Dock fishing?

[Kokanee King]

So I just have a question about dock fishing and dock fishing in lake union and lake washington. The only real dock fishing that I have done is for bass and in about 4 to 6 feet. And when i think of all of the docks and piers in lake union i get a little over whelmed. At the end of some of thoes docks it is over 20 feet deep. So my question is, Crappie, how do you pattern the fish? Are the fish suspending:4 feet down, 20 feet down? when do they go toward the shore to spawn? And most of all how do you fish them? Do you cast out a light jig and count down the depth? do you use a slip float or a fixed float?
I just dont know how to go about putting some dock fish in the boat.
Thank you,
Ian

[Bassman]

If you want to dock fish go and buy your self one of those portable fish finders that you toss out there and you will find the fish then you'll know what presentation to use.(if there suspended in like 4 feet a bobber and jig... you get the point)

[SlabKing]

So I just have a question about dock fishing and dock fishing in lake union and lake washington. The only real dock fishing that I have done is for bass and in about 4 to 6 feet. And when i think of all of the docks and piers in lake union i get a little over whelmed. At the end of some of thoes docks it is over 20 feet deep. So my question is, Crappie, how do you pattern the fish? Are the fish suspending:4 feet down, 20 feet down? when do they go toward the shore to spawn? And most of all how do you fish them? Do you cast out a light jig and count down the depth? do you use a slip float or a fixed float?
I just dont know how to go about putting some dock fish in the boat.
Thank you,
Ian

That'll all be worked out by putting in hours on the lake. You might not find crappies the first few trips or you might figure them out on the first trip. It doesn't take very long to weed out the unproductive water. For example, if you pull up on a dock and it's in 30 feet of water, there's no weed-line or submerged structure such as rock piles, points or brush piles near by, and there's no spawning flat within a few hundred yards....you can make a few cast and move on. Those docks may hold a few bass but crappies are most likely not going to stack up on them. You need to think backwards. Find likely spawning flats, find the deep water structure near those flats and you have a pattern that you can use on any lake in the country. The fish will either be on the break-line of the flats, up on the flats, or near the deep water structures.

For dock fishing I like to cast and count down the jig until I hit a few good fish. If they're really deep I'll switch to a bobber rig set to the right depth and clean up on slabs. If they are within 12' of the surface I'll keep casting, making sure I skip the jig as far back underneath the dock as I can (another reason why I like to use 5' ultralight rods). If I'm casting to visible brush I'll just cast and retrieve the jig make sure I keep contact with the brush, a lot of times the crappies will hit the jig after you pull it off a limb.

On Lake Union they really don't head to the shore. On average they'll be spawning in water that's at least 8' and sometimes down to 20'. The may only be using the top 6' of water but they'll be in pretty deep water as a whole. On a lot of other local lakes they'll move right on the banks and spawn in water that's 1' - 3' deep, they just don't do that on Lake Union because of how developed the shoreline is and how clear the water is. At night you can catch them in water as shallow as 3 feet but not during the day. At night is the best time to fish, year round. Early morning and late evening are good as well but the larger fish feed at night.

[urban_fisher1]

ice fishing rods also work really well from what i've heard for sling shotting those jigs back under the docks

[Kokanee King]

just reviewing..... so slab if i were to go out at night right now would that be a good idea, if so how would I be going about it?

[SlabKing]

No doubt. On Union the night bite will always be at least twice as good as fishing during the day. I use a cheap old coleman gas latern set on the edge of my boat for light to attract the fish. The key for me has always been to make sure I'm on my spot before the sun goes down and have the latern setup and ready. Right now the south end is where you'd want to try fishing at night (I can give more detail via PM). Sometimes you'll pull up on a dock or row of pilings right before sunset and the crappie will already be there and feeding right below the surface. If you setup on a spot like that you'll catch crappie all night long down there. You'll have to weed through the little guys like always but the catching can be fast. 70% of the time I'll be casting/tightlining pilings. The other 30% I'll be making cast toward the shore.

You need the right type of shoreline though....deep (5-6 feet deep right at the shore) rocky flat that breaks to even deeper water. Almost like a good perch hole would look. There's an old saying "if you're catching perch, you're fishing too deep"...because perch and crappie will often times use the same type of feeding areas but the crappie will be up shallower. Don't forget out the marinas too. Most of them are set on top of deep water with hard bottoms....have pilings and boats for the crappie to use as ambush points....and best of all they have plenty of light during the night.

[brokentrail]

This is an interesting and informative thread. I have to say I was a little overwhelmed last week when I first hit Lake Union. All the boat slips in such deep water definitely threw me for a loop. As a matter of fact, I went in search of a weedline and some structure that I actually knew how to fish as I didn't really know what to do around a boat slip in 30 foot of water. Maybe now I have a bit of a better idea. :-)

[Kokanee King]

Dude I am still completly lost when I fish that lake!

[brokentrail]

Well I am pretty lost too, I caught some fish, but only after I spent 5 hours killing dead water that looked awful good to me. I ended up catching some smallies and I think I know a spot or two that will hold crappie at certain times of the year but I'n sure I have barely scratched the surface there. I am planning to fish it some more now that I've been once though. It was worth my drive for sure...

[Kokanee King]

there are so many secrets of that lake that only slab knows of.