Skipping

[12poundbass]

1 hour ago, the reel ess said:

It's better to make noise and present a lure than it is to not present the lure. Now I'm not suggesting you throw your jig up against the side of someone's $40K boat. But I've made noise and still caught even a big bass. When you put that bait right in their face their tiny brain will often say "KILL IT!!!". But if you don't get it near them, sometimes they won't swim over to get it.

 

I saw Ike hit the end of a pontoon once trying to skip under it. He caught a big one on the very next cast, same dock.

I’m not afraid of scaring the fish, It’s the homeowner that I’m mindful of. I live on a lake, if I had a pontoon and someone banged a jig off a toon or my dock I wouldn’t care. My bass boat or the cowling of my outboard, I’d get a little ticked. 

[FryDog62]

43 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

I’m not afraid of scaring the fish, It’s the homeowner that I’m mindful of. I live on a lake, if I had a pontoon and someone banged a jig off a toon or my dock I wouldn’t care. My bass boat or the cowling of my outboard, I’d get a little ticked. 

It will vary by every homeowner.  Those on big lakes with lots of tournaments don’t even notice you’re there most of the time.  Smaller, quiet lakes could bring more ire.  
 

It varies by individual too.  Some people really don’t want you around their dock/equipment at all, others know it comes with the territory and as long as you don’t damage anything they really don’t mind.  
 

My parents had a cabin on a quieter 900 acre lake in Wisconsin for 25+ years.  If someone was skipping our dock my dad would almost take it as a compliment that someone thought enough of his lake front to fish it.  My mom on the other hand would have squawked and yelled something to the effect of “move on!”

 

I was a middle child and I guess I always try to compromise, hence I usually throw weightless plastics that don’t damage or draw attention.  If I get hung up I always retrieve.  If someone gets ticked I just try to be respectful, wave and move on.  
 

One last thought, don’t go dock skipping mid day on a weekend.  Mid week most people aren’t around to care if you’re there ?

[Spankey]

1 hour ago, the reel ess said:

It is much easier to skip with a spinning rod. But when you have to yank a big bass out of heavy cover, heavy BC gear is the ticket. When you hook a real bruiser in some gnarly stuff you had to skip a jig to get to a MH spinning combo might not get her out. Also, when you're trying to skip a jig, thumbing  the spool and lifting the rod at the end is part of the motion that creates the skip. I don't know anyone who can skip a jig with a spinning combo like some people can with BC.

B Lattimer's advice was good. Use some cheap mono when you start. Big Game is fine for this application. 15 LB is plenty heavy enough and dirt cheap. In fact, I use BG as a leader when I want one as well as backing on reels with braid. It used to be my go-to for pitching/flipping.

It’s all really boils down to how heavy the cover is, potential size of fish and weight of lure being used. Spinning or casting, to each his own. Scenarios are going to be way different because of locations. Docks can’t be assumed that they have lighter areas of grass. For the most part docks I fish Are pretty sparse when in comes to grass. But there is another local lake, under 50 miles away where it is heavy matted. The state may do more weed control in some areas more than others. But anyway. There is no right or wrong. How you deal with what you’re given. 

1 hour ago, the reel ess said:

It is much easier to skip with a spinning rod. But when you have to yank a big bass out of heavy cover, heavy BC gear is the ticket. When you hook a real bruiser in some gnarly stuff you had to skip a jig to get to a MH spinning combo might not get her out. Also, when you're trying to skip a jig, thumbing  the spool and lifting the rod at the end is part of the motion that creates the skip. I don't know anyone who can skip a jig with a spinning combo like some people can with BC.

B Lattimer's advice was good. Use some cheap mono when you start. Big Game is fine for this application. 15 LB is plenty heavy enough and dirt cheap. In fact, I use BG as a leader when I want one as well as backing on reels with braid. It used to be my go-to for pitching/flipping.

It’s all really boils down to how heavy the cover is, potential size of fish and weight of lure being used. Spinning or casting, to each his own. Scenarios are going to be way different because of locations. Docks can’t be assumed that they have lighter areas of grass. For the most part docks I fish Are pretty sparse when in comes to grass. But there is another local lake, under 50 miles away where it is heavy matted. The state may do more weed control in some areas more than others. But anyway. There is no right or wrong. How you deal with what you’re given. 

[Teal]

Skipping under docks with a spinning outfit isn't horrible.... I just think about getting the fish out if they hit, a extra fast tip, hard hook set and a 10+ plus lb test.  You gotta be cognizant to of the fact that a fish with try to wrap you up, so u gotta be alert and get his butt out a there.  That hard to do with light line if anlunker hits.  I still do it, I skip shakey heads alot... 

[12poundbass]

59 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

It will vary by every homeowner.  Those on big lakes with lots of tournaments don’t even notice you’re there most of the time.  Smaller, quiet lakes could bring more ire.  
 

It varies by individual too.  Some people really don’t want you around their dock/equipment at all, others know it comes with the territory and as long as you don’t damage anything they really don’t mind.  
 

My parents had a cabin on a quieter 900 acre lake in Wisconsin for 25+ years.  If someone was skipping our dock my dad would almost take it as a compliment that someone thought enough of his lake front to fish it.  My mom on the other hand would have squawked and yelled something to the effect of “move on!”

 

I was a middle child and I guess I always try to compromise, hence I usually throw weightless plastics that don’t damage or draw attention.  If I get hung up I always retrieve.  If someone gets ticked I just try to be respectful, wave and move on.  
 

One last thought, don’t go dock skipping mid day on a weekend.  Mid week most people aren’t around to care if you’re there ?

Our lakes around here are 400 acres or less. A lot of the houses are vacation homes around here. The lake I live on is different, almost everyone is a permanent resident. 

[WVU-SCPA]

When moving up on a skipping situation start skipping cast before actually need the bait to skip.  By the time you need to be accurate you will have a few cast in and a feel for what you need to do.

 

If your bank beating you can "skip" a whole stretch without the bait going under a single target, but its still practice for hitting spots. 

[Cgolf]

To all, I want to say I wasn't judging at all, so I hope you didn't take my post that way. I personally am likely to never be comfortable skipping under docks. While I love to roll cast from the bank, but it is very difficult out of my 16 ft aluminum deep V.

 

I am with most and skip occupied docks or where the family is out in the yard.

 

Just wanted to say some of us aren't bothered if you guys go pick off the bass we left for ya;)

[12poundbass]

1 hour ago, cgolf said:

To all, I want to say I wasn't judging at all, so I hope you didn't take my post that way. I personally am likely to never be comfortable skipping under docks. While I love to roll cast from the bank, but it is very difficult out of my 16 ft aluminum deep V.

 

I am with most and skip occupied docks or where the family is out in the yard.

 

Just wanted to say some of us aren't bothered if you guys go pick off the bass we left for ya;)

You’re good, I doubt anyone was offended by anything you’ve posted.

[Hammer 4]

Yup, no worries. Fish the way you have fun doing it..

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

On 8/18/2020 at 9:42 PM, gimruis said:

I have been using a 6.5 foot MH spinning rod, 2500 capacity reel, and 30 pound braided line the past month with a weightless stick bait with great success skipping under docks. I would like to use a bait caster simply because it has the raw winching power to pull a big bass from under a dock quicker than a spinning setup does, but I can’t do it regularly without back lashing. A chartreuse with black speck Senko has been my best color in stained water.

Your rod will move any fish way faster than any reel. 

[gim]

1 hour ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Your rod will move any fish way faster than any reel. 

I would just rather use a BC though, it has more power, better control of the line, etc. The spinning setup I have works pretty good.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

I would just rather use a BC though, it has more power, better control of the line, etc. The spinning setup I have works pretty good.

Oh ya there are absolutely good reasons for baitcaster applications. I just don’t think modern bass reels are best used as a winch. 

[the reel ess]

13 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Oh ya there are absolutely good reasons for baitcaster applications. I just don’t think modern bass reels are best used as a winch. 

What about the Abu Garcia Revo Winch? I use the reel on my jig rod as a winch. I cinch the drag down. When I set the hook I have to drag the bass out of heavy cover. You can only sweep that rod up once to start the bass in your direction, then you have to crank that bass out. If you try to reel and pump the bass will bury itself and you'll lose some fish and jigs. I'm in the third year doing this with a $100 reel (not the Revo Winch) and it's still going strong.

[scaleface]

I just came from a dock covered lake . Tried to skip some but wasnt very successful . What jig , brand , weight , trailer would be a good selection with a baitcaster?

[12poundbass]

41 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I just came from a dock covered lake . Tried to skip some but wasnt very successful . What jig , brand , weight , trailer would be a good selection with a baitcaster?

I’m still new at it but I’ve tried and had success with a 3/8oz vibrating jig and a craw trailer, and a 4/0 EWG, craw, and 1/4oz bullet weight Texas rig set up. 

[Hook2Jaw]

The worst part of skipping for me has been finding a rod that fit ME for the technique from the platform I fish from.  I actually bought a 6'9" Tatula Elite Skippin' Jig, and I can skip a frog alright on it, but for me the best skipping rod I have is a 7'1" St. Croix LTB and I absolutely hate that rod.

 

I'm currently on the hunt for a 7'1" Medium Heavy Fast that I like for skipping a jig.

[OCdockskipper]

I would suggest to anyone who hasn't skipped lures to not get hung up on having to use a baitcaster.  Unless you are on a lake with extremely heavy cover, you can pull any bass out from docks with spinning gear.  In fact, once you start them coming towards you, a good number of fish leave the dock voluntarily for deeper water (at least on my lake).

 

I have 2 different skipping outfits, both spinning.  The first has 17 lb test, the second has 8 lb test (both Nanofil with fluoro leader).  I have to be cautious with the latter as far as dragging fish over things or rubbing the line against the bottom of Zebra mussel encrusted boats, but no more than normal when using that strength line.  The latter lets me skip 1/16 oz Ned rigs or small weightless flukes/sluggos way back under the docks, which I find to be really effective on calm days because the entry is sneaky quiet.

 

The best lure to learn to skip with is a 5" Senko, rigged wacky with an O ring, weightless.  Don't use knockoffs, use a Senko, the O ring will give you more fish per worm than normal.  Not only does that bait glide across the water when skipped, if you do miss a target, there is no damage to whatever you hit.  Once you gain confidence with that, you can move on to baits that have lead in them.

[gim]

1 hour ago, OCdockskipper said:

I would suggest to anyone who hasn't skipped lures to not get hung up on having to use a baitcaster.  Unless you are on a lake with extremely heavy cover, you can pull any bass out from docks with spinning gear.  In fact, once you start them coming towards you, a good number of fish leave the dock voluntarily for deeper water (at least on my lake).

 

I have 2 different skipping outfits, both spinning.  The first has 17 lb test, the second has 8 lb test (both Nanofil with fluoro leader).  I have to be cautious with the latter as far as dragging fish over things or rubbing the line against the bottom of Zebra mussel encrusted boats, but no more than normal when using that strength line.  The latter lets me skip 1/16 oz Ned rigs or small weightless flukes/sluggos way back under the docks, which I find to be really effective on calm days because the entry is sneaky quiet.

 

The best lure to learn to skip with is a 5" Senko, rigged wacky with an O ring, weightless.  Don't use knockoffs, use a Senko, the O ring will give you more fish per worm than normal.  Not only does that bait glide across the water when skipped, if you do miss a target, there is no damage to whatever you hit.  Once you gain confidence with that, you can move on to baits that have lead in them.

I could not have worded it better myself!

[Hook2Jaw]

@OCdockskipper @gimruis

 

I can respect your opinions, but my skipping technique with a spinning rod and casting rod are entirely different, and I guess that's because I'm normally skipping a fairly light bait with my spinning rods and don't need as much velocity on my lures.  While I roll my cast with casting gear, I simply sidearm at a diagonal with a spinning rod.  I imagine your advice works for most folks, though.

[Russ E]

5 hours ago, scaleface said:

I just came from a dock covered lake . Tried to skip some but wasnt very successful . What jig , brand , weight , trailer would be a good selection with a baitcaster?

Not many docks where I fish but there are a lot of overhanging trees. most of my baitcaster skipping is with a weightless super fluke.

from my own experience the heavier the bait the harder it is to skip. I also skip flat craw style baits with a pegged weight. usually don't use much heavier than 3/16 oz.

for me the biggest advance in baitcaster skipping was buying a tatula sv reel. It is far easier to skip with than any other reel I own.

[Basseditor]

Just seconds before seeing this thread, I ordered two new Kistler Rods (shorter than I normally get) to get this skipping down better. Some of our tournament lakes have a lot of docks. BTW, Kistler has a sale going on until Saturday. I've been debating whether to pull the trigger so I got two so I can go and blow up reels faster.   

[CFDoc]

9 hours ago, scaleface said:

I just came from a dock covered lake . Tried to skip some but wasnt very successful . What jig , brand , weight , trailer would be a good selection with a baitcaster?

 

For me, shortening the rod and starting with the easy skipping baits on braid helped me out.

 

So if you have a 6'6" - 6'10" M/MH rod, you can start there. 

 

Good baits include "heavy" soft plastics like senkos, paddle tail flukes, flat-backed soft plastic swim baits of any kind really. I also found adding nail weights to these baits make things better. The physics of skipping is just like skipping rocks. So think heavier, flatter profile baits.

 

Braid helps because it usually doesn't backlash as much as mono/flouro so you won't be spending as much time pulling backlashes out.

 

Finally, you need to practice "roll casting". For me, it's the exact same motion as skipping a rock. Your sidearm swing with a rolling palm is very similar to skipping rocks, just think about doing that with your reel.

 

From there; practice, practice, practice, practice. There's no shortcut for it.

[gim]

A tube can work pretty good skipping too because of its shape.  But you'll need to figure out how to weight it properly so it sinks since its hollow inside.