In March of 2020 during the midst of Covid, my 17-year-old son, Eli, and I were at our lake property. While rummaging through a utility building where we kept an assortment of boating gear, Eli saw a box full of strange devices made of PVC pipe, pool noodles, fishing line and hooks. He asked why we had these strange devices. His Uncle Mitch made them a few years back to “jug fish.” This led to a series of questions from a curious 17-year-old about jug fishing. After explaining how to jug fish, Eli immediately asked if we could set the jugs out on the lake.
It did not take much convincing for me to agree to jug fish as soon as possible with Eli. At the time, kids were being taught via virtual learning, my company had furloughed one day a week, and we had the time. Two nights later, we caught one fish, but my son had a blast. The anticipation of not knowing what may be on the other end of the hook of the floating jug was intoxicating for Eli – and his dad!
How did we jug fish? First, let’s define how jug fishing derived its name. Jug fishing originated by innovative fisherman using a plastic bottle such as a two-liter soft drink or Clorox bottle. The flotation device (the jug) has evolved over the years; however, a plastic jug will still work great. I now use a 15-inch piece of ¾ inch PVC pipe capped on both ends. Before capping the PVC pipe, I place it in a 12-inch piece of pool noodle in a high visibility color like lime green or orange and insert an eye bolt screw in one end of the cap on the end of the PVC pipe. This eye bolt screw is where the nylon cord is tied. The nylon cord is three to four feet and attached with a Carolina rig (i.e., sinker, swivel and hook). I prefer a nylon braided cord instead of fishing monofilament using a one-ounce lead egg type sinker with a #5 circle hook. The distance from the hook to the swivel is 12 inches. In South Carolina, DNR allows 50 jugs per boat and jug
license ($5) is required. Check out the videos in the Gallery that demonstrate how to make these PVC/pool noodle jugs.
Once the jugs are made, you are ready to throw them in the lake, but quality bait is needed. I have used cut herring, bream and minnow carp (aka “salties”). There are pros and cons to each, but I prefer salties because they stay alive longer and have tougher skin to stay on the hook better. Some states allow live bait, and some do not. In South Carolina, you cannot use live bait, so I simply cut the minnow in half with one piece containing the head and one the tail. I double hook the bait which means after penetrating the bait with the hook I hook it again on the other side of the bait. Videos will explain this technique.
After baiting, simply toss into the lake at least 20 yards apart, preferably dusk to dawn (sometimes checking after a few hours). I place them in coves and not in the main body of water. Place the catfish on ice and clean the next morning. Approaching a jug that is moving, bouncing up and down, or disappearing for a few seconds brings great excitement. Every friend who goes with me has a blast and says it is the most fun they have had fishing in a long time. Obviously, from the picture above you can deduct I have learned a great deal about jug fishing since our first outing in 2020 and continue to learn on each trip. If you want to give it a try, check out the videos in our gallery for more information.
