled and the fish is killed fighting with it, and all you know is a jug has gone missing. Small things like this is what causes the privileges we have to be taken away, no matter how good I try to do, there is someone somewhere doing bad, and one jug fisherman is as bad as them all. Personally I don't set out more than 10-12 because they are so much work to move around in the places I fish, but we do ok fishing them. I would just assume to fish with rods on the bottom, but my girlfriend loves to do the jugs, so we set them out, and then put the rods out, or try to catch a crappie.
Dont much care for jugging myself, would rather catch them on rod and reel , dont forget the creel limit on larger fish on Norman . If you want to catch some eaters just use worms , dead minnows or cut bait, cast a line out and wait,want to catch bigger fish do your homework , use your electronics, set up on them and wait. Dont want to get started but the bow fisherman are taking over also , cant tell you how many time ive been to a landing early morning only to find a bunch of dead carp and some nice cats floating around with puncture holes in them . WOW aint that the perfect ammo for some tree hugger to find. Sorry I just had to vent.