Admittedly, most of the catfish I caught growing up were very shallow under a cork because of the feeding frenzy created by my grandfather tossing out a half milk jug full of fish food.
That’s why I couldn’t help but wonder why Mike Lantz used only a 2-foot piece of string on his homemade jugs.
“The main reason is because I like to fish shallow flats off from a deep channel or bayou,” Lantz said. “That means my bait is going to be drifting along just barely off the bottom.
“If they start dragging, I’ll just make a couple wraps to shorten up the line.”
While that made sense, I couldn’t help but press about how long of a string he used in deeper spots out in the Mermentau River itself.
“Two feet,” he said. “Catfish aren’t necessarily on bottom all the time. Even out in the deep water in the river, I stick with 2 feet of string because catfish will come up and eat.
“Even during the day, I catch just as many 2 feet under a jug as I ever did at night, no matter how deep I’m fishing.”