OK, could use a little help. My brother, my son and I put out some jugs sunday afternoon on logan matin lake. Only caught 1 bluecat and 1 gar. Started in about 28ft. of water, but jugs are only up to about 10ft. in lenght. Moved to 8-12ft. water got a few bites, 3 got off. Most of the fish on the fish finder were in the channel at about 20-24ft. Anyone ever fished with jugs this deep? Whats the best bait. We were using deer meat, hotdogs and shad.

Logan Martin...... that's not a bad drive at all for you since you are coming from Oxford.


I would think that if you put a 20 foot lead off of a jug you would stay hung up more often than not.

I have jug fished on Lake Martin and portions of the Tennessee River. I usually make jugs anywhere from 2-10 feet deep. Catfish are not hardcore bottom feeders like some people think. They come up to various depths at night, which is when I've done all my jug fishing.

The problem may be your bait. There is no doubt that they will eat any of that, but you need something that will disperse a ton of scent in the area. That's why chicken livers work well, they are dripping with liquid and smell nasty. It's hard to beat store bought stink bait.

For me, shad outfish stink baits, catfish liver and gizzards, and pretty much everything else I've tried. Granted, I've never tried it on the coosa river, but I'm betting that a catfish is a catfish, regardless of whether he's in the coosa river, the tombigbee river, or the tennessee river. When I go, I try to have more than enough shad. I'll usually bring some beef liver cut into strips and brined, or some chicken hearts if I can find them, just in case.

I have the best luck around structure, especially creek mouths with a good channel running near a bank with structure (grass and wood). I personally think that the fish move up from the deeper channels to this shallower water to feed at night. Most of my jug lines are 5-10'. Any deeper, and I've had trouble with them getting hung. For deeper water, I'd recommend a trotline.

right now all we are catching our catfish on is shad and live bait. the shad are so thick right now on the river ( south alabama) that is all the catfish want. we have tried various stink baits and livers and shad outdo everything.

I agree with most here about shad. Try using small live bream too. I have caught some hawgs like that.

cut up eels. Very gross and slimy but wont hardly come off a hook. Also try some shrimp.

skipjack is by far the best bait you will ever use. Once you get it on the hook you can barely get it off and catfish love them. Last summer we had 3 trotlines on the tombigbee. We checked them twice a day. Every afternoon and every morning. We always filled a 150 quart cooler and at least had one catfish that weighed over 25 pounds. We even caught a 49lb.