Re: Jug fishing on the Big Muddy
I have never jug fished the Mississippi but here in central Mo we jug fish on the Osage river quite a lot. One of my favorite methods for big river jugging is to anchor my jugs right on points that run to edys. The slower back water seems to attract the bigger cats. I like to use enough anchor line to let my jugs move around a little in the current. The best jug line anchors I have ever found are old window weights. Being round they have less tendency to snag up and are easy to manage while setting the lines. I run a depth check before I set my hook lines (I do it the old fashioned way with the boat anchor rope) I try to set my lines about 6 inches off the bottom. Of course this is guessing at it's best but that is what I shoot for. For bait I like to mix it up. Here where we fish, shad and shad guts work well. Big ole nightcrawlers too. Some folks like the stink bait you can buy. I have used it but honestly I've never had very good results with it. I do have a couple home made recipes that work good in these parts. One is simple and pleasant to handle: Take a 1/2 box of Wheaties cereal a box of strawberry jello and a cream soda. Mix the jello (Use about 1/2 the liquid the package calls for) and wheaties and add cream soda until you get a dough consistency you like. This recipe also works good for carp and sucker. I use old panty hose to make pouches to hold my dough baits together and keep them on the hooks. Another dough bait that isn't as nose friendly: Drain off blood from chicken you buy and save it in the fridge, in a sealed marked bowl, until you have 4 cups. Add 1 whole bulb of garlic crushed good. 2/3 cup of sugar. 1 package of bread yeast. 2 table spoons of onion salt. 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Put all this in a large container with a good lid (I would use a 5 gal. bucket) add enough whole milk to make the mixture sloppy (like you would use for chum). Set in the sun or a warm spot for a week. Hold your nose for the rest. After a week, chop up in a blender: 1lb of chicken livers and about a dozen minnows. Add them to the now really stinky mix. Melt a 1/2 block of Velveta cheese in the microwave by cubing it small and adding about 1 table spoon of butter and a little milk. Pour the melted Velveta into the mix. Very carefully stir the mix thoroughly. Put the lid back on for about 5 -10 more days in the sun or warm spot. After 5-10 days put on some rubber gloves and get a clothes pin for your nose and work in a 50/50 mix of cornmeal and all purpose flour. Add until you get the pasty consistency you like. Put the mix into cool whip or butter bowls with a good tight seal "MARK GOOD AND CLEAR" then store in a fridge till your ready to use it. If you have a beer fridge I suggest this over one where the wife may discover your creation and introduce you to new and interesting people, like divorce lawyers. Again I use old panty hose to hold dough baits on the hooks. This has worked great for a lot of folks around here. These baits also work good on limb lines and trot lines just be sure to get the bait low, just off the bottom. Hope some of this helps and I wish you great fishing. God Bless. Dave
