Since I don't know the depth of the lake I'd just be guessing. I've got a tiny little bobber on the line and about three feet of line from there down to the lure. I cast, then reel it in slowly.
The best time was right after the rain when the fish were all stirred up. I think I caught five fish on six or seven casts. I was the only adult on the dock with three kids from 7-10 years old. I think the kids caught another four fish, with a 7-year-old girl hooking the biggest one, but it bit through the line just as I was hauling it up to the dock. It was easily over a foot long.
knapplc wrote:Since I don't know the depth of the lake I'd just be guessing. I've got a tiny little bobber on the line and about three feet of line from there down to the lure. I cast, then reel it in slowly.
I don't want to overwhelm you, but check out slip bobbers when you get a chance. Basically it sets the bobber at your desired depth (in your case 3'), while allowing free reign of the lure under that distance. So it keeps it off the bottom (great for kids to eliminate snags), but still allows you to play your jig effectively. Sounds like you're doing something right though.
All my cooking for the 4th was prep work and grill monitoring, so I had plenty of time to fish dad's lake Sunday. I probably caught 10 fish, but I had TROUBLE getting them to shore! I only landed maybe six of them because the line kept breaking. At first we thought it was just the fact that the fish were pretty big. I had a cat on the line that was 18-24 inches, but it snapped the line just as I got it to the dock. Had that happen a few more times with smaller fish, then figured the line on the reel was really old, so I gave up for the night. I used chicken livers and old hot dogs as bait.
EDIT - I was catching catfish, bullhead and mostly bass. And one stupid sunfish that put up a decent struggle and made me think I had a real fish on the line.
Are you correctly setting your drag? Your line should not be breaking, even with a big fish on the end of it. I almost exclusively use only 4 pound test line and never lose a fish due to a broken line. I set the drag just enough so a big fish can take some line and can adjust as the fight takes place.
Monofilament will get brittle with age. Also, any use is going to caUse some little Knicks along the line, it's a good idea to cut off the last couple feet periodically to make sure your knot is tied with line that hasn't been damaged by a fish, rock, etc.
As always, discard of fishing line properly. All kinds if animals get tangled and die in the line that is carelessly thrown aside.
The line I was using was the same line my dad used when I was a kid, so it's pretty old. I'm going to redo the spool with fresh line. I'm sure that was the issue.
Is there a trick to keeping the liver on your hook? I was splitting them and using as much of the connective tissue as I could to feed around the hook, but about 1/4 of the time I'd bait the hook, cast it out, and my hook would land about 15 feet away from where the bait landed. My cousin was getting quite a kick out of this. I had the same problem with the hot dogs until I realized you pierce it through the casing and it stays on forever.
Funny thing - this lake must have some hungry fish. I was dragging the bottom with liver and hot dogs, and I caught two bass - one of them a decent size. What the heck?
There's this little lake just north and west of the Lincoln airport that I take my girl to every once in a while. Last night was the first time we caught fish at this stinkin' lake; she caught a tiny little bluegill and I caught an 8" bass. Either we're poor fishermen or this lake has been fished into nonexistence.
What sucks is that you have to buy a park permit to fish in the state lakes. Maybe I'm just being cheap here, but between the fishing permit and the park permit, I'm looking at $50 bucks spent just to try my luck at over-fished lakes in my area. Having your own pond is a huge benefit, and I'm rapidly becoming jealous of ORS. Heading an hour up to Fremont to fish Dad's lake isn't always in the plans, and I don't have many other options here in town. It's a bummer.
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by knapplc » Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:41 am 
My cousin was getting quite a kick out of this. I had the same problem with the hot dogs until I realized you pierce it through the casing and it stays on forever. 
