Report From Thursday, 5-31-12

[kyled]

Thanks so much for the advice and further explanation. Makes sense. I don't think I get far enough in the dock or cover sometimes. Really appreciate it champ.

[dtrs5kprs]

Kyle,

Boy, not sure I'm the guy you want drop-shotting advice from. I do know a thing or two about dock fishing though, so I'll give it a quick try.

Not every dock holds fish. For my money, the best ones are the bigger docks with 10-20 slips on each side that have 50-60 feet of water under the deep end. If they sit on a point or in a creek channel swing, all the better. If you catch fish on a dock one time, chances are they'll be there again. If you fish one a couple of times and don't catch anything, I'd write that one off.

For the most part, I pitch a finesse jig or shaky head worm into the shallower slips ... the ones from 8 to 25 feet. I catch 75 percent of my dock fish in the slips that have 15-25 feet of water in them. In the really hot summer, that depth range may change to 20-30 feet.

When I get out to about 25 feet, I go to a drop shot and really watch my front graph for balls of bait and/or hooks representing bass. You don't need a really expensive graph for this ... just one that will show bait and fish. Also, don't be afraid to pitch that drop shot way back into the slips. You don't have to fish it straight up and down. Pitch it back as close to the walkway as you can and let it fall with the bail on your spinning reel open. When you see your line go slack meaning it's on the bottom, pick it up carefully and check for a fish. Lots of times they'll be on there immediately.

I might also add that whether you're pitching a jig, shaky head or drop shot into these slips, you can't be afraid to lose your junk. If there's a lift in a slip with a boat on it and enough of a crack for me to pitch my bait in, I'm going in. That's not to advocate harming anyone's property. Practice your pitching technique so that you don't bang your bait off people's boats. That's just not nice. But the tighter the places you get into, the better your chances of catching fish. The twofold reason for that is (1) bass and especially big bass seek out the darkest, shadiest places they can find to hang out and (2) not many people even attempt to get a bait into these places.

Hope this helps. You might also want to search for old posts on here about drop-shotting and see what turns up. Should be some really good stuff from folks who are far more proficient at it than me.

That is a spot on description of how to select docks at Table Rock. Just an awful lot of docks that will waste your time unless you follow Champ's logic.

Might want to start flipping the white spoon in those docks. If they are getting in there it is a fast way to put them in the boat.

[Tfsh4bass]

Great report Champ and that is a dandy smallmouth!

I was down there Thurs also from 11-6 and just fished the wind with spinnerbait and swimbait. Caught 19 with probably 8-9 keepers...most just keepers but did have a nice black close to 4lbs on a blade. Caught fish on points and short cuts getting the wind...didn't matter much on the type of bank and I covered a lot of water. The best part of the day was not seeing a handful of boat all day and being the only trailer at Mill Creek when I came in...love fishing during the week!

[Champ188]

It was the same around Baxter ... hardly another boat anywhere. One other truck/trailer at H ramp when we got there and only one or two when we left.

[Bill Babler]

Reports like that make my job a whole lot easier. Great day on the pond and there is life in the back of the boat.