Dock Fishing

[Quarry Man]

Last year, I spent a lot of time fishing the lake below. The left side has a lot of lilly pads and is shallow and sandy. I would fish a topwater bait there in the morning. I may catch one or two and get three bites. after the pleasure boaters showed up, I would go home and eat breakfast. I'd come back later in the day. That is when id fish the docks. My friend's house is on the upper left corner of the map. I fish with him every time I fish on this lake. When I say catching fish, I mean our combined catches. We usually stuck to three techniques, mostly fishing the docks at the bottom part of the lake. We used 1/4 oz sexy shad swim jigs, 3.8" keitechs, and wacky rigged purple senkos. Although we did not catch a ton, we caught size. Or combined all time best 5 are over 30 pounds. For a pa lake thats really good.  of the 25 fish we caught off docks here, 20 were over 2 pounds and 15 over 3 and 10 over 4. We spend 2-3 minutes on a dock, then keep moving. Last fish of 2016 came off a metal dock on the upper part. it was 6 pounds. Basically, we have a lot of luck catching big fish on this one lake, but have struggled to catch fish consistently. I am planning to use skipping jigs more, and fish the other docks. Anyone have suggestions?

 

 

 

 

[MickD]

Sounds like you're using the right stuff to me, exc no Ned rig.  It works under docks, had one smallmouth take one 3 times last year.  I also use Tennessee shad super flukes, but they are a lot like what you're already throwing.

[Quarry Man]

3 minutes ago, MickD said:

Sounds like you're using the right stuff to me, exc no Ned rig.  It works under docks, had one smallmouth take one 3 times last year.  I also use Tennessee shad super flukes, but they are a lot like what you're already throwing.

 

Thanks! I will be giving those a try. are you using weedless ned rig hooks?

[MickD]

5 hours ago, Quarry Man said:

 

Thanks! I will be giving those a try. are you using weedless ned rig hooks?

 

No, the docks we were fishing were on a clear lake with mostly sand bottom at the docks.  And the fish I mentioned was a largemouth, not a smallie.  Don't know why I said smallie-we saw no smallies around the docks.

[mheichelbech]

Depending on depth the fish are holding under the docks, if try paralleling with manns baby minus one or other square bill for deeper if necessary.  I always like dropping a tube around the fronts and let them spiral down to the bottom, another good one for me is a spider grub fished veritically and swim it parallel.  Finally, spinnerbaits parallel...try various sized blades to match the bait or large blades 5/6 for larger fish.  Love to parallels a dock with a spinnerbait and then do a quick turn around the front edge.

 

Boat position is critical on docks and I have seldom if ever caught a fish on a dock that I hit with my lure on the cast.

[nhpleasantlakebass]

13 minutes ago, mheichelbech said:

Depending on depth the fish are holding under the docks, if try paralleling with manns baby minus one or other square bill for deeper if necessary.  I always like dropping a tube around the fronts and let them spiral down to the bottom, another good one for me is a spider grub fished veritically and swim it parallel.  Finally, spinnerbaits parallel...try various sized blades to match the bait or large blades 5/6 for larger fish.  Love to parallels a dock with a spinnerbait and then do a quick turn around the front edge.

 

Boat position is critical on docks and I have seldom if ever caught a fish on a dock that I hit with my lure on the cast.

I have the opposite luck sometimes I will try and hit the boat pontoon or side of dock for the noise I've had it help I feel more then once.

[OCdockskipper]

If you are fishing the docks in the late afternoons, most of the bass will relate to the edges of or shade created by the dock.  Skipping is most effective midday of bright days, although sometimes resident fish won't follow those parameters.

 

For skipping, a weightless wacky rigged Senko is easiest to learn with (use an O ring or other method to not tear them up so fast).  A ZMan TRD on  1/16 head is easy to skip as well if you want a smaller or faster sinking option.  Both have no appendages so they will not grab the water when skipping.