Skipping for Bass

[N Florida Mike]

Skipping is my favorite skill in bass fishing. I LOVE skipping under docks. Half the fun is the challenge of the angles , velocity of the skip, accuracy of the skip, it’s just very fun , and a very productive way to fish. 

I use spinning to skip because it works.

Pontoons are my favorite, they are so productive. The bigger and lower to the water the better. If you can get the angle to throw end to end, it often will end up in a fish or two. A good pattern from 10-4 on a warm , sunny day is to just ride from pontoon to pontoon.

Docks are nearly as good . The lower to the water the better. Skinny walks to the end of docks aren’t as good.

I even skip grass lines for a subtle presentation that won’t spook jittery fish. 

I also skip structure like lay downs because you can get it back in there where the fish are.

My favorite bait is yum dingers or senkos fished weightless or with a little weight if it’s deeper or windy. Flukes are good too.

Make the cast , watch the line, I count to 3 and lift. Most often the fish will bite it on the fall or just after it hits bottom. If the line begins to straighten or you lift and feel the tap, set the hook immediately because they will try to wrap around something.

It’s an Awesome way to fish. I learned how to do it out of necessity. I liken it to skipping a rock or it’s a lot like throwing a baseball sidearm or submarine style…

[gim]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

Down here it's illegal for the land owner to say anything. The dock belongs to the land owner but the water & fish belongs to everyone.

The landowner doesn't own the water here either.  I don't need permission to do it.  The problem arises when you start banging lures off the dock, posts, lift, boat, etc.  I'm not perfect in that sense and I'm sure nobody on here is either (and if they claim they are, they're lying).

 

This topic has come up before.  I am not a lake shore owner and never will be.  But I try to put myself in their shoes and if a bass angler came along and started clanging lures off my stuff, I'd probably blow a fuse, even as a bass angler.  I'm anal about my stuff that way.

 

So the easiest route for me is to simply avoid the potential for confrontation.  The lakes I dock fish have plenty of docks.  You never know when a disgruntled cabin owner is gonna lose his cool because you snagged his property on accident.  I generally try to dock fish during the week when people are at work or away from their cabin which reduces the amount of people present.  If there's someone out on their dock or in their yard, I just move on past that one and go to the next one.  No fish is worth it.  No matter how enticing a particular dock may be.

[N Florida Mike]

14 hours ago, Catt said:

Jig-n-Craw ?

I’m going to try that this year. Please tell me again your  specifics on the jig and craw. I fished moderately clear to moderately stained water. We fish a lot of Tannic ( cypress tree ) water, but not the real muddy/ murky water. The fish really like the bama bug dinger. Half june bug and half green pumpkin. Or june bug.

[Jaderose]

11 hours ago, WRB said:

Watch Dean Rojas skipping frogs video’s. Dean can skip and make it curve. 

Tom

If you compare frogging to basketball, I'm a good rec league player.  Dean Rojas is Michael Jordan

 

[EWREX]

wacky/neko rigs, jigs, texas rigs 

[BassNJake]

I love skipping a toad under a dock

They have enough weight to get way back and its not the typical dock bait

The echo of the feet smacking the top of the water,

combined with the blow up under the dock and the hookset...

That gets my blood pumping!!

 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

The problem arises when you start banging lures off the dock, posts, lift, boat, etc.

 

They can say something about hitting their boat but the posts that they drove into public land not so much. It's looked at like someone sinking brush piles, once you drop it over the side it becomes public.

[Catt]

2 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

Please tell me again your  specifics on the jig and craw

 

Strike King Hack Attack Fluorocarbon Flipping Jig

 

Y'all gotta understand I don't fish jigs like y'all. I flip, pitch, cast, skip, swim, & punch with that jig. I don't need 4-5 different jigs to get the job done. 

[ajschn06]

55 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Strike King Hack Attack Fluorocarbon Flipping Jig

 

Y'all gotta understand I don't fish jigs like y'all. I flip, pitch, cast, skip, swim, & punch with that jig. I don't need 4-5 different jigs to get the job done. 

 

If I can't do all of those things with a single jig, it's going right in the trash....

[gim]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

They can say something about hitting their boat but the posts that they drove into public land not so much. It's looked at like someone sinking brush piles, once you drop it over the side it becomes public.

I realize that this is an international forum and we have anglers who fish all over, so laws may vary by state or region.

 

At what point does the post become private property?  At the water line?  To my understanding, the post, even under the water line, is private property here.

 

I guess its kind of a moot point for me to be honest.  I don't go looking for trouble.  Maintaining a respectful relationship with landowners and cabin owners and lake shore owners is something that is important to me in both the fishing and hunting realm.

[MN Fisher]

9 minutes ago, gimruis said:

At what point does the post become private property?  At the water line?  To my understanding, the post, even under the water line, is private property here.

In MN - while the dock might be in public water - all parts of the dock from the footing to the deck is private property.

[N Florida Mike]

I dont do docks with people on them, but I can’t remember but one  time someone asking me to leave his immediate dock area. I could have legally fished there right on, but it wasn’t worth the trouble. 

 

[river-rat]

 

I use a 3/8 or 1/2 jig for skipping. Although I'm a fanatic for Oldham's Jigs, I have found the Santone Lures Rattling Jig to be better for skipping - at least for me.

 

I'll use either a Strike King Structure Bug or Gene Larew Salt Craw for a trailer. I skip under low hanging cypress tree limbs and docks/piers.