# Catfish and jug lines



## NitroNX898 (Apr 7, 2009)

I have a question concerning jugs. I have done a lot of cat fishing with rod and reel and as a kid I would set limb lines in the creek at my grandparents. We would use live perch for bait on the limb lines for the simple fact that we could fish all day catching perch and soak them over night and check in the morning. But now catching perch at the lake is a lot harder and not as abundant. Does it matter what bait you use to catch different types of catfish. Does one rather live bait over something like shrimp, beef heart, and stuff like that. I have beef heart in the freezer soaking in garlic and that's what I'm thinking about using this week but is there something better to use for jug lines or am going in the right direction. I'm not asking for your secret bait just some help. 

Thanks Wil.


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## Hamourkiller (Aug 15, 2005)

Wil, I have always had great results using fresh beef heart on my deep set jug lines.
The heart is tough and we often get several fish on one bait.
Not having to re-bait very often helps a lot as all the hooks are fishing most of the time.

Hank


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## cwhitney (Sep 9, 2014)

I use beef heart with garlic mostly when I want to catch eating size fish. For me, that is catfish under 5 pounds. I cut the beef heart into about 3/4" cubes. If I want to catch bigger fish, I cut the beef heart into pieces about 3/4" thick and about 2 inches square. I have caught catfish up to 29 pounds on beef heart cut this size. This bait will catch blue and channel cats. Shrimp, liver, and cut bait (shad, bream, buffalo, carp, gou, etc) work well too. If I am targeting big fish, I usually use cut bait. I have never tried punch baits, but I don't think they will work well on juglines because it will not stay on the hook. If you want to target flathead cats, live bait (large minnows, bream) is preferred, but with the water temperature above 85, the live bait does not last long on the hooks.


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## dbullard (Feb 13, 2008)

Wil I too use beef heart and pig heart some mostly in the winter or when I don't feel like wrangling bait. I am with Charles on cut bait for larger Blues . Perch,drum,buffalo,tilapia and carp all work. Shad work real well if you checking them of often. Friday night I caught a 25 lber on a inch piece of drum.


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## NitroNX898 (Apr 7, 2009)

Thanks guys for the help. I like the rod and reel in the hand but I'm just trying to get me some good eating fish for the freezer. With limited time at the lake house I just figured night time jugs would help me do that. Then I could try to catch the crappie during the day. 

Here is another questing. During the summer months is it better to fish shallow or deep water. On average the lake is around 13-18' deep with the channel being 20-25' deep. I know they run shallow along the banks during this time because I have noodled them in less than 3' of water. And is there a certain depth to target if fishing deeper. 

Thanks


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## cwhitney (Sep 9, 2014)

If fishing in deeper water keep an eye the thermocline. Water below this will not have enough oxygen to keep the fish alive if they get hooked. As far as what depth to fish and where would be best, some of this is trial and error. Set a few at different depths to see what works and then focus on fishing similar areas. If you have a good sonar unit, look for areas with fish to set your jugs. If you are going to be crappie fishing during the day, let the jugs soak while you crappie fish and check them every couple of hours or when you move to a different spot.


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## NitroNX898 (Apr 7, 2009)

cwhitney said:


> If fishing in deeper water keep an eye the thermocline. Water below this will not have enough oxygen to keep the fish alive if they get hooked. As far as what depth to fish and where would be best, some of this is trial and error. Set a few at different depths to see what works and then focus on fishing similar areas. If you have a good sonar unit, look for areas with fish to set your jugs. If you are going to be crappie fishing during the day, let the jugs soak while you crappie fish and check them every couple of hours or when you move to a different spot.


Thanks


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## fishrman86 (Jun 13, 2016)

Hi new to the forum, I use chicken hearts and gizzards with great results will try to upload photos from this weekend


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## fishrman86 (Jun 13, 2016)

The bigger one was around 20 lb


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## NitroNX898 (Apr 7, 2009)

Nice fish and welcome


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## Law Dawg (Mar 18, 2013)

*Best Results*

We get our best results for fish under 5lbs on BEEF Winnies, the cheaper the better they work; they have always out fished all other bait for this size cats.


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## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

Shad are crazy abundant right now. Find a place to cast net some gizzard shad. Use half at a time.


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## sanchez89 (Mar 7, 2015)

Find some salties, they are hardy. Stay alive on the hook for a long time.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk


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## cva34 (Dec 22, 2008)

Law Dawg said:


> We get our best results for fish under 5lbs on BEEF Winnies, the cheaper the better they work; they have always out fished all other bait for this size cats.


Had similar luck..If you want tougher weiners ..cut into bait size.and Micro Wave small batches.stay on hook better


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