I've got a problem with limblines, help plz

[seaphantom]

Ok, I fish in a stream,
and have seen some nice cats get pulled out of there,
I do a lot of limblining, I use 30lb test mono hung from a
horizontally positioned tree. Usually, what I use is bluegill heads
and bluegill cut bait. My limblines however, are not hung from a flexible
limb, its just hook and line hanging from the base of a thick limb.
I dont have a boat, and there arent too many flexible limbs or sticks
around.

The problem is- every time I come to check the lines, there's absolutely NOTHING on each hook...  :?

Could you please help me out? Any ideas if I should use some other bait
or...change something...


seaphantom :?  :?

[seaphantom]

Did ya fall in dude? :lol:

Nah, almost fell one time...


seaphantom

[varmit_master]

Hi try a small live bream he mite swin away from the  logger heads and if you want to see him use the cut bait with a small 3 prong hook VM

[seaphantom]

lol, forget this limblining for now..
there arent any 'HUGE' catfish in there anyway..
next time, ill use 130 lb braided line with a bungee cord hangin from the branch, and the line is tied to it.. (had my line snapped 1 too many times)
Some of you might wanna try it out..

Wrap a rope around a tough, non-moving limb, then, hook bungee cord on to the rope, and bend the hook all the way, so it cant get off the rope in any way.. then, bend the other hook, and tie the line to it, and then
you know what to do  :grin:


seaphantom

[hillbill]

in a stream or other cold water crawdads are bad about eating bait if its near enuf to the bottom where they can git at it.

[TScottO]

The best thing I have found for limb lines is to break off a green branch from a willow tree or some sort of hedge and leave the green leaves on it so you can see them shake when a fish is on. The limb should be about the diameter of you pinky finger and a foot and a half long and flexible. Push the limb about a foot deep in the sand and about a foot away from the edge of the water. Use regular nylon twine that comes on a cardboard spool. I prefer the thicker stuff because it doesn’t cut into your fingers when you are running a bunch of lines. Tie one end to the limb where the limb meets the sand. Stretch off about 6 feet then tie a staging that is the length from your wrist to your elbow. Tie 3 or 4 stagings about 3 foot apart for hooks then another staging on the end to tie a weight to. I use stainless big eye, long shank hooks because they are easier to remove from the fish’s mouth.

Check your local fishing regs and see if you are allowed to use gold fish for bait or try to find some small stump perch about the length of your index finger. Set up your limb line just upstream of a dark water hole. Angle your limb line at about 35-45 degrees from the bank into the water. Catfish will swim upstream to the shallow to feed because they can smell bait up stream and not bait behind them. If you ever notice at night minnows will accumulate towards the shallow near the bank. That’s a good indication fish are feeding.

One problem with bungee cords is that you have that much more crap to carry with you when you set lines and that much more crap to pick up when you take up your lines. I have never lost a limb line using this method and I’ve pulled 40 pound cats off lines set this way. The only possible way to lose a limb this way is if a big alligator snapper gets on your line and puts his feet on the bottom and pulls or either a log floats down and snags your hooks. I have also caught 35 pound turtles using this method as well with out losing a limb. If you run your lines at night from the bank or a boat the green top on your limb will allow you to spot your line easily. This way will also keep others fishing the area from recognizing your settings easily.

I’ve used this method in the Mississippi River, Little Sunflower, Yazoo river and various creaks and streams. It works.

I’ve also found when using cut bait it helps to taint it a bit. I prefer live bait over dead bait because flat heads seem to prefer live. For blues and channels most anything will work: crawfish the size of your pinky finger, rotten chicken hearts stuffed with rotten cheese, catobble worms (sp), Puppy dogs are good too ( the salamanders you find under rotten logs). Using dead bait you have to worry more about bream and eels pecking your bait off. With live bait you have to worry about gar fish. Bigger the bait doesn’t always mean the bigger the fish either. I’ve caught fish upwards of 50 pounds using finger long gold fish and have witnessed bigger fish caught on the same size bait.

Be Safe,
Scott

[sissysue]

One of the things that we used to do when we were little was to use white bar soap. Like P&G soap or Ivory.