# building your own jugs pics



## rut-ro (Oct 12, 2008)

can someone please post pics on how to build your own juglines. i cant seem frind anthing in the search tool bar or on the internet.

thanks


----------



## bogan (Mar 23, 2006)

Here is a basic deisgn I found online. Is this what you are looking for?


----------



## Jeff G (May 18, 2010)

That's a diagram from fishingtx.com from several years ago . I modified mine from that diagram because it had a difficult time holdIng up a one pound weight and you have to tie a half hitch in order to set the line Depth. Also , I have had those screw in eyelets pull out on several of the jugs over time . 

I use 22"pipe , a little longer rebarb , and 12" of foam instead of 9". The screw in eyelete was replaced with a bolt style with a nut . I placed a trotline clip and washer through it . The clip now allows you to easily and quickly adjust the line . I have jugs with 25, 35, and 5o feet of main line on them . Swivels are placed 3-5 feet apart depending in the line length . I set drops (up to five per jug ) at various swivel depths depending where I see fish or bait at on the graph . My drops are simple and short . 5/0 -7/0 circle sea , 100 pound split ring , 130# swivel, and a trotline clip.


----------



## bearintex (Feb 7, 2006)

bogan said:


> Here is a basic deisgn I found online. Is this what you are looking for?


That's the one I used. If you search photobucket for my username, I have a folder with step by step pictures in it. I can't link to it from work or I would. I think I am going to rework mine in the near future, though to use bigger diameter foam.


----------



## MR. L. (Jun 19, 2007)

you can buy the flagging jugs already rigged for 6 dollars each on craigslist
look in sporting


----------



## Lobo48jim (Aug 24, 2010)

Bleach white jugs work great just tie on your drop line and attach a plastic water bottle that you fill with quikcreke for a wiegh. I use 2 hooks 1 hook 18 inches down and the other 3 ft. below it. Fished in 12 to 30ft of water this week with 14 jugs and caught 14, 10 of them on the top hook right below the jug.
LoboJim


----------



## Jeff G (May 18, 2010)

I 've been testing some of my jugs today in a large tub of water . Mine are larger than the one in the above diagram with either longer foam or thicker and longer foam . What I found is that the larger 1/2 " rebarb works better than the smaller 3/8" . If you make your jugs with more foam than 9 " , you may want to use the 1/2" rebarb. I had 8.5 " of 3/8 " rebarb in a 24" 1/2" pipe with 14" of three inch foam and it would not vertically flag unless I added about 1.5 ounces to the bottom end of the pipe . I swapped the smaller rebarb out for 7.5" of 1/2 " and it worked great !


----------



## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Nice pics on the jugs!


----------



## TheToad (Jun 28, 2010)

i do everything but the rebar and the eye bolt what are those for


----------



## bearintex (Feb 7, 2006)

TheToad said:


> i do everything but the rebar and the eye bolt what are those for


The rebar is a sliding weight that will cause the jug to stand vertical when it gets a hit from a fish. When you set these, you make sure that the weight is in the foam end, and they lay horizontal. When a fish tugs on them (tied to the eyebolt), it causes the weight to slide to the opposite end, and weighing that end down.


----------



## pipeliner345 (Mar 15, 2010)

what about the wind will hit stand them up


----------



## John3:16 (Aug 27, 2010)

Oh how we love to complicate things. All I use are bottles. I have one liter, and 2 1/2 gal jugs. In rough water flagging jugs will false flag keeping you running in circles chasing NOTHING! With the bottles I don't care how rough it gets I can tell if there is a fish on the line by just watching it's cadence in the wave. The other good news is they are free, easy to pack, and to cheesy to steal. If your skeptical about a 1 liter bottle catching a big fish check out some of my videos on you tube here is a link to the 74lb one on my avatar 



 . Happy fishing, read John3:16


----------



## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

I'm with you John. If a fish is on a simple cylindrical bottle you will know it. Besides I don't chase all over picking up jugs.
I set mine in a long string and then back run them looking for signs of life. After an hour or so I run them all and re bait or pick up to move to better fishing grounds.
Since my wonderful wife will not allow this old fat man to go out at night alone I normally set anchored jugs late in the evening and run them in the early morning. But I never use anchored jugs in the heat of summer. I do not like the sight of a nice big dead and smelly cat on one of my hooks.


----------



## TheToad (Jun 28, 2010)

as yall can see i am in san marcos and been fishing canyon and dunlap lakes i havent had even a nibble since early june. I have tried shrimp, blue gill, dead shad, and store bought stink what am i doin wrong or is it just to hot all my jugs have the bait on bottom with a 6oz weight about 18 in up.


----------



## Jeff G (May 18, 2010)

Thetoad try fishing where the bAit is and around the depth that you see the bait of fish on your graph . With jugs you can place up to five hooks on each jug so you can cover water columns at five different depths . If you Are in 19 feet , you can set the drops at 3,6,9, 12, and 16 feet . I never set bait on the bottom but 3-4 feet off of the bottom. I don't use weight on my drifters either. My grandfather taught me to fish on the bottom for cats but the most amazing thing that i learned about catching blues is that they do not feed just on the bottom . They feed at many different depths . Most of the big cats we caught a month ago were in 42 feet of water but 3 feet below the jug . Very few baits below the first drop got bitten . Weird hu ? Use a variety of baits and vary the depths . When you determine the depth that the fish are bitting at then just set your baits at that depth of the water column and don't worry about setting extra baits any where else . Place them near humps or structure too . If you still don't catch any , then there may not be any catfish in that lake ! Lol


----------



## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

I learned to catfish in West Texas lakes. All channels and ops. Not until I came to Livingston in the mid 60s did I ever see a real blue cat. What we called a blue cat out west was actually a male channels.
A couple of commercial fishermen taught me to fish shallow for blues,
Cat fish have the reputation of being scavengers that comb the bottom for the dead and dying. 
But blues are what I like to call "Apache" fish. They go on raiding parties with the other predators. Like the photo on the old post card with the two buzzards, One looks at the other and says," To h ell with being patient. I'm going out and kill some thing."
Shad feed on the surface on the algae that blooms in the sunlight. The blues follow them up and join them for "lunch"
I like my drifter about 36" long. But Saturday I found two orange colored commercial jugs drifted up on the 190 bridge that were only 18" deep. I figure that a fellow fishing for a living must know what he is doing. I have made six new jugs set that shallow as a test. I may being learning a new trick.


----------



## bonefish (Nov 24, 2006)

I make my jugs with the following: a white Clorox bottle, 50' of 350 lb. test line, a quart bottle filled with concrete, 10 ball swivels, a snap swivel, and 5 hooks with 10' of 50 lb leader attached to each hook. I put the hooks about 3 feet apart and you start with the top hook, so go about 15' from one end of the line and tie an overhand knot and then slide a swivel up to that knot and then tie another knot about an inch below the first knot with the swivel between the two knots. Move down 3 feet and do the same thing again. Put all 5 swivels an this way where they are 3 feet apart. When you finish you should have 3 feet of line below the last swivel. Tie you snap swivel on the end of the line. This is where the weight goes. Go to each swivel and tie on a leader with a hook. Now you have a 50" line with 5 hooks and leaders on the bottom 15 feet. Tie the other end to your jug. Write your name, address and phone number on the jug and your ready to fish. 
A couple of tips: when your are making your weight put a couple of links of chain in the top with half of the top link sticking out. Attach you snap swivel to this link of chain. I also take a length of black foam used to insulate pipe, split it open and zip tie it to the Clorox jug. This gives you something to hook your hooks into when you wrap it up. If you are fishing in 30' of water, just tie off the line on the top of the jug. You only want to have 1 - 2 feet of extra line out or the fish will really tangle up you line. I use an "octopus" shaped hook, which is a modified circle hook but not quite as circled. My bait of choice is beef heart. When you put on a piece, leave the hook tip exposed. Hope this helps.


----------



## Lobo48jim (Aug 24, 2010)

went to Mathis on the 14th set out 14 jugs caught 14 cats 11 caught on hook 1 ft below jug the other 3 caught 4ft below jug only used 2 hooks on each jug, left lines over night all fish alive and fighting. LoboJim


----------



## Jeff G (May 18, 2010)

Here are some pics of some of my jugs. I do alot of experimenting making jugs and trying new things . I love mounting trotline clips on my jugs to adjust the main line and I love short simple drops because they do not tangle in the main line . I like lots of reflective tape too . My "super jugs" are about 15" of the larger 4" foam . It takes a huge fish to pull one of these under and keep it under for very long . Make sure that you use the 1/2 inch rebarb and not the 3/8 " . I get my foam at SSI in Houston . The 4" foam isn't stocked anymore so you may have to pay shipping in addition to around $1.90 a foot .


----------

