Dock Fishing

[Chris Musick]

I went out this morning. Around 8. Got up late. But I've seen everyone talking about drop shot so I looked it up and tried it off a dock in shell knob. I caught about 15 fish. I'm new to anything that isn't trout so I had a blast. They stopped button around 11 tho.

[flyman]

Cool. What were you fishing on your drop shot?

I myself am new to lake bass fishing. I hit some docks last night with jigs and swimbaits and picked up a couple. I'm curious what other people throw around docs that works for them. I have read spinners, swimbaits, jigs, spoons, wacky rigged worms, cranks, etc. What's your favorite?

[Champ188]

Hard to beat a finesse jig or shaky head this time of year. Here's the thing about dock fishing. Once you determine the depth the fish are holding, which in summer will likely be right above the thermocline, don't fish every boat slip in the dock. Fish only those where the bottom is within 4-5 feet of your target depth and move on. Yes, it's work, but it will greatly increase your success.

Another thing is to learn how to pitch accurately and get your lure way back in the shade ... preferably all the way to the walkway. Where there's a boat on a lift, get between the boat and the dock. Your line will probably be draped over the lift. So be it. Yes, you'll lose some fish. And jigs. And shaky heads. But by gosh you can't catch one if you can't get bit and some days, you just have to go deep into the jungle to find the tiger.

[gitnby]

Haven't used it lately, but used to have great success pitchin a Fish Dr, senko or centipede rigged wacky style on a spinning outfit in and around docks.

Just let it sink on slack line and watch for movement.

Once it hits bottom, lift it up a rod length or more and let it fall back a couple times.

You can add solder or a cut-off finish nail to nose of plastic to change the fall rate, or just use a 3/0 or larger hook.

Or, you can just move your weight up another foot or so on your split-shot rig and hook the middle of your plastic and let the split-shot do the work.

This set-up is a little harder to work with, but I always have that rig on my deck, so it's quick and easy!

[Sore Thumbs]

Champ is right. No risk No reward when it comes to dock fishing.

[Jason Essary]

Yep, cant catch them if you dont get them to bite. As we say, "Im going in".

[flyman]

Thanks guys. I was using a swimbait to try and skip it under (Something I read recently and thought I would try). I need some practice getting way up under there. Definitely the few that I caught came for those lucky... ahem.. perfectly placed casts.

[Sore Thumbs]

That might work. Try a wacky rigged worm or a small jig with a trailer that has some action(paca chunk jr). Instead of a swimbait you might try a Zoom Fluke early under or around those docks. Don't see them biting that fluke much after sun up unless brush is involved.

[Old plug]

I live on LOZ and own a 2 stall 30 by 30 dock myself. One thing about docks is the shade they create keeps the water below them a lot cooler.

I use a variation of the drop shot rig a lot. I use it around dock some but use it mostly like you would i areas you would use a Carolina rig. The only difference is mine is heavier tackle than you would think of a drop shot being. My hooks are 03 and larger, my weights are 3/8 oz and larger bait type bell sinkers and the distance from hook to sinker is from 12 to 18 inches. Most worms I use on this rig or about 6 to 8 inches. I like it because I can fiddle more with the presentation. It is not for everyone. You can wind up spending more time untangling the line from around a keeper than it took to catch him. It can also be a pain to cast. But it can be pitched a long ways a long ways with very good accuracy.

[dtrs5kprs]

Hard to beat the 1/2oz white spoon in the deeper slips. Speeds things along too.