Reel Easy

Jugs and Trots

by Louie Bond

WHILE IT’S GREAT FUN TO WAIT for one fish at a time on a lovely day, you may prefer to put out several hooks and come back later.

Wait, more than one hook at a time? If you fish with multiple hooks, do your odds of catching more fish multiply?

“Actually, no. Based on data collected from Choke Canyon [Reservoir], harvest between rod-and-reel and passive-gear anglers is very similar,” says Greg Binion, fisheries biologist, noting that some anglers think passive methods take less effort. Oh, well…

There are three names for a rig that’s a single (nonmetallic) line in the water with multiple hooks dangling: jugline, trotline and throwline (limbline). They differ in the number of hooks and how they’re rigged. Make your own rig and customize it to suit your needs, or you can buy an all-in-one kit.

• Juglines typically have three hooks and are tied to a free-floating device (such as a swimming pool noodle or other float), often weighted with a simple anchor like a brick.

• Trotlines, attached to fixed structures, typically span 100 to 150 feet. Up to 50 hooks are spaced at least three feet apart.

• Throwlines (limblines) are attached to overhanging brush or a tree/stump and fished vertically in the water column.

Make sure to use appropriate marking flotation devices and attach a valid tag. Catfish regulations have changed recently for Choke Canyon (14-inch minimum length limit and 15 fish daily bag). Check outdoorannual.com for passive gear and fish regulation details.

So, where to use this intriguing method and what will you catch?

“Blue catfish are king at Choke Canyon,” Binion says.

Plenty of channel cats and flatheads are eager to bite as well. Choke Canyon State Park, between San Antonio and Corpus Christi, occupies a peninsula that juts out into the 26,000-acre lake.

Binion says it’s best to fish large flats near timber, coves and backwaters, the river channel and tributaries. Try South Shore flats, Calliham Cove, the large flats near Mason Point, Four Fingers flats and islands, the Highway 99 boater access launch and upper reservoir in the Frio River, as well as San Miguel and Elm Creeks (when the water level is adequate).

Target water depths are primarily 10 to 20 feet. Trotlines and limblines can be set in shallower water, but a five-foot minimum depth is recommended. Lines can be set and retrieved anytime, during the day or fished overnight.

For blues and channels, use dead cut bait such as common carp, gizzard shad, smallmouth buffalo and bluegill; live bait (bluegill or other nongame sunfish) is best for targeting larger catfish like flatheads or trophy-size blues.

These methods, techniques and general habitat locations are also suited for other quality catfish fisheries, including Lake Palestine, Lake Waco, Lake Tawakoni and others.