First Fish off My Docks

[Koz]

We've been moving into our new home on the lake over the past week and I've been trying to fish off our dock most every day. I haven't launched my kayak yet, just fishing off the docks.

 

At the seawall the water depth is 4-5 feet and at the end of the dock it's 9-10 feet (tested by dropping a line in the water). The maps show that beyond that it drops to 17 feet to over 30 feet deep in the immediate area. There is as mall cove off to my left where the water gets 1-6 feet deep and there are a lot of submerged, downed trees along one of the shorelines. I'm thinking that might be an interesting place to fish in the spring and summer.

 

But around my docks it has been a desert as far as fish go. I haven't seen any bluegills or other fish around the dock. I was even throwing a little Beetle Spin and not even one bluegill or crappie took a shot at it. But I have seen bait balls just beyond casting distance.

 

But late yesterday afternoon I went out their and tied on a black Zara Spook, chucked it off the end of the dock towards deep water, and it got hammered on the first cast. It was a nice 3 pounder that put up a good fight.

 

A few minutes later I had another decent sized follower that missed the bait three times on a single retrieve. But at least I got my first fish off the dock.

 

Now I just need to figure out how to launch and retrieves my kayak in my back yard. It's a 2-3 foot drop off both the seawall and the dock. My kayak alone weighs 98 pounds without any gear, electronics, or the pedal drive.

 

Right now I have the Yak Attack CellBlok, Switchblade, and my head unit and mount on the rail but I think I'm going to velcro down the CellBlok behind my seat so I don't have so much weight on one side. That may make it easier to launch with the Switchblade and head unit mounted. 

 

I think most of my stuff will be laying on the dock when I launch, then I'll load it once I'm in the water and then break it all down before I haul the kayak out of the water.

[TnRiver46]

Nice! 

[Choporoz]

There's a lot of diy stuff on the internet for a yak ramp.  One thing I seriously considered is anchoring a couple pvc pipes.  Shouldn't be too hard to make a temp one that you can pull out when your lease is up.

 

I enjoy fishing from my dock and I have learned a lot.  It can be so valuable to understanding lure action when you can cast from a fixed position to the same spot with different lures and weights....Absolutely keep on eye on bait movement.   Walk out stealthily....make a couple casts from up the bank before you walk out.  Consider planting a brush pile 10-15 yard out.  Even just dragging and sinking a waterlogged branch or cinder block can be huge....just stand out there and observe the baitfish and bluegills....go out at night sometimes.   Rig at least one setup to really launch a bottom contact lure.  Never forget that fish move.  I can't tell you the number of times that I caught a 3+ after I'd been casting for over half an hour already.

[Koz]

11 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

There's a lot of diy stuff on the internet for a yak ramp.  One thing I seriously considered is anchoring a couple pvc pipes.  Shouldn't be too hard to make a temp one that you can pull out when your lease is up.

 

I enjoy fishing from my dock and I have learned a lot.  It can be so valuable to understanding lure action when you can cast from a fixed position to the same spot with different lures and weights....Absolutely keep on eye on bait movement.   Walk out stealthily....make a couple casts from up the bank before you walk out.  Consider planting a brush pile 10-15 yard out.  Even just dragging and sinking a waterlogged branch or cinder block can be huge....just stand out there and observe the baitfish and bluegills....go out at night sometimes.   Rig at least one setup to really launch a bottom contact lure.  Never forget that fish move.  I can't tell you the number of times that I caught a 3+ after I'd been casting for over half an hour already.

 

A few years ago I set up brush piles in strategic locations off my hotels docks.

 

I have looked at some DIY solutions to my launch and recover quandary, but I have run into a few problems. The first is that the water is too cold to be in there for any length of time. The second is that the water quickly drops to 6-7 feet deep and I'm only 5'7". Well, I was. I'm getting older and shrinking.

 

If worse comes to worst there is a small marina just 1/4 mile down the road.

[padlin]

Between this thread and the one about your tackle being behind you, maybe it’s time to consider a boat you can leave in the water and use the yak for traveling.

[Fishingmickey]

I like Choporoz idea of a pvc pipe slide. Put a boat trailer winch or pulley system at the top maybe?

FM

[Choporoz]

52 minutes ago, padlin said:

Between this thread and the one about your tackle being behind you, maybe it’s time to consider a boat you can leave in the water and use the yak for traveling.

That was my solution.   I still do kayak tournaments from ramps at different lakes, buy I bought a boat that is tied at my dock for weeks at a time

[Koz]

9 hours ago, padlin said:

Between this thread and the one about your tackle being behind you, maybe it’s time to consider a boat you can leave in the water and use the yak for traveling.

I was actually looking at **maybe** buying a Lowe Stinger 175 this coming spring. I need an aluminum boat as I'm limited by my Bronco's towing capacity. I don't want to sell the Bronco because I just bought it over the summer.

[Choporoz]

If you have questions about that hull, I got a new Stinger 175 in January.   @Birdhas a new one two, IIRC.  I am very happy with it.

[airshot]

Get some crickets and toss a hooked one out there...you will quickly know if there are any bluegills !!