Fishing Docks as Cover
by: Deitz Dittrich, Sport/MN (Lindstrom, MN )

The perfect dock is made of wood and has bends, intersections, a channel or point nearby, have access to deep water and have emergent vegetation nearby

If you have fished for any period of time, you have realized by now that our competition in fishing, the largemouth bass, like and feel comfortable relating to cover. Fish use cover much like people do. Have you ever noticed that people will migrate near the edges of and near other people before they will venture out on their own? I am not saying that people and fish do this for the same reasons, but it is something to think about. Docks can be the ultimate jackpot when talking about cover, mostly because more than one kind of cover can and usually will be in the area at the same time. In this article I hope to share a few techniques that will help you pick out, and learn to dissect, the great cover that lines so many of our most popular natural lakes. You will see far fewer docks in reservoirs due to the flux in water depths in areas controlled by dams, but regardless of where you are fishing, keep this in mind: docks are cover. Any strategy that you pick up from this article should be able to be adapted to the variety of cover that you are fishing. To begin, let's talk about what makes the best dock.

THE BEST DOCK

If you look with an untrained eye, most docks can very easily look alike, but in truth, they are very different. Some are higher off the water than others. Some are used more often than others. Some have large canopies, some are made of wood. Some are located in deep water, while others are in shallow.

With a little knowledge, you can pick out just which docks will be most productive. If I were to design a perfect dock and its location, it would be this: a wood, permanent dock. Why? A dock with wood legs will usually have moss or some kind of weed growing on it which will attract plankton, minnows, and the rest of the food chain. Furthermore, wood dock posts usually need cross members to reinforce the legs in order to keep them upright and strong. These cross members provide diagonal cover in addition to the horizontal cover provided by the dock. The legs of the dock supply vertical cover. The closer a dock is to the water's surface, the better it is. Close proximity shades the dock's underside more and, if the water is clear, it helps to conceal your movement which may spook the fish.

My utopian dock would sit as close to the water's edge as possible yet still allow me a chance to get a cast underneath it. It would also have a bend of some type in it, perhaps a 'T' created when two dock sections intersect. This perfect dock would undoubtedly have some kind of emergent vegetation nearby as well as access to deep water ("deep" being a term relative to any given lake), and a point or channel would be near it. Unfortunately, if you live anywhere near me, the beautiful dock I've just described is practically unheard of. You will find very few wood docks because the ice will destroy it as it leaves the lake on a windy day during the spring thaw. But if you look at a dock, and it has any of these characteristics, it's a fishable dock.

ON TO FISHING THE DOCK

There are two different ways to attack a dock. One is with the finesse approach of a vertical presentation, the other the more aggressive horizontal presentation. Depending on the weather, I will chose one of the two to begin with and redefine my approach from there. When pre-fishing for a tournament, I will almost always chose a horizontal approach because I can cover more ground and hit more docks during a given time period. This allows me to find the areas of the lake in which the fish
seem to be using the docks most. It also keys me in on the docks with the most potential, the ones that are most like the optimum dock. With those thoughts in mind, let's begin by examining the horizontal approach.

Crankbaits and spinnerbaits are good choices for fishing docks horizontally

The two best horizontal lures when fishing docks are the spinnerbait and the crankbait. Choose colors and weights that best suit the cloud cover and water clarity as well as the depth that you which to achieve. When using this approach, try to remember that you are striving for a reaction strike from the fish. To prompt this reaction strike, try to make contact with the dock posts. You can achieve this easily by using boat position to your advantage, but you can also tune your baits to help in the cause. To do this, purposely tune two identical crankbaits to run slightly off center in each direction. When making your cast, choose the bait that will run into the post. When the bait comes in contact with the cover, stop it for an instant and then continue the retrieve. It's during this brief stop, or shortly thereafter, that the strike will occur. You can get a spinnerbait to hit a dock by using the rod tip to drive or direct the spinnerbait so that it comes in contact with the dock. If you are noticing a lot of fish coming out to chase the baits but not hitting, you should switch to a more subtle horizontal lure or switch your approach entirely to a vertical approach. Some examples of more subtle horizontal approaches include the floating worm or R.T.Slug (fluke) type lure. These lures are nice because they can be skipped into areas that the crankbait and spinnerbait cannot reach. I will discuss skipping a little later in the article. Vertical lures can be any kind of jig. It may be a soft plastic Texas rig, a drop shot rig, or a jig and pig. These lures are usually easier to skip and can be fished rather slowly if not at a total stand still. Try to keep in mind that the more smooth and uninhibited the jig, the better it will skip and the further under the dock it will go. A perfect example of this is a tube jig. A tube is probably the best skipping bait ever designed. It is a go-to bait around docks.

Tube baits are the perfect bait for skipping under docks - but make sure you rig them weedless

I like to fish the Exude tube on a 2/0 hook with an 1/8 oz. worm weight pegged in front. I have used the Shaw Grigsby HP hook and do like it. However, I think it takes up way too much of one's valuable fishing time to re-rig when one of these baits is chewed up by the large amount of bass you are pulling out from under docks. When planning to skip vertical lures under docks, it's important that they are rigged weedless because most docks have chains and other fun fish holding stuff under the dock. On many days, I will use these underwater treasures to my advantage to help me get more fish. If you can skip a bait under a dock and over a chain just under the surface, you can get the bait to vertically jig in place thus staying within the strike zone longer which will result in more fish.

A motto I like to carry with me is this, "Don't worry about getting the fish out of where it is until after it is hooked." I say this because many anglers won't cast into scary places because they are afraid of not being able to get the fish out. Yes, you are going to lose some fish when using this more daring approach, but its the fish that you will get that are going to help you place higher in your tournaments.

When approaching a dock, have a plan. Take notice of the wind so that it wont blow you into the dock. Keep adequate distance depending on water clarity. If the water is muddy you can get really close to a dock without spooking fish as long as you keep your movements and boat noises to a minimum. Observe where your shadow falls. When at all possible, make sure your shadow is nowhere near where your cast is.

Places where you want to cast on a dock include:

Dock posts - hit them all, you never know where they will be, too many angers will only hit the outside ones, it's the inside ones that can be killers

The "T's"- where two or more dock sections intersect.

Ladders - ladders can be great fish holding structures because they have multiple rungs.

Boat lifts - boat lifts usually contain cross members that hold fish.

Boat engines - if the boat owner lets the engine run in place, there could be a small drop off right at the engine creating cover that can hold fish.

SKIP CASTING

I have talked about a skip cast before. Many can do it , but few have mastered the technique. I have the best luck with a 6' MH Spinning Rod with a soft tip (many may want to start with a shorter rod, I am 6'3" and have met with much success using a 6' rod, but I know many others who skip best with a 5'6" rod) with #10 test CXX-Xtra Strong P-line. I have found P-line to be the most abrasion resistant mono filament on the market, which is important when working with dock posts and chains. With an underhand roll cast, you can achieve great skips. It just takes a lot of practice. Most importantly when skipping docks, respect the dock and boat owner. Make sure you practice around open water first and use lures that are weedless.

There is nothing more harmful to the reputation of our sport than to make property owners mad at us by scuffing their nice boats and allowing our lures to hang up on their docks to get stepped on or otherwise. Play it smart and abide by a variation of the golden rule: "Do unto other's property what you would like done to yours," or something like that. The fishing of docks is an extensive subject, and I have left a lot uncovered that perhaps could take the form of an advanced dock fishing article in the future.

Regardless, I hope these few pointers will head you in the right direction. Have fun, and happy skipping!!!

• If you have questions, or want to discuss dock fishing in more detail click here.