Dock Fishing For Bass – Tips And Techniques

Everyone knows that bass and panfish hang out around boat docks and marinas. Not everyone, however, appreciates the finer points of locating good fishing docks.

Let’s begin by identifying potentially good bass docks.

One approach is simply to motor around a lake, casting to every available dock. Such a hit-and-miss strategy will produce fish, but it also wastes a lot of time.

A better technique is to learn to identify those few docks that consistently produce bass, and then to focus your energies on fishing those high percentage docks.

A good bass dock usually combines three important elements. First, the closer a dock is to deep water, the better. On most natural lakes, if the end of the dock is in 4 feet of water and close to drop-offs into 8 to 12 feet, it’s likely to be a good fish producer.

A second factor is the presence of vegetation. Docks surrounded by sandy or clean bottom may hold fish at night and in the predawn period, but during daylight hours, weed growth fronting a dock usually indicates good fishing potential, and the thicker the weeds, the better.

Finally, the boards of a dock should be fairly close to the water. The height of a dock is very important because bass like to lie in a dock’s shade to ambush their prey. The lower a dock and the more tightly laced its floor boards, the more shade for ambush purpose.

If a dock is more than a foot off the water it may be too high to be a consistent producer. Along these same lines, docks with thick wooden pilings provide more cover for bass than docks with thin metal pilings.

Another important consideration in dock fishing is the shape of the dock. There are straight docks that are perpendicular to shore, L-shaped docks, T-shaped docks, and canopied docks. The only rule of thumb is, if it looks "fishy," give it a try.

I have found the hard-to-reach inside corner of L-shaped docks is quite a test of my casting abilities, but it’s often one of the most consistent producers on a good dock. Canopied docks are fine, especially at high noon when the sun is directly overhead and they create a maximum amount of shade.

As far as equipment goes, a medium casting rod and reel with 12- to 17-pound monofilament works quite well. Another option is an open-faced spinning outfit, spooled up with 8-pound-test Tournament Strength line. A spinning rod outfit works well when you want to skip a jig or lure under the dock floor. Don’t be afraid to use heavier than normal line. Dock fishing puts a lot of wear and tear on the line, and dock bass are usually so aggressive that heavier line is not a problem.

I always make sure the rods are rigged with two different types of lures. My favorite combination is a 1/2-ounce jig and worm on one rod and a Husky Jerk minnow lure on the other. The light jig can be swum through the mid-depths or bounced along the bottom. The Husky Jerk is great for enticing those bass that lie directly under a dock’s cover. A third option is a spinnerbait, which can be worked effectively at any depth.

While dock fishing is a rather limited strategy, it is very productive. And, for those of us who still appreciate the aesthetics of good casting techniques, dock fishing is very satisfying.

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