eyescene
07-30-2007, 10:24 AM
Catfishing with jugs hot on Mississippi
http://mas.scripps.com/MCA/2007/07/29/29d8colv_o.jpg
Shelby County conservation officer Robert Colvin lands a small Mississippi River catfish on one of John David's custom jugs.
By Bryan Brasher
July 29, 2007
With two gigantic barges working their way up the deep channel of the Mississippi River, Tennessee conservation officers Ronnie Shannon, Robert Colvin and John David idled their small aluminum boats through the shallow water closer to shore, tossing out orange and black bottles. If it weren't for the lines and hooks tied to each container, by legal definition, they would have been guilty of littering.
But they weren't scattering trash. They were practicing the age-old art of jug fishing for Mississippi River catfish. "It's something people have been doing for a hundred years," said David, a Covington resident who patrols Tipton County for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. "It's been around forever, and it may be more popular right now than it's ever been.
"I put my boat in a lot at Duvall Landing to patrol the river, and I've seen as many as 18 boats on a Saturday morning -- all out jugging."
Super simple concept
Jug fishing is as simple as the name implies.
Instead of using a rod and reel with a line and a baited hook, anglers use baited lines tied to jugs, bottles, cans and anything else that will float. When they see a jug bouncing or darting across the water, they know they've got a fish.
By using dozens (and sometimes hundreds) of jugs at once, they can cover much more water than typical rod-and-reel fishermen, and the catch totals are often astronomical.
"It's not really that unusual to put out 25 or 30 jugs and have seven or eight of them running across the top of the water at one time," said Shannon, a wildlife law enforcement supervisor for TWRA. "With that many baits in the water, your chances go way up."
Big fish are also a constant possibility.
"The biggest fish I've caught weighed about 25 pounds," David said. "But 30- and 40-pounders are pretty common for jug fishermen.
"The big fish are always the most fun because they can take a jug completely under water for more than a minute at a time."
Jugs, jugs and more jugs (http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/outdoors/article/0,1426,MCA_470_5650127,00.html)
http://mas.scripps.com/MCA/2007/07/29/29d8colv_o.jpg
Shelby County conservation officer Robert Colvin lands a small Mississippi River catfish on one of John David's custom jugs.
By Bryan Brasher
July 29, 2007
With two gigantic barges working their way up the deep channel of the Mississippi River, Tennessee conservation officers Ronnie Shannon, Robert Colvin and John David idled their small aluminum boats through the shallow water closer to shore, tossing out orange and black bottles. If it weren't for the lines and hooks tied to each container, by legal definition, they would have been guilty of littering.
But they weren't scattering trash. They were practicing the age-old art of jug fishing for Mississippi River catfish. "It's something people have been doing for a hundred years," said David, a Covington resident who patrols Tipton County for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. "It's been around forever, and it may be more popular right now than it's ever been.
"I put my boat in a lot at Duvall Landing to patrol the river, and I've seen as many as 18 boats on a Saturday morning -- all out jugging."
Super simple concept
Jug fishing is as simple as the name implies.
Instead of using a rod and reel with a line and a baited hook, anglers use baited lines tied to jugs, bottles, cans and anything else that will float. When they see a jug bouncing or darting across the water, they know they've got a fish.
By using dozens (and sometimes hundreds) of jugs at once, they can cover much more water than typical rod-and-reel fishermen, and the catch totals are often astronomical.
"It's not really that unusual to put out 25 or 30 jugs and have seven or eight of them running across the top of the water at one time," said Shannon, a wildlife law enforcement supervisor for TWRA. "With that many baits in the water, your chances go way up."
Big fish are also a constant possibility.
"The biggest fish I've caught weighed about 25 pounds," David said. "But 30- and 40-pounders are pretty common for jug fishermen.
"The big fish are always the most fun because they can take a jug completely under water for more than a minute at a time."
Jugs, jugs and more jugs (http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/outdoors/article/0,1426,MCA_470_5650127,00.html)