Docks

As more homes are built on bass waters, docks, boat houses, and piers become important cover. Shoreline development usually means loss of natural cover like fallen trees, stumps, lily pad beds, and submerged weeds. Shallow-loving largemouths find steel, Styrofoam, and pine board suitable substitutes. In fact, from Georgia to Minnesota to Washington, largemouths often favor docks of all shapes and sizes over natural cover. Often the most unappealing dock produces a bonanza.

Largemouth bass may hold near or under docks in all season except when ice forms, but summer’s the best time to fish them. Bass occupy docks after leaving spawning bays, with postspawn females preceding nest-guarding males. Early summer dock fishing often produces the largest average size of the year. The number of bass using docks may build as summer progresses, and small bluegills, shiners, and other preyfish gather on the flats and gravitate to docks.

Hot sunny days seem to drive bass under docks. Timing is crucial––fish too early in the morning, and most of the fish haven’t moved to shade; delay too long, and some other anglers beats you to the best ones. You can make good dock catches in the dark, as well as at dawn, dusk, and in pouring rain. At night, lighted docks produce best.

Not all docks are equally attractive; subtle differences may repeatedly attract fish to one dock more than to others. You can’t always tell why, but a few guidelines will help you spot prime docks.

Docks with wood pilings usually are better than docks with metal pilings. Reservoir docks often are built to float, lack any pilings to concentrate bass, and may float over deep water. They provide only overhead cover and shade. Docks low to the water offer better overhead cover than high ones. Tight decking usually is better than open cracks. A “T” or “L” extension on a dock makes it considerably better than a simple straight dock. Big docks are better than small ones; docks with boat bays or covered boat lifts are bigger and often more attractive to bass than docks without lifts, although bass may hold in the shade under any boat tethered to a dock.

We once thought docks with deep water nearby were better than docks stranded in the shallows, but we’ve seen too many good docks that aren’t near deeper water. Docks along inside or deep weedlines usually are productive. What counts is the quality of cover the dock offers and the ability of the area to support fish.

Docks often run from shore to depths of 4 or 5 feet, depths bass frequently use. You will find deeper holes formed when the dock owner guns his motor to run his boat onto a boat lift. Sometimes docks are associated with weededges, because property owners clear paths for their boats or rake out a swimming area. The best docks are adjacent to weedflats that hold many bass. Some bass may remain around docks, but many move in from adjacent weeds at prime times, usually midday.

Docks offer the best fishing when sun creates distinct shady areas under them. On overcast days, or at dawn and dusk, bass often hold or feed on adjacent weed- flats. When the sun rises, though, patterns that worked on the flats may fade. Then it’s time to move to the deep weedline––or find a line of good docks.

Several approaches work for dock bass. Aggressive bass will be out on dock edges ready to chase. Retrieve spinnerbaits or crankbaits right along the dock edge, especially along the shady side. Flipping is great for fishing docks because you can drop jigs with pinpoint accuracy along pilings and in corners where bass hold. Some dock fishing specialists use a spinning rod to skip plastics underneath. The cast is flat and powerful with a slight upswing at the moment of release. Lightly weighted plastic worms, grubs, or tube jigs will skip several times before stopping a dozen or more feet under the dock, where less aggressive bass hold. Some experts execute the skip cast with baitcasting tackle, using a short rod to propel jigs far back, where big wary bass may lurk.