# Go to baits for big cats..



## Barnacle Bill

Howdy all...

I was just sitting here at my desk daydreaming about monster catfish when I decided to post up and see what y'all use for the big uns'... live perch? tilapis? cut bait? What size?

One more reason I'm asking is that I'm going to be hunting big catfish this winter out here in west Texas. I have some jug lines and I'll be setting a trotline as well, probably baited with Catfish Charlie.. So any other tips y'all have would be greatly appreciated..


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## Fishin' Soldier

What kind of fish are you tagerting? Depth of water and what is the natural bait in that water. If there is and abundance of shad i would be willing to bet that is their main diet. Big gizzard shad cut in half with catch any blue cat that can fit it in their mouth. If targeting op's then go with hand sized live perch. If it wasn't illegal I would say use 8"-10" live channel cat with fins cut off. Thats illegal though don't do it. Goo, buffalo, and carp work great for cut bait, also.


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## Barnacle Bill

Do you anchor the jug lines or leave them floating around somewhat freely?


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## mad dog

Barnacle Bill said:


> Do you anchor the jug lines or leave them floating around somewhat freely?


You can do either or. We put about a 2# weight on ours and leave them and go fishing for bass or crappie. We check them at noon and go back and check in the evening or you could leave them out overnight with fresh bait. Keep in mind that a big fish will move your weight so you may have to look around for it. For instance we had a 15# blue move 1 with a 2# weight 300 yards last weekend. If you free float them you need to stay in the area or be prepaired to really have to hunt them down with possibly even loosing some. Thats just how we do it, I'm sure there are others with good ideas.


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## Barnacle Bill

mad dog said:


> You can do either or. We put about a 2# weight on ours and leave them and go fishing for bass or crappie. We check them at noon and go back and check in the evening or you could leave them out overnight with fresh bait. Keep in mind that a big fish will move your weight so you may have to look around for it. For instance we had a 15# blue move 1 with a 2# weight 300 yards last weekend. If you free float them you need to stay in the area or be prepaired to really have to hunt them down with possibly even loosing some. Thats just how we do it, I'm sure there are others with good ideas.


Thanks.. What I'm looking at doing Monday (I am off Mondays and Tuesdays) is going to O.C. Fisher here at the state park and putting a trot line and jug lines at the mouth of the Concho.. Lots of big cats there and I am trying to decide if I want to put them out to free float or put a weight on them to anchor them. I've never jug lined before and all the tips really help.... I'll be sure to post pictures..


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## Fishin' Soldier

Free flotaing you need to string them out and drift with them and fish while they are out. If anchored then you can keave them and come back later. We use flagging jugs but any jug will work just make sure white with proper tag info.


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## mad dog

Barnacle Bill said:


> Thanks.. What I'm looking at doing Monday (I am off Mondays and Tuesdays) is going to O.C. Fisher here at the state park and putting a trot line and jug lines at the mouth of the Concho.. Lots of big cats there and I am trying to decide if I want to put them out to free float or put a weight on them to anchor them. I've never jug lined before and all the tips really help.... I'll be sure to post pictures..


I use a the heavy nylon cord you can buy at academy. I go about 3' up and double it and tie an overhand knot leaving a small loop and do the same thing another 2' up from that. When you make your loop put a heavy duty swivel in there. You will have to run the swivel on the line while doing all this.Then I use the smaller nylon cord for the drops about 16" tying directly to the hooks.
I would weight them down, but by doing that you need to decide how deep your going to fish or just let it float till it hits bottom. Or you could shortin your line going to your 1 gallon jug or If you tied a really good knot I guess add line. I'm no expert at this but I don't think there is a real science to it. Like all fishing it's finding the fish that makes the differance. Also I would use the orange tide jugs so you can see them better.


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## Barnacle Bill

I have tied on the heavy duty swivels. I grew up trotlining on Sam Rayburn with my grandfather so I have a bit of knowledge, just not as much as I'd like, LOL..

I have all the jugs labeled with my name, addy, etc..

On the gallon jugs, I own a kayak shop and I have a ton of foam in the cans so I filled the jugs with the foam to ensure they wouldn't sink.

I tied them all off with fishermans knots.

My biggest decision was on the bait... I have a trotline I'm going to use Catfish Charlie and treble hooks on. But on the jug lines, I wanted to go for the big cats so I put on the heavy duty swivels but didn't know if I should anchor them. Being as it is a Monday, there will most likely be no other boaters out there (I'm setting lines in a kayak but have a do-net) and can run the lines as I see..

I really appreciate all of the input and keep it coming... I have a ton of 6 oz and 8 oz spider weights I used for the surf to help and kind of anchor the jug lines.


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## Barnacle Bill

Also, do y'all use limb lines? I have the river coming into the lake with a ton of overhanging branches and can use a limb line...


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## mad dog

If your wanting to catch big opps use bream, big blues use BIG cut shad or cut bream, or you could put one of each on each line. But I would use more than spider weights, a brick a chunk of iron or something. I don't do any river fishing but I have a good friend who has fished the Brazos his whole life and they find the deep holes were they can drop a limb line down but he always says it depends if the water is rising or falling as to weather it is any good or not.


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## texasGG

For Big Blues, BIG cut shad is the way to go, good luck!


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## shadslinger

I'm with texasGg, for big blues use BIG cut shad. And 13/0 circle hooks.


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## Big_poppabear

I remember staying in San Angelo for the summers and fishing the Concho River, Lake Nasworthy and O.C. Fisher Lake.

Plenty of big Catfish and Bass in those waters. i remember catching perch in little runoffs during rain storms.

Ahh, the good old days.


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## Barnacle Bill

I think I'm going to go with this:










I'll bait with cut bait on some and Catfish charlie on others.


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## Barnacle Bill

What size fishing line do y'all use?


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## Fishin' Soldier

Use the nylong trotline line. Also maximize you chances and run 5 hooks per anchored jug. If deep enough. One near the bottom and then spaced evenly up to about 5 foot from surface. Big natural baits. I would leave the catfish charlie alone unless you want small channels.


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## Titus Bass

Shad or pearch about the size of youe hand or a little bigger if you can find them.....


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## Kody Emmert

I use 12/0-16/0 stainless circle hooks.... It will hook small cats if they bite; As for line, I use at least 250# monofilament line, and it depends on what part of the lake/river we are fishing as to whether or not we put a fair amount of weight on (I prefer free-floaters for the river/coves), when a big fish is on, it reminds me of the Jaws movie as the jug takes off! As far as bait goes, If you are after big cats, live Gizzard Shad is the way to go. Large cut chunks work if you can't keep them alive, but live is superior whether or not it is Blues or Flatheads... Good Luck

Just my .02

Kody


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## CopanoCruisin

Hey there BB, next time your down this way, load up on mullet. Those big blues just love cut mullet. As they would say, mmmm....mmmm....goood!!!!!


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## zingpow

i like to use carp


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## Sunbeam

Some one mentioned orage Tide bottles. No way unless you have a commercial license. The TP&W regs specify all sport fisherman must use white jugs and trotline floats.
Commercial fishermen must use only orange.
I went to high school in San Angelo in the 50's. Best memories are catching big yellow cat out of Spring Creek above Nasworthy and kicking Midland, Odessa and Abilene's rear on the football field. Those were the real Friday night lights years. Go Bobcats!!!


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## Mike45

The jug lines that we have always used are made of a gallon jug, and a 5# PVC/Concrete weight. I have never had a fish move any of these. We only put 2 to 3 hook the whole way down depending on depth. In the past I have used both perch and goldfish (imagine walking into Petsmart with a 48 qt cooler asking for 3 dozen goldfish). I would definitely stay with large live baits if you are targeting large fish (hand size or larger). Hope this helps.


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## dbullard

Cut perch and shad !! If bait is tough to get try some beef heart cut into 1" chunks it stays on the hooks real will and catches fish. Jugs I would weight them space the hooks 3-5 ft apart.I use #36 or #48 tarred nylon for the main lines with a #18 tarred stage with a 5/0 circle hook that will catch most fish as long as you don't try to force him .


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## Fishin' Soldier

zing said:


> i like to use carp


 Nice fish...


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## Barnacle Bill

Update...

Well, Saturday I bit the bullet and bought a trotline from Academy... 150', 25 hoods and I'm using circle hooks and big treble hooks.

I plan on baiting it with catfish charlie and big *** perch... I have a tub of worms in my fridge that I'm going to go catch some perch with before I set the trotline and juglines.

As for the juglines... Well, I drink a lot of Dr. Pepper and had several empty 2 liter bottles in my shop along with a few empty water bottles and a couple of empty gallon jugs.

I also had several cans of spray in foam/gap filler in my shop. I had bought it for a project a few months ago but ended up not using it. So, to prevent my "jugs" from sinking, I filled them with the foam and it worked out beautifully. I have several "jugs" of various sizes now, spray painted white with my infor in Sharpie marker on them and they'll last a long time hopefully.

I was going to set out the jug lines and trotline from my kayak on Tuesday but at 36 degree morning kept me under covers with mama for some extra snoozing time. Even though it is supposed to be cold next Monday morning (there is a front coming through Saturday night) I plan on paddling out to the mouth of the Concho river at O.C. Fisher lake and setting the lines then spending the rest of the day on an island there and catfishing with my rod-n-reel.


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## fin&feather

Barnacle earlier you mentioned limb lines and I have .02 to add about that.. I've seen quite a few and the reason ill never advise them (other than not knowing if they are legal) is most seen were left un attended after the water receded leaving exposed hooks hanging about three feet above the water line.. Now if you have any concern for others like most on here do you will use this approach with caution.. I can sure let you know as a duck hunter who discovered one glistening in front of the spotlight one foggy am that this is one guaranteed way to get the shizzle scared out of you! If there is any chance of it crossing paths with others, don't do it it's not worth the risk! 

Now As a new one to this section I would like to read up on some successful jug kayak chases that just sounds like fun!


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## Barnacle Bill

fin&feather said:


> Barnacle earlier you mentioned limb lines and I have .02 to add about that.. I've seen quite a few and the reason ill never advise them (other than not knowing if they are legal) is most seen were left un attended after the water receded leaving exposed hooks hanging about three feet above the water line.. Now if you have any concern for others like most on here do you will use this approach with caution.. I can sure let you know as a duck hunter who discovered one glistening in front of the spotlight one foggy am that this is one guaranteed way to get the shizzle scared out of you! If there is any chance of it crossing paths with others, don't do it it's not worth the risk!
> 
> Now As a new one to this section I would like to read up on some successful jug kayak chases that just sounds like fun!


I'm definitely not a limb line person. As a kayaker, many times I've run into fishing line with rusted hooks hanging into the water. I prefer the jugs and my plan is that when I check the jugs in the afternoon, I'll just throw the fish and jug into the plastic tub in my boat and worry about removing the hooks when I get to shore. That way I have all of my jugs. The fun part will be running the trotline in the kayak, LOL.


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## fin&feather

Barnacle Bill said:


> The fun part will be running the trotline in the kayak, LOL.


That was my thought exactly..

We made some flagging jugs from some plans I found on here and things work great! Not to mention ez to keep and eye on activity. Nothing like it when a hybrid gets on one, things go mad!


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## Barnacle Bill

My kayak is about as stable as they come so I'm not too worried about running the trotline in it. I can lean over at almost a 45 degree angle without it getting tippy. And my kayak is a SINK/SOT hybrid so I can run the line across the yak and bait the hooks without getting a hook in me, LOL.


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## randyrandy

Sounds like fun BB. Post up how you do.


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## UFgatorHarv

fin&feather said:


> Barnacle earlier you mentioned limb lines and I have .02 to add about that.. I've seen quite a few and the reason ill never advise them (other than not knowing if they are legal) is most seen were left un attended after the water receded leaving exposed hooks hanging about three feet above the water line.. Now if you have any concern for others like most on here do you will use this approach with caution.. I can sure let you know as a duck hunter who discovered one glistening in front of the spotlight one foggy am that this is one guaranteed way to get the shizzle scared out of you! If there is any chance of it crossing paths with others, don't do it it's not worth the risk!
> 
> Now As a new one to this section I would like to read up on some successful jug kayak chases that just sounds like fun!


I'm a little late to the party here but wanted to chime in on limb lines.

I pretty much agree w/ the above post in regards to people leaving their **** out after they're done using it. That being said, I have fished limb lines before and don't have a problem w/ them as long as you are responsible and leave the river like you found it when you're done.

I was first introduced to catfishing by a friend, and we went several times back to his hometown to fish the Guadalupe w/ limb lines. All I can say is after the weekend was through, we picked up all those suckers off the river before we left. If for no other reason than why waste good gear that you could use next trip? He used to tie a piece of the orange or blue "don't cut this particuliar tree down" or "there's a 2 x 4 sticking out 3 ft past the back of my truck tape/marker plasticy stuff (whatever the hell you call it) to mark our lines, and it helped us make sure we got it all back in when we left.

They work great, just be a good steward of the river. On this board and others, I've taken a lot of flak for admitting to cutting old abandonned jug lines on the lake, but if we don't clean up after ourselves and self-police, at best no one will do it, and things will start looking like dumps, and at worst, complaints will force TPWD to outlaw certain practices.


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## UFgatorHarv

As for jug lines, I only use 3 hooks. Sure you can use up to 5 and that is certainly more efficient at fish catching, but it makes for more tangles and can be a bit dangerous if you have a big one on the bottom and you gotta pull in 4 empties to get to him.

Cut or live perch always work best for us. I prefer live, but on a jug line, cut will stretch your bait a little farther and makes for less tangles in your stagings as well. Just make sure it is fresh cut from a live fish, and you'll hardly notice a difference between that and live.

In a perch or shad pinch, you can use chicken hearts as well. Cheap, easy, and pretty effective for smaller fish i.e. 10 lb and under.


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## Arlon

Grandad used to use a whole chicken in the creeks and rivers for some of the really big ones. He'd take the family to the river for a BBQ and toss one of the chickens with a big hook into the creek/river and then tie it off to his truck bumper with some parachute chord. It was before my time (back in the 40's/50's) but some of the fish pics he had where pretty impressive. I've often considered that approach but have never actually tried it.


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## Fishin' Soldier

UFgatorHarv said:


> As for jug lines, I only use 3 hooks. Sure you can use up to 5 and that is certainly more efficient at fish catching, but it makes for more tangles and can be a bit dangerous if you have a big one on the bottom and you gotta pull in 4 empties to get to him.


Use Circle hooks and heavy duty clip swivels. Unclip hooks as they come up and that alleviate tangles and most of the danger. Real hard to be hooked by a circle hook.

70lb Op pulled 3 hooks through my hand before I was able to let go of a throw line when I was 15. Had circle hooks on if not my hand would have looked like hamburger meat. Always carry a sharpknife when trotlining.


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## Miles2Fish

A whole chicken!!!!! I would love to see those pics.


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## UFgatorHarv

Fishin' Soldier said:


> Use Circle hooks and heavy duty clip swivels. Unclip hooks as they come up and that alleviate tangles and most of the danger. Real hard to be hooked by a circle hook.
> 
> 70lb Op pulled 3 hooks through my hand before I was able to let go of a throw line when I was 15. Had circle hooks on if not my hand would have looked like hamburger meat. Always carry a sharpknife when trotlining.


Not a bad idea at all, and I agree that circles are safer, but I took a 7/0 circle through my thumb last summer. I was rod n reeling at about 1 am, on the lake, alone. It was a 2 hook drop shot rig. About a 10-12 lb'er going one way and a grown man screaming like a school girl and trying to go the other way. Lol, not fun, so be careful either way. Seeing as how it turned out ok, I still laugh about that when I think of it.


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## Fishin' Soldier

UFgatorHarv said:


> Not a bad idea at all, and I agree that circles are safer, but I took a 7/0 circle through my thumb last summer. I was rod n reeling at about 1 am, on the lake, alone. It was a 2 hook drop shot rig. About a 10-12 lb'er going one way and a grown man screaming like a school girl and trying to go the other way. Lol, not fun, so be careful either way. Seeing as how it turned out ok, I still laugh about that when I think of it.


That sucks..glad it turned out ok.


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## jackieblue

In my opinion:
Where those hooks are palced is much more important than the bait on em. I've caught a few big cats and some on small threadfin shad.


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## johnny a

UFgatorHarv said:


> I'm a little late to the party here but wanted to chime in on limb lines.
> 
> I pretty much agree w/ the above post in regards to people leaving their **** out after they're done using it. That being said, I have fished limb lines before and don't have a problem w/ them as long as you are responsible and leave the river like you found it when you're done.
> 
> I was first introduced to catfishing by a friend, and we went several times back to his hometown to fish the Guadalupe w/ limb lines. All I can say is after the weekend was through, we picked up all those suckers off the river before we left. If for no other reason than why waste good gear that you could use next trip? He used to tie a piece of the orange or blue "don't cut this particuliar tree down" or "there's a 2 x 4 sticking out 3 ft past the back of my truck tape/marker plasticy stuff (whatever the hell you call it) to mark our lines, and it helped us make sure we got it all back in when we left.
> 
> They work great, just be a good steward of the river. On this board and others, I've taken a lot of flak for admitting to cutting old abandonned jug lines on the lake, but if we don't clean up after ourselves and self-police, at best no one will do it, and things will start looking like dumps, and at worst, complaints will force TPWD to outlaw certain practices.


I will throw my .02 on the limb lines because that is what I like to do the most from my kayak. I agree with everyone about people leaving their limb lines out. I have come close to being hooked several times from others carelessness. I take great care in trying to remove all of the lines as we are running them. Usually on the paddle up we set them out and on the paddle back we pick them up. All of my lines are numbered and we write the numbers down in the order we put them out to make it easier to retreive them all. I also try to set my lines down low to the water or deep enough into the brush/tree to prevent another kayaker, or other watercraft from being able to get under them.

Most of the bayou I go after big cats in are tidal bayous. We only set the lines within the freshwater boundaries and we are usually at least 15 miles from the saltwater so the bait we use is what is common to the water. Live pinfish, finger mullet, mud minnows and cut mullet. Our mud minnows and finger mullet,are in the 4 to 5 inch range. The mud minnows usually work much better than the mullet.










148lbs only 11 fish


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## Fishin' Soldier

Nice fish Johnny. i have chased a jug for over 15 minutes with a 25lb cat on it. Every time I get close it went under and surfaced abot 30-40 ft away. Chased others but not as long all in Anahuac Lake. Some good fish in that lake.


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## bearintex

Fishin' Soldier said:


> Nice fish Johnny. i have chased a jug for over 15 minutes with a 25lb cat on it. Every time I get close it went under and surfaced abot 30-40 ft away. Chased others but not as long all in Anahuac Lake. Some good fish in that lake.


Heavy rod with a big treble on it to snag the line will help you out there.


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## Fishin' Soldier

Have a ten foot peice of PVC that helps grab the lines now, that only happened a few times lol.


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## PasadenaMan

Man those are some nice cats!!!


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## Barnacle Bill

The weather didn't cooperate this week. It was only in the low 40's so I didn't take the kayak out. Tuesday it is supposed to be in the high 60's with no rain so I'll probably head out and put everything to the test.

Thanks for all the great info and tips!


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