Howdy friends! Recently I was afforded the opportunity to do some jugline fishing at Kaw Lake. To be frank, I always thought of it as “lazy fishing”, but I can assure you it is not. This method of fishing uses lines suspended from floating “jugs” with cut bait on a hook at the bottom. I was lucky enough to simply go run the jugs instead of doing all the work to put them out the day before. We ran about forty jug lines with limited success. I’d imagine we caught ten or twelve blue cats and channel cats and one long nose gar. Each fisherman can put out twenty jugs with up to five hooks per line. Each individual jug has to have the owner’s name, address, and customer ID. Additionally, each jug has to be attended to at least once every twenty-four hours. I spend a lot of time on the lake, and nothing gets in my craw more than discarded or abandoned jug lines polluting the waters. Generally, the jugs are spread out over a sandy flat several yards apart.
The absolute best part of jug lining for me is seeing a jug moving or floating awkwardly knowing there is a fish on it as you arrive. A hook is used to grab the line, then the line is pulled in by hand (hopefully with a fish). If you are like me and love fried catfish, jug line fishing can put a lot of fish in your boat in a short amount of time. While critics contend jug fishers over-harvest fish, there is a reason the Wildlife Department has regulations. If those “in the know” believed the critics, the regulations wouldn’t allow twenty jugs per person.
Lastly, while it might seem like a good idea to slalom ski between the jugs, I’d suggest you don’t fall. You might just get to take a trip to the emergency room to have a hook removed. I’ve had to remove hooks before (thanks father-in-law), and it isn’t a pleasant situation.
Until next time folks. It’s ALMOST HUNTING SEASON!
