I've caught a couple of bluegills at a local lake on hot dogs, but it was at a marina where they serve actual hot dogs and people throw the dogs in the water on occasion.
Corn is very good and cheap for big carp and I knew a guy who used hot dogs and even bacon for bullheads at night at Pinchot Lake in PA. He actually caught a 20-pound channel cat on the hot dog one night when fishing for bullheads. Cool!
Haha, if your dad did that he probably would be arrested on the spot...But anyway, I've had success using hot dog bits for bluegill. Chicken liver also works fantastically on catfish.
I remember going on a day-camp type of fishing field trip in Wisconsin when I was maybe seven. We took school buses out to some lake and fished with bacon brought by the people in charge. Little bluegill (probably 3 inches or so) were all over it. You couldn't avoid catching one even if you wanted to.
IIRC that trip was catch and release only, they didn't have any provision for taking anything home even if somebody did catch a keeper, but it's funny how as you get older things get more like when you were a kid. My wife says keep even the little ones, says they're better eating anyway :-)