Standing Timber and docks

[fun_all_wrong]

This morning I went out and did ok, about 12 fish (None that even would have been keepers if I were going to keep them...)

Some were caught on points with a spinner-bait, a few on the same points with a rattle trap, and even one with a popper and one with a tube bait.

The other way I caught fish:

This lake has standing timber in it so I would cast past it, let my spinnerbait sink, then run the spinnerbait into whatever was there....  

What else do you like to throw around standing timber? (I have thrown a jig/craw and a tube at standing timber too, but no luck.)

I also tried fishing some of the docks in the area, doing everything from casting a spinner bait down the side of the dock just before I troll past it and running the spinner bait under it to skipping tubes/flukes up under it. I even throw topwater right down the side of the dock...

I hear about people catching around boat docks, any suggestions?

Thanks again...

[fishinyank]

I fish docks alot for smallies on a lake in upstate ny. Usually a tube (I like gitzits but most any will do) will SLAY them. Flip it under or to the side and if they dont hit it on the fall, wait. If you dont get a bite keep waiting! Sometimes it can take 30 seconds to a minute before they decide to pick it up. If after a minute you dont get a look, jig or shake the tube a couple times and wait some more. IF you still dont get a bite they are either not going to (try that dock later) or there is nothing there. Just be patient.

[Sam]

For largemouth try Senkos or Zoom plastics.  Cast parallel to the front of the dock and then up and down the sides. Don't forget to go under the boats or rafts and close to the shore.

Be patient and work all angles of the dock area.  Look for grass or brush piles.

Look for fishing equipment as this means the people who own the dock do fish and they may have a hidden brush pile or other structure near the dock to attract the fish.

Bounce the lure off the dockand into the water adjacent to the pilings.

Be ready to go to the dock to retrieve your baits when you get snagged.

[fishinyank]

yeah I forgot about bouncing it off the dock. Sometimes that really turns them on when nothing else will. You would think the sound would spook em but it seems to get them interested when they're inacttive. Also be aware that bass arent the only fish that live under docks. Blugill, rockies, sunnies, etc. can get inbetween you and mr bassface. Learn the difference in feeling the bites...if it goes tap tap-its usally crap crap- pull your bait away from the blugill and sometimes the bass will see it and you know what happens next...

[outdoor4shore]

Personally, I would throw a t-rigged Yum Dinger right in the middle of the standing timber, and just let it sit. Just wait, and if there is no hit on the fall, just wait some more. Then, if there is still no hit, SLOWLY drag the bait along the bottom, don't make any of these crazy twitches and movements of the rod tip that you hear about alot of the time. Think about what the bait must look like underwater to a bass... would you chase after some crazy flying, long jumping worm? Patience is key...you'll hook up...just be patient...

[gatrboy53]

shallow running squared billed crankbait.it will take some practice on retrieve so as not to get hung up much but worth the time. another good bait is a chatterbait worked erractically and let it fall after hitting wood.use braid or 25#+ line like xt.tubes and jigs and always a zzom trickworm or senko fished SLOOOOOW.

[Bassbum80]

I'm with Fishinyank...I spand the majority of my time on the water fishing dock on a lake in WI.  I fish tubes probably 80% of the time and grubs the rest.  Obviously I switch it up every now and then, but there really has been no need b/c those kill on this lake.

[papa smurf]

Like gaterboy said, a square billed crankbait bounced through the timber or off the dock posts should pick up some fish.  A buzzbait fished the same way might produce too.