July 28th 2004
Mrs. Catfish Boat and I have been setting our
Flagging Juglines
out at night on Lake Conroe due to the daytime heat. Sunday night a
cool
front came through after the rain and it was down right chilly out on
the
water. We hooked up with another cat-fisherman, aka, Ninelives, early
Monday
morning, and he went back out with us. Shortly after daylight, as we
were
picking the juglines up, we got this one in the boat.
Tuesday Morning I was one jugline short, after some
re-con, we
found it approx. 300 yards from the rest of the pack. During the 45
minute
or so, underwater tug-a-war
The under water creature was the winner. We didn't even get a glimpse
of
him, During the tug-a-war We tied a boat bumper off to the mainline
because
the jugline kept going under for so long that the foam had started to
come
off. Look at what was left of my hooks, 1 broken, 1 bent all up and one
missing
Even though it is cooler at night, keep in mind you
may need
to stay with your juglines and keep them baited and get the fish off as
soon as you can. We lost( as in died) a few fish in as short as 15 to
20
minutes .
Total number was @ 94 catfish,for the freezer, (1)
- 25#, 361/2
" blue(CPR), 5 gar. one turtle and the monster that got away.
Response by Obie
Good fishing Randy...you catch enuff fish you don't need
to keep the
big producer fish, that is great.
How do you keep from getting a hook pulled into you with
so many hooks
on a jug line? Must have been a good one pulling that barbell weight
around?
Response by TheCatfishBoat
You have to be extremely careful with the 5 hook set-up
on juglines
When setting the juglines out, the weight is the last
thing that goes
in the water.
It is human nature to let the line feed or run through your hand. With
that
heavy of a weight the line can get away from you or even hang up on a
stump
if you put the weight end out first. So the jugline goes out first and
the
weight last.
When checking the juglines, the driver if you have one cuts the boat in
a circle, so the line will trail out to the side instead of back into
the
prop. This is the dangerous part,we pull the jugline up, reset the
ballast
and lay the jugline back in the water, as you pull the line up you
rebait,
if you have a tug, we put the mainline down into the crack of the gates
on the side of the boat, this keeps the line from getting away from
you,
after you pull in a hook or a fish, the line is secured in the crack of
the gate and the boat, the stopper knots and swivel keeps the line
secure
so you can rebait.
On the big catfish, we cut the staging, with a pair of
scissors (not
a knife) and work our way down. We use the scissors because of the
movement
of the boat from the waves, and the adreniline that is starting to
flow.
The scissors lessen the chance of an accident.
Granted the 5 hook set up is not for everyone. and can be extremely
dangerous
For More information
on Fishing Lake Conroe visit
The Catfish
Boat. The Catfish
Boat offers catfish fishing trips in a family friendly environment on
Lake
Conroe. Jug Fishing Trips and Rod and Reel fishing trips for catfish
are
available.
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