Dock skipping setup

[gim]

So I was out skipping docks yesterday for a few hours and the setup I was using worked pretty well.  But it got me thinking, what does everyone else use?  I am using a 6'8" MH spinning setup with a 2500 capacity spool/reel and 30 pound braided line tied straight to the hook.  The MH action has more back bone to pull fish out than a M does, which is what I normally use in a spinning rod for finesse applications.  I see some people using a bait caster for skipping but how the heck do they not get back lashes?  A bait caster would have more power to pull a big fish out from under a dock faster so it wouldn't have the chance to wrap around a post so I can see the advantage.

[Bankc]

Careful thumb and good brakes.  A lot of people like baitcasters with a light spools for this, since it need to rev up quickly and momentum is not your friend.  The Tatula SV is a good choice.  Also, a lot of people seem to like the Shimano DC line of reels for this.  Usually, to set up a baitcaster for skipping, you have to set it up in a way that makes it virtually useless for anything else.  Not that you can't change the set up back and forth, mind you, and do both with the same setup.  But the reason most people have a skipping specific setup isn't so much because the gear itself needs to be made for skipping, but the gear itself needs to be dialed in for skipping.  And most people who have the room and money would rather not be constantly changing the settings on their reels.  They'd rather just grab a skipping specific pole when they need to skip, and go back to their other poles when they don't.

[AmmoGuy]

Tatula 7'1" H/F rod, and a Coastal SV. 

The more I skip and pitch with this rod, the more I love it. 

 

I'm no G-man, but with a 3/8 Juicee jig and craw trailer, that setup slides under docks and brush pretty easily. 

[Mike L]

Loomis MBR 843 GlX

Shimano Chronarch 100sf

14# Sniper

 

@Bankc The gearing on the reel doesn’t change just because I’m skipping. 
The combo I use is my weightless, and light lure presentation setup for anything on top and most depths. 
I just change the cast control knob when skipping, that’s all that’s needed. 
I don’t use a spinning setup or have a dedicated bait caster as it’s not necessary. 
 

 

Mike

[Luke Barnes]

I was shipped a 6'10 M EF SLX rod by mistake and i was suprised how much backbone it had. I think it could handle dock skipping pretty well. I actually really want one now for a spinnerbait/chatterbait/swim jig rod. I think the extra fast tip made all the difference.

[clh121787]

Been skipping some half oz jigs . The devine swim jig skips really well i tip with a 3.8 or 4.8 kie tech. 

Curado k

Megabass valdivia 

65# power pro 

[WIGuide]

Skipping a bait to me isn't really about having a specific setup for it, it's just using the rod you normally would for that technique. A lot of skipping is getting your technique down to keep the bait low to the water. I skip with both baitcasters and spinning reels and once you get a little practice you don't need to change any settings on a baitcaster at all. One thing I will say though is that using a rod that isn't overly long will help up you accuracy which I feel will help your skipping game. 

[FryDog62]

The more I skip, the lighter I’ve been going over the years... and since all I use is baitcasters, I’ve experimented plenty to get set ups that work for me.
 

Less and less, I skip 1/4-1/2 oz jigs because I’ve klanked off enough pontoons and other structures and not surprisingly tick off some cabin owners from time to time.  When I do skips jigs most any 7 foot MH with any Daiwa SV TW works just fine.
 

The three outfits I skip more are lighter set ups.  Maybe a confidence thing, but I really do think I get more bites because lighter lures stay in the strike zone longer (which is usually a small area under a dock). Plus bigger fish are smarter and sometimes not as quick to react to fast moving lures like jigs.
 

Set ups:

 

•Caffeine Shad on an Owner 3/32 oz 4/0 Twistlock Light hook - Daiwa Tatula Elite Ehrler 7 foot Med-MH, Tatula SV TW, 14 lb Sniper.

•1/10 oz  Z-Man Finesse Shroomz jig head with a 4 inch Biwaa Armored Craw (doesn’t even really “skip,” it virtually water-skis 20+ feet) on a 6’10” MXF MajorCraft Don Iovino Rod, Daiwa Alphas SV, 20 lb Sufix 832 w/fluoro leader.  
 

•Weightless (no weight to Klank off anything) 5 inch wacky worms I throw on a 7’1” MXF Loomis NRX, Steez SV TW, 20 lb Sufix braid and fluoro leader. 

Works for me anyway, if you ever want to meet up and try out sometime let me know.  

[Tizi]

I use spinning to skip mostly:  7’ M/F Tatula XT with Fuego LT 3000, 8 lb Sufix Siege.

 

I have been practicing quit a bit with a dedicated baitcaster:  6’10” MH/F Tatula with Tatula SV TW and 10 lb Invisx.  Need to keep practicing.

[Matt_3479]

I’ve been really trying to working on skipping with a caster and it’s hard! I’ve been using my nrx 853c paired with a met mgl. I’m trying to learn without changing the brakes. If I totally rework my reel so that it is specifically for skipping it’s a lot easier but to transition back and forth is a pain. That’s why I’m trying to learn without touching and messing with the way I normally have the reel 

[NJBasstard]

What  @WIGuide said is spot on. I have no problem skipping sidearm or backhanded with any of my casting setups but I feel I'm more accurate with rods in the 6'8" to 7' range. Never spent time working on pitch skipping so can't help there. Not sure if I can help but here's some advice that worked for me. Others here might disagree but..

 

1. Learn without making any changes to your reel(s). Some reels may be more forgiving but you don't need a specific setup and you shouldn't have to make changes everytime you want to skip a bait. If you keep your reels with minimum brakes set and loose spool tension then that's the same way you should skip.

 

2. Use a bait with some size and weight to it when starting out. A 1/2oz jig is easier to skip than a 1/4 jig. Something like a 5" senko or a soft swimbait is fairly easy to use too. Once you start getting use to that then start downsizing little by little.

 

3. I learned using 12-15lb flouoro and 30-50lb braid on multiple reels. Can't say that one made it easier than the other. I do suggest you pull about 10-15 yards of line off and tape the spool to prevent backlashes from getting too deep. You'll likely backlash a lot at first.

 

4. Don't be like me and whip the heck out of the rod trying to skip. I was so use to doing it on spinning gear without any consequences that I paid no mind to it at first. It wasn't until I started paying more attention to the pro's and how easy they made it look that I decided to ease up and relax a bit. This was probably the one thing that made the biggest difference for me. It's hard to describe but I focused on being more smooth or fluid rather than being forceful and couldn't believe the difference it made.

 

5. Once you learn the trajectory (something you should probably get use to on spinning gear first) it really all comes down to thumb control. When I'm skipping I have my thumb just barely feathering the spool the whole time it's skipping. It's not enough to really slow the bait but its enough to stop overrun. Another thing that really seams to help with overrun is to lift the rod tip at the end of the cast. Keep in mind that whatever direction the rod tips pointed is where your bait is going.

 

For what it's worth you don't necessarily have to be on the water to practice skipping either. I probably gained just as much thumb control by skipping baits in my driveway than I have by actually fishing. 

 

 

[FryDog62]

Probably apparent but if not, use a Daiwa SV spool if you plan to learn how to consistently skip with a baitcaster.  For the record I’m not even close to being sponsored and I do have other brands of reels.  

You still have to adjust the SV spool, and practice, but in the end it is just forgiving enough to make the difference... at least for an amateur like me.  
 

I’ve been skipping 5 years with a baitcaster now and I’m not perfect but I can skip with enough distance and without overrun 95% of the time. The acid test after skipping with the SV spool all day long is to go back to using my Curado, Lews, etc using the same tension, lures, mechanics, etc... and I’m batting about .500 with the other brands.. 

[gim]

Dang looks like there’s quite a few people who prefer to use a bait caster for skipping...

[GReb]

Dobyns Champion 683 or Falcon Head Turner. Both with Tatula SV. 

[Hower08]

Ark money maker Randall Tharp series 7'3 MH Fast with a curado 70 . The only thing I use a spinning rod for is weightless worms and finesse techniques. Skipping for me is easier with a casting rod than a spinning rod. 

[AmmoGuy]

Not a ton of actual instruction.... but the entertainment value is 10/10. 
 

 

[ww2farmer]

6'6" rods are my sweet spot for skipping.

 

I use a Dobyns Fury 662 spinning for weightless plastics....even though it's a ML rod it has enough power to handle big fish. And enough "tip" to really load up a zing a D-shad, 4" + 5" senko, or a 1/15th or 1/10 oz ned rig as far and as accurately as possible. Light wire hooks are a must for this, your not going to stick a super line hook very well into a fish with this rod.

 

And I use a 664 casting for skipping jigs and t-rigs. About the only thing I skip on a 7' rod is frogs, and I use a 704 for that. Believe it or not, heavier line skips BETTER on casting gear, and the exact opposite is true on spinning gear. I use 50lb braid on the 664/704, and 10lb braid on the 662, with flouro leaders (or straight braid if frogging) sized to the cover at hand. Usually 15-17 lb on the casting rods, and 8-10 on the spinning.

 

Bait profile plays a HUGE part in skipping well with a casting rod. The flatter the better. Things like arkie jigs, beavers, etc... skip like a dream on a casting rod. Baits with lots of flappy appendages DO NOT. 5/16-1/2oz is the best to skip with. Yes I CAN skip a 1oz jig, but even after skipping with a casting set up for years, picking that up is like learning to walk all over again sometimes.

 

For me the best reel setting on a casting reel for skipping is VERY loose spool tension, to the point that if your not exp. with casting reels, you'll backlash every time. BUT I run a lot of brakes to make up for any "thumb" errors. On my reels (Daiwa Fuego CT's) I run them on about 14, where in normal casting I run them on 8.

[Manly Studson]

St. Croix makes a spinning rod for skipping. It’s short, but accurate and sensitive. I like short spinning rods for skipping better than casting rods. I’m able to skip under docks with a casting rod so long as I’m not too close.

[scbassin]

Gary Dobyns has developed a rod designed for skipping. It's a Champion XP DC 610 4C. I have one with a Scorpion DC on it.  I am not the best at skipping but the more I have practiced with it the better I have got with it. I also use it for Texas rigged baits & will say that this is at least a 4 power plus rod.

[greentrout]

I'm sitting down in a jon boat fairly close to a dock/docks or overhanging tree limbs and I got my Zebco 33 or old Johnson C200B on my BPS PQ 5'6" pistol grip medium action fast ... 8 or 10 lb. test 

 

works for me ...

 

good fishing ...

[lunkerboss923]

For accuracy i like 6'8". The Dobyns 684C with a Scorpion DC is just about as good as it gets. Some like a 7 foot rod. It's too much for me. 

[CrashVector]

I use a Curado DC with a 7' MH/F Abu Garcia SilverMax rod for skipping.

[tim_kovar]

On 6/26/2020 at 2:44 PM, FryDog62 said:

The more I skip, the lighter I’ve been going over the years... and since all I use is baitcasters, I’ve experimented plenty to get set ups that work for me.
 

Less and less, I skip 1/4-1/2 oz jigs because I’ve klanked off enough pontoons and other structures and not surprisingly tick off some cabin owners from time to time.  When I do skips jigs most any 7 foot MH with any Daiwa SV TW works just fine.
 

The three outfits I skip more are lighter set ups.  Maybe a confidence thing, but I really do think I get more bites because lighter lures stay in the strike zone longer (which is usually a small area under a dock). Plus bigger fish are smarter and sometimes not as quick to react to fast moving lures like jigs.
 

Set ups:

 

•Caffeine Shad on an Owner 3/32 oz 4/0 Twistlock Light hook - Daiwa Tatula Elite Ehrler 7 foot Med-MH, Tatula SV TW, 14 lb Sniper.

•1/10 oz  Z-Man Finesse Shroomz jig head with a 4 inch Biwaa Armored Craw (doesn’t even really “skip,” it virtually water-skis 20+ feet) on a 6’10” MXF MajorCraft Don Iovino Rod, Daiwa Alphas SV, 20 lb Sufix 832 w/fluoro leader.  
 

•Weightless (no weight to Klank off anything) 5 inch wacky worms I throw on a 7’1” MXF Loomis NRX, Steez SV TW, 20 lb Sufix braid and fluoro leader. 

Works for me anyway, if you ever want to meet up and try out sometime let me know.  

Frydog, on the weightless senko skipping aspect do you find it skips better rigged wacky style or doesn't it matter much.  Are there better baitcast options out there for doing this with or do you think the steez sv would be supreme? 

[FryDog62]

Don't know that it matters that much skipping a weightless Senko... maybe T-rigged slightly better than wacky but close. The more salt/weight in the worm the farther it skips (although doesn't last as long). 

 

The other weightless option that "flies" when you skip it is a 5 inch Caffeine Shad on an Owner Twistlock Light unweighted hook. Its a heavy salt content plastic that will skip about as far as any jig... and it swims on its own after it lands under a dock if you let it sink for 4-5 seconds, unbelievable action that gets bit. Doesn't swim quite as well with just a wide gap Texas rig hook... the Twistlock with centering pin keeps it straight and swimming! 

 

The other reel I have had pretty good success skipping weightless lures has been the Daiwa Alphas SV from the JDM market. About $250 and probably 90% as good as the Steez SV TW with the weightless plastics IMO. I have it paired with a 7'1" inch Medium Light Phenix Feather, works well for lighter stuff ~

[RDB]

A good reel does help.  I don’t have a skipping specific rod…I use them all.  I use Steez reels and with very little braking (2-3) but will bump it up when skipping, especially if there is a little chop on the water.  Practice in your driveway on the concrete right, left and pitch skipping.