NORTH COUNTRY DOCKS…
Over-fished or under-fished?
By Wayne Ek
I
sometimes think that a dock is the only piece of structure on a lake that is
over-fished and under-fished at the same
time. On any given weekend you can see bass anglers pounding the docks. They may
be fishing for fun or fishing in a tournament,
but the docks will get hit hard. At the same time a majority of these anglers
are under-fishing the docks. They come up to the dock, make a couple of flips,
casts or pitches and then speed off to the next dock. I’ve even seen angler’s
catch a bass off a dock and still move on to the next dock, never revisiting the
area that just gave up a fish.
As
a fishing guide in West Central Minnesota and a fanatical tournament angler, I
get to spend almost every day on the water. Seeing other anglers speed-fish
down a row of docks is a common occurrence in my area. I think there are a
couple of reasons that people fish through docks so quickly. One reason is that
there are so many docks to fish. Some lakes have a staggering number of docks,
boatlifts and pontoon boats. I believe angler’s see all these potential fish
holding targets and feel they have to hit every single one of them! The second
reason; we hear, see and read so much about professional tournament
angler’s fishing fast or power-fishing. A lot of professional angler’s do fish
fast, but fast fishing is not sloppy fishing. You can bet that these
professionals slow down when they hit a productive dock or shoreline that’s
holding productive docks. By slowing down and fishing the docks thoroughly
these professionals will wring every last bass off a section of docks or a
single dock, and so should you.
What makes one dock or a section of docks more productive than others? I don’t
think there is an easy ABC answer to this one. However, there are some things
that I look for when I’m targeting docks on a new lake. I like docks that sit
on a quick breaking shoreline. A good lake map will help you find these areas.
Or if you see a section of docks, and they are all really short, just sticking
out into the lake one or two sections, that’s a really good indication of a
quick breaking shoreline. I like docks that have submergent vegetation around
them. And any clustering of docks/boat lifts, such as marina’s, resorts or lake
association docks seem to hold more fish than just a single dock. I think docks
along shallow sterile shorelines, without submergent or emergent vegetation are
usually a waste of time
and energy.
You
don’t have to fish every dock to see if they hold fish. On clear lakes I will
put the trolling motor on high and cruise down a set of docks, not even fishing,
just looking. I’m looking for small sunfish, bluegills or any bass. It has been
my experience that a dock holding “gills” will also hold bass. It’s a quick way
to eliminate some unproductive water.
As
a general rule, the sunnier and calmer the day, the tighter fish will hold to
the docks. Usually the dock bite will be better in the late morning to late
afternoon. On cloudy days, the fish will be more prone to roam away from the
docks. Actually, when it’s rainy or cloudy the areas in between the docks may
hold more bass than the docks themselves. All docks are somewhat different in
design, but there are a couple of high percentage areas (for bass) that you
should look for. Anytime
there is a pontoon boat tied to a dock, under that pontoon is a high percentage
area. When a boat or pontoon sits on a lift, right behind the motor will be a
washout hole, created when the owner’s power the boat/pontoon off or onto the
lift; another high percentage spot. Some docks will have fish cages or
bait-boxes hanging on them (large screen boxes to hold fish or bait) these boxes
rarely sit on the bottom of the lake, so there is a space between the bottom of
the box and the lake bottom; another very high percentage point. And last, any
ladder coming off the dock into the water has the potential to hold a bass or
two.
If
I had to use just one rod to fish docks (thank God I don’t) it would be a 5’6”
to 6’ medium heavy spinning rod, with a size 30 spinning reel, loaded with a
quality-braided line. This is a great rod to skip docks with and you can still
pitch the corners or hit the open water between docks with this rig. When
working a dock pattern I like to have 3 rods rigged for different purposes. My
first rod will be a spinning rod/reel combination that I use for skipping under
docks and pontoons. Even though I field-staff for Quantum, it’s a rod made by
Falcon Rods. The rod is a (FS-6-156) 5’6” MH, rated for 8-15 lb. test line. I
believe the rod was a specialty rod, made for float tube fishermen.
I do not know if it is still in production. For a reel, I use the Quantum
Catalyst 30. At first this may seem like too large a reel for this size rod,
but this wide spooled reel seems to allow the line to flow off the spool more
smoothly than a smaller reel. This allows me to make skip casts that go way
back under docks and pontoons. The second rod is a bait-casting rig I use for
most of my flipping and pitching. For the past couple of years I’ve been using
Quantum’s PTC666F, which is a 6’6” medium heavy action with a fast taper, rated
for 12-25 lb. lines. The fast taper on this rod allows you to make very accurate
pitches to targets, and the butt section has the power to handle braided line
and move any fish out away from the docks. I matched this with the new Tour
Edition
PT reel (the Burner) with 7:1:1 gear ratio, which picks up line lightening fast
and handles like a dream. My third rod is usually a spinner-bait or buzz-bait
rod used to fish the open water areas between docks. I’ve been using the Quantum
PTC706F, which is a 7’ medium heavy, with a fast taper. Last year I used the
Energy E600PT (6:2:1 gear ration) on this rod. This year I’m going to use the
Dean Rojas signature series rod (PTC706FDR), which is a 7’ medium-heavy, fast
tapered rod that was designed as an all-purpose “frog rod”, but Kermit will have
to wait as I’ll be tossing buzzers or spinner-baits with this rod. I’m going to
use the new Energy PT Burner on this rod also.
I
spool a quality-braided line on all the rods mentioned. If I’m fishing very
clear water I’ll use a back-to-back uni-knot to attach a fluorocarbon leader to
the braid on my skipping rod. Otherwise I use just straight braid.
I
keep my lure selection very simple. On the skipping rod (spinning) I use an
Eagle Claw (Shaw Grigsby) HP hook in 3/0 size. For plastics I use a Lake Fork
Ring Fry. And for a little additional weight I will place a Water Gremlin Bull
Shot sinker in size 1/32 just in front of the HP hook. The sinker gives the rig
a little more weight for skipping and the cone shape of the sinker helps the rig
to climb over all the obstructions associated with dock fishing. For the
pitching rod I stick with a Denny Brauer Premier Pro-Model jig, by Strike King
Lures, in ½ ounce, matched with a 3X Denny Brauer Chuck for a trailer. And
finally on the blade/buzzer rod I like to use an Accent Fishing Products
buzz-bait called the “High Rider Buzz B-2”, which has counter rotation blades
behind foam floats, which gives it added buoyancy. This allows you to work this
buzzer slower than any other buzz-bait I’ve ever used. For a spinner-bait I
stick with the “tried and true” Premier Elite in ½ ounce, by Strike King Lures.
Don’t be concerned about fishing behind other anglers, remember even though
docks are fished hard there’s still a good chance that they were under-fished.
And if you’re going to power fish docks remember
that your catch rate will go up if you fish fast but smart.
Be safe this summer
and we hope to see you on the water.
Wayne Ek,
Agape Fishing Guides
classicbass.com Field Staff
This is what you may find if you fish the right dock at the right time!
