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 1/2 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 1/2 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 is a fishing
guide, tournament angler and writer in Alexandria Minnesota.
You
can reach Wayne Ek at Agape Fishing Guides, www.agapefishingguides.com