fishin_kid

I'm a novice fisherman, at best, but I've only been "real" fishing for a couple months now. So I need a little help and advice. Today I went fishing down at my friends dock on Lake Lanier, and since I don't have a boat, this will probably be one of my frequent fishing spots in the upcoming months. Today I was using a finesse worm, texas-rigged, just flipping it out around the dock, letting it hit the bottom, shaking it a few times, repeat. I got 3 major hits: First fish, I wasn't really paying attention and just reeling the worm in, not expecting anything, and a fish jumped up about a foot from the dock and tried to eat it. Obviously being unprepared I missed my chance, but the fish ate the back half of the worm off. Second fish, I saw a spot where a fish had come up briefly, tossed it out there, and the fish hit the worm on the way down. I set it (or so I thought), and started reeling it in. The fish jumped (a 3 pounder by my sight estimate) and just spit the hook and everything right back out. I was crying on the inside. The third fish I had seen swimming about a foot from the dock, so I flipped it out there and he took it almost immediately. I saw him run with it, so I set it but the worm flew out. It didn't look like his mouth was near the hook. So first question: What am I doing wrong? Is my fishing strategy wrong since I only got 3 bites in a couple hours? And how should I be setting my hook so I don't lose fish again? Also, the dock is in a little cove, about 2-5 feet of water around it with a good bit of weeds, stumps, etc. What are the best things to be fishing for such a location in the coming months? Thanks for any help you guys can offer.