Quote Originally Posted by peter View Post
Saturday windy, rainy. Most folks I saw were bottom fishing. I did so for 30 minutes and decided to troll in a small area out of the wind. Nothing. Same thing as another commented here... did not mark much. Sunday more debris but the lake was definitely navigable in day light - one 16 incher on a shinner. Did not mark much then either. By noon some of the debris had cleared due to the wind and wakes. Water had a brown tint. As I remember from last year many folks bottom fish this time of the year.

I did hit a six inch log going about 25 mph as I was taking in the scenery..broke it in half. Immediately checked for leaks and scaned for a place to beach the boat. I guess the new old aluminum boat is pretty sturdy, no dents..relief!

My problem with bottom fishing is when I pull up my bait half of them are gone. When you throw them out there that's a good blow to the bait. How do you keep them on the hook. Been hooking them between the dorsal and tail. It seems like a great way to fish when it's windy.

I don't bottom fish with shiners myself. They tend to want to dig into some cover on the bottom instead of swim up like the shads do. If I were, it would be in the tail. A better way to, "bottom fish" shiners, or even lake bait if you don't have much, is to go with a three way rig with a one oz sinker on the bottom of a i ft leader and a slightly shorter leader off the back for the bait. You fish it in the same places as you bottom fish, only you SLOW troll, and I mean SLOW always keeping the baits on the bottom. Of course it's hard to do in the wind. Oh, you only put two of the out off the back of the boat. It's a fantastic way to fish shiners. They struggle to get to the bottom and can't, so they are very very active (for shiners).

If you are slinging them off, you might be casting too hard. Saying it's casting is a stretch anyway. It's really more of a lob. I do all my lobbing with the rod and bait out of the side of the boat and I start out really low. I start very slow with the upward movement and never make any fast or quick pulls on the bait. If you can't get the distance you want, go up in weight. The reels make a difference too. I've got some old old cheap 29 dollar Shakespear reels and those things are the absolute best at casting a one oz bottom fishing rig.

Shiners are escape artists. You can do everything right and they can still get off. If you wanna make sure they stay on, take a wide rubber band and cut it into equal 3/8 " squares. You can make a bunch of them at one time or cut as needed. If that doesn't make sense, take a rubber band, then cut it. take and end and cut 3/8" off. the result will be a square piece of rubber band. You can do this over and over for the full length of the band. Now, take a RB square and push the center on your hook. Put your bait on, then put another RB square on the hook so that the bait has a rubber band square on both sides. Now the bait can't slide around the hook and foul hook it's self and it will have a hard time getting off. Some people also use material similar to coffee can lids. Advantage with the coffee can lid being it's clear, but the rubber band seals around the hook better to prevent slipping.