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Dock fishing... #12800422 06/21/18 03:25 PM
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Kevin Bryant Offline OP
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I admittedly have very little confidence fishing docks... especially super shallow docks. I keep seeing that a lot of people were finding fish in the very backs of creeks on super shallow docks in the recent Champs tournament on CC. A large stretch of docks on a bank intimidates me... so I just want to get some ideas from the guys who love fishing docks on how to attack them better.


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Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kevin Bryant] #12800431 06/21/18 03:32 PM
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I don't fish them now on Fork like I used to when I fished Champs and others around Texas. But theay always seemed to pattern themselves for me. I may fish 50 docks and only 2 produce. But when I see depth, cover, etc around that dock, I could almost go anywhere else on the lake and look for the same thing and catch them. Wouldn't even waste time on the other docks.

Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kevin Bryant] #12800437 06/21/18 03:35 PM
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Kevin you need to come fish some docks with me on Palestine you will get some confidence in it real quick. Every lakes docks are different but the fish will set up similar. To start the corners obviously are great ambush points for bass. You also have the boat slips which will offer 2 more corners to fish and possible deeper water down the middle of the boat slip (because its been dredged out). This can be a big deal when your fishing supper shallow docks cause 6"-1' of deeper water is a nice change for the fish. Then you have the main platform of the dock that is going to be where your skipping jig comes into play that part of the dock will have multiple dock poles and is always shaded so its the coolest part. Do not discount ladders especially wooden ones that come off the dock a ways. Think of the ladder as a log hanging off the bank, the fish can get under it or sit off the end/sides to ambush food. Best dock baits for me are a Jig, skipping a 3/8oz Finch nasty thumper, T-Riged Creature bait and a shakey head.

Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kevin Bryant] #12800441 06/21/18 03:37 PM
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If the actual fishing part of them is what youre struggling with, start with a spinning reel with a wacky senko. Its just going to take practice if you want to get better at pitching other baits with a baitcaster. As far as finding docks to fish, fish docks that are in areas that would hold fish if that dock wasnt there. Older docks tend to hold more fish than newer ones as they usually have more algae built up on the pilings which in turn should have more bait under the dock. Your side scan can be a huge tool as well when looking for docks to fish. Look for brush around the dock, sometimes its a lot farther out from the dock than you would think.


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Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kevin Bryant] #12800447 06/21/18 03:40 PM
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And when the corners, in between the boat and the side of the dock, around the ladder doesn't produce .........

Dock bass get accustomed to watching all the different baits in our arsenals generally fall and land in the same areas of the dock over and over again. The bait they bite is the bait that falls in a place where no other baits typically fall. The better you are at getting the bait under the dock in the farthest reaches, the more successful you will be at dock fishing. Lots of practice in the beginning, after that it becomes another way to fish and a few, not many, become quite deadly at it. Flipping will not get your bait in the right position, neither will skipping ... you must master the violent underhand golf side swing flip and skip and whip .... oh and no backlash! grin

Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kevin Bryant] #12800457 06/21/18 03:48 PM
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Kevin Bryant Offline OP
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I have no problem getting baits under docks, I just cant ever seem to get on a consistent pattern. Dock fish just seem so random to me, one here..one there. No consistency.


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Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kevin Bryant] #12800562 06/21/18 04:59 PM
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Docks can be very random. The fish are not always there. But when they move on to them, it's that way in multiple parts of the lake. Saw that fun fishing on Tawakoni on Memorial Day weekend. Fished shallow grass and stumps all morning with medium success. Decided to go pitch some docks and they were there. Cedar Creek is tough because there are SO many of them. I like the lower rent areas of the lake. Those are not wake boat/jet flea types. Those people fish. Look for rod holders, fish feeders and then fire up the side scan and look for brush piles.

Last edited by SoCal Tom; 06/21/18 04:59 PM.

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Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kevin Bryant] #12800574 06/21/18 05:08 PM
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Aint no fish on docks

Re: Dock fishing... [Re: SoCal Tom] #12800576 06/21/18 05:11 PM
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Originally Posted By: SoCal Tom
Docks can be very random. The fish are not always there. But when they move on to them, it's that way in multiple parts of the lake. Saw that fun fishing on Tawakoni on Memorial Day weekend. Fished shallow grass and stumps all morning with medium success. Decided to go pitch some docks and they were there. Cedar Creek is tough because there are SO many of them. I like the lower rent areas of the lake. Those are not wake boat/jet flea types. Those people fish. Look for rod holders, fish feeders and then fire up the side scan and look for brush piles.


I completely agree with the looking for rod holders, nets, fish baskets, etc. We also marked a ton of docks when most NE Texas lakes were really low because some of them had between 2 and 10 pvc crappie "houses" scattered in and around them. I'll say this for the OP, I really sucked at fishing docks until I fished Cedar Creek with Jason Barber many years ago. We spent an entire 8-9 hours skipping jigs under docks. Once you learn to do this effectively, which means going through about 1000 yards of fluorocarbon from constant back lashes kinking your line, you will never look at dock fishing the same. Like others have said, I look for the things mentioned above but I also like to look for docks close to deeper water which is also rather obvious.


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Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kevin Bryant] #12800589 06/21/18 05:18 PM
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Really, the only way to break down which docks are good is to fish 'em. You may fish 20-30 docks, or more, and not catch a fish, then you pull up to the next one and catch 3 off of it. You can use Side Scan when idling by them to look for brush, but I feel more comfortable just fishing them. Sometimes fish move to different docks in a day, and of course seasonal changes affect which docks fish will be on. If you have a dock that has brush or rocks underneath it that's always a plus. Process of elimination is your best friend.


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Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kevin Bryant] #12800649 06/21/18 06:00 PM
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Kevin Bryant Offline OP
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Good info guys. Sounds like its really a process of elimination. Like I mentioned above, getting the bait under the docks isnt the problem, its knowing which docks to fish. Definitely some helpful info in here. I feel like I knew this stuff, just havent been patient enough to try and find the good docks.


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Re: Dock fishing... [Re: James Biggs] #12800664 06/21/18 06:06 PM
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Kevin Bryant Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: James Biggs
Aint no fish on docks


Good to know...


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Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kevin Bryant] #12800698 06/21/18 06:27 PM
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One thing I can say is look for isolated ones, on the outsides of coves. Or the longest/biggest ones has been what has helped me, many and I mean many dont hold anything. Some will reload, some wont. I like the wacky rig but prepare to hang a few up. Also go at night to your fave lake, see if any have green lights and mark those, little trick there.


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Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kisndismis] #12800786 06/21/18 07:28 PM
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Originally Posted By: Kisndismis
One thing I can say is look for isolated ones, on the outsides of coves. Or the longest/biggest ones has been what has helped me, many and I mean many dont hold anything. Some will reload, some wont. I like the wacky rig but prepare to hang a few up. Also go at night to your fave lake, see if any have green lights and mark those, little trick there.


I'll agree with this too. An irregular dock in a row of docks is likely to have fish, same as a "loner" dock.


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Re: Dock fishing... [Re: Kevin Bryant] #12800823 06/21/18 08:09 PM
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TOW bud


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