Blue Catfish Jug Fishing

Type: Tidal
Region: Southern
Location: Potomac River

On Sunday, July 3rd my buddy Zach and his nephew Brooke and my grandson Isaac and me tried our hands at jug fishing on Mallows Bay.

We caught I�d estimate 13 to14 blue catfish and one small channel catfish using #6/0 circle hooks.

We fished out near the wrecks until the wind picked up and drove us back into the burning basin. There I caught a nice 18.5� largemouth bass. We then made another attempt on the Potomac River.

We fished a total of 10 jugs with 8�-10� of 30lb monofilament with a #8 circle hook about two foot above a 2oz weight. Ithe jugs were baited with cut alewife.

What a fun time.

The DNR has a few regulations for jug fishing:

May only be used in tidal tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay
May only be used from July 1-February 28
Must be attended between sunset and sunrise
May use up to 10 jugs with no more than 2 hooks per line and no more than one line per jug
Must be marked with the individual's DNRid number
May not be used to take largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, striped bass, all shark species, snapping turtles and any threatened or endangered species