Fishing Docks As A Co-Angler

[Felix77]

Yesterday I participated in my first NY State Federation tournament on Chautauqua Lake.  Prior to the event I met my boater to discuss the plans for the day and he said without a doubt we will be fishing docks the entire day.  Nothing more, nothing less.  With that said my preparation for the night was easy.  1 rod, 1 senko and I was good to go.  Of course I had other rigs set up and prepared just in case things changed but this was going to be my rod of the day.

 

Before this event I have had little opportunity to fish docks so skipping was not my forte.  What made things worse were the conditions.  On and off wind, rain, along with on/off sun/clouds.  At times it made it impossible to even skip without a big bow forming in your line.

 

Some lessons from yesterday which I felt compelled to share with my fellow co-anglers.

 

1 – Docks are NOT easy to share with the boater.  Generally the angle the boater needs to run the trolling motor leaves you fishing “sloppy seconds” on docks he already fished.  Especially in weather which is forcing him to keep the trolling motor constantly running.  You need to have that expectation going in or you will get frustrated quickly doing this all day.

 

2 – Take every opportunity to hit a dock your boater is not fishing.  This does NOT mean cast it over his head to one ahead of him.  Keep alert and there are hidden gems which he is not fishing.  An example:  At one point my boater was committed to a particular dock.  Something which had worked for him in practice.  He ended up nosing the boat in to fish it making it inaccessible to me.  I peered to the right and there was another dock which stuck out further.  One pitch right in front of the dock landed me my biggest Largemouth.

 

3 – Always try to fish something different than the boater.  My boater was fishing a 5” black/blue senko wacky all day.  I made it a point to fish everything but a 5” black/blue senko wacky.  I fished other colors in the same size, downsized to a 4” and even upsized to a jumbo.  The different color landed me my first two.  The smaller one landed me my second and at the end of the day the jumbo landed me my last two which included a nice smallmouth close to 3lbs.  Most of these were places he had fished just prior.

 

4 – You will LOSE hooks and lots of them.  To get the lure where the fish are you need to skip and pitch to places which can and will hang you up.  I must have lost at least 18 hooks.  Partly because I sucked at skipping and pitching and partly because of the weather.  I am sure it was more the weather. LOL  J

 

5 – Control your nerves.  In weather like today it was difficult conditions for everyone.  At one point I was so frustrated I had to stop fishing, eat something and reset my mind to get through the day.  Between not catching fish, the rain, the wind, feeling “back boated” and losing hooks left and right I was overwhelmed and extremely frustrated.  That “reset” was important to get me back in the game.

 

 

By the end of the day I had a half-way decent skip and reverse skip cast added to my arsenal.  My boater was fantastic.  He taught me a ton about skipping docks.  Explained exactly what he was looking for and how he fished them.  I learned a ton from him and thanked him for the day.

 

So how did I do … I ended up placing in the money (13^th out of 100 co-anglers).  Not too shabby for my first State Federation tournament.

[J Francho]

Nice work.  In those conditions, I would have been also pitching a lightish jig IN BETWEEN docks.  lacking bright sun, while there will be fish under docks, there will also be fish on the prowl between.  Good job on the strong finish.  How did your boater finish?

[lmbfisherman]

Congrats and way to go on placing 13th!  Thanks for the write up, sure will help me out when I start out. 

[Felix77]

Nice work.  In those conditions, I would have been also pitching a lightish jig IN BETWEEN docks.  lacking bright sun, while there will be fish under docks, there will also be fish on the prowl between.  Good job on the strong finish.  How did your boater finish?

 

He ended up finishing outside the top 17 for the boaters.  Not sure exactly where since they only announced those.  

 

As for pitching light jigs ... The docks which seemed to hold fish were those that were combined with weeds.  I tried the jig but it was getting too fowled up.  Between the two of us we only ended up with one "cruiser" which he caught.  They truly seemed to be at the edge of the docks facing the weeds.  I think minus that cruiser that was how all the fish were caught.

[ec1]

Thanks for the fantastic writeup, and congrats on the money.

The one part I don't like is #4. Losing hooks to docks means you've pretty much put a whole bunch of people in danger, whether they walk on it now, or when they put away the dock over the winter.

The usual etiquette when I do it is that if you were to make a bad cast into someone's dock, break off only if you can get the hook back without your line. If not, you're out of commission until the other person is done picking through that dock and you guys can go in and retrieve it afterwards. You might be thinking - oh it's ok I'm fishing for money right now, but hearing people's children getting hooked by big 5/0 hooks doesn't settle well in my stomach.

[derekxec]

grats! but i love fishing sloppy seconds....when me and my friend go fishing i always let him walk ahead of me and hit the same spots as him and usually i end up catching more fish than him using the same bait

[J Francho]

Thanks for the fantastic writeup, and congrats on the money.

The one part I don't like is #4. Losing hooks to docks means you've pretty much put a whole bunch of people in danger, whether they walk on it now, or when they put away the dock over the winter.

The usual etiquette when I do it is that if you were to make a bad cast into someone's dock, break off only if you can get the hook back without your line. If not, you're out of commission until the other person is done picking through that dock and you guys can go in and retrieve it afterwards. You might be thinking - oh it's ok I'm fishing for money right now, but hearing people's children getting hooked by big 5/0 hooks doesn't settle well in my stomach.

 

 

I agree, and I'm kind of a stickler for not leaving anything on others' docks.  This particular lake is mostly permanent docks on wooden or steel pylons, and even some old docks built on rock filled cribs made out of old railroad ties.  As they slowly deteriorate underwater, they become snag magnets, and typically encrusted with razor sharp zebra mussels.  Not exactly something safe to be climbing on or around, child or adult.  But your point is important, and well taken, and to elaborate, even in this situation, never, never, never leave a hook in a mooring line or on the top side decking of a dock.  That's an accident waiting to happen.  In the 20 years or so we had our cottage on Port Bay, only a couple times did we ever find a hook in the dock.  Says a lot about local anglers, I guess.

[greendragon]

Outstanding article on a day as a co. Are you a journalist?

[BuckMaxx]

Great write up dude! Congrates on you finish!

[Felix77]

Outstanding article on a day as a co. Are you a journalist?

 

Thanks.  No ... not a journalist.  Just someone trying to learn this sport and share what I can on this forum.

[ToddP]

Great write up. Thanks for the report.

[Sam]

Congrats on a great finish.

 

Your information is something that needs to be copied and pasted on a Word document and stored for future use.

 

It is very easy to back boat a nonboater when fishing docks.  The boater has the greatest advantage.

 

But as you said, you can follow up or fish another dock close by.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[wnybassman]

This particular lake is mostly permanent docks on wooden or steel pylons, and even some old docks built on rock filled cribs made out of old railroad ties. 

 

 

He was on Chautauqua, hardly any permanent docks there, if any.

 

Was there on Saturday for our first club tournament.  Still a slow bite but better than the previous weekend from what everyone has been saying.

[Downeaster2010]

many times if you are fishing docks correctly you will become hung up on something under the dock, and lose you rig.

You are not fishing correctly if you do not lose some.  Everyones docks are set up differently, with rope or chain, and

they have occasion to grab a lure.  Another thing is water clarity making retrieval of some baits difficult.   I always try

to get my lure back like most anglers, but sometimes it isn't going to happen.  Fishing behind a boater isn't always

difficult, as he has to control the TM, as well as fish,  All the non=boater has to concern themselves with is making

the best cast they can to a part of the dock the boater has not attempted yet.