Dockshootin again

[crappiecrazy]

I have tried dock shooting a few times on my small home lake. I have caught a few fish. I can hit the target "fair to middlin" but it is just not that much fun! Trying to keep the boat in position for the small amount of time that you have to shoot at the dock, wind blowin, and the times when you miss the target. What am I doin wrong, I know there are some folks on here that are really good at it and probably would pefer to fish this way. Do you anchor and cast or use the trolling motor? Do you do much casting around the sides and in front of the docks. I have it in my head that most of the fish are caught under the docks and boats which may not be true. When you answer this question, try to answer as if you are fishin a new lake not docks that you fish all the time. I am headed to Guntersville in a couple of days and want to try some of this type fishing.

Thanks

[crappielimits]

Dockshooting should be fun, relax and slow down! You should be using a hair or marabou light weight jig with a slow fall on light line. Shoot it in every direction around the dock allowing it to slow fall to the bottom and hop it back slowly. Watch your line closely for twitches or sudden slack or you may feel a thump. You may hit many docks before finding the one that is the motherload, but keep confidence. On really windy days try something else. This is a slow presentation most of the time.

[CrappiePappy]

I have tried dock shooting a few times on my small home lake. I have caught a few fish. I can hit the target "fair to middlin" but it is just not that much fun! Trying to keep the boat in position for the small amount of time that you have to shoot at the dock, wind blowin, and the times when you miss the target. What am I doin wrong, I know there are some folks on here that are really good at it and probably would pefer to fish this way. Do you anchor and cast or use the trolling motor? Do you do much casting around the sides and in front of the docks. I have it in my head that most of the fish are caught under the docks and boats which may not be true. When you answer this question, try to answer as if you are fishin a new lake not docks that you fish all the time. I am headed to Guntersville in a couple of days and want to try some of this type fishing.

Thanks

at any of the local (Ky) lakes that I fish ... but, on Watts Bar Lake (E. Tn) or Weiss (Ala) it's sometimes the best fishing available.
Wind is a problem, boat control and line watching and the sink rate of your jig are all affected. Some people ease up into an open boat slip (usually after getting to know the dock owner pretty well) if there is one, but most people shoot a dock from the outer sides. Generally casting along the outer edges doesn't produce much for me ... but, if that side of the dock is in the shade, and/or there's some brush along that side, then chances increase. Overall, though, most of the fish I've caught from dock shooting have been back under the dock ... and usually suspended a few feet under the surface. Depending on depth of water under the dock, I'll try and cover the depths in 2ft sections (countdown method) until I hit bottom. I also Vertical Cast the outer dock poles, especially the ones at the slip opening ... but, corner poles can be good too, if they're in the shade.
Though I have yet to actually catch a fish from under a pontoon boat ... I know it's done, and they sometimes can be holding more fish than the dock itself.
Black Crappie seem to be the species that prefers to suspend under docks, though I have caught a few White Crappie from under docks, too. Black Crappie tend to stay out towards the middle to deeper sections of a dock (Spring & Fall) ... while White Crappie seem to gather around the shallower area (in Spring). White Crappie, in the Fall, seem to stay out on the channel drops, more often than not. (at least they seem to at the two lakes I dock shoot)
Your best bet, if the wind is a problem, is to try and put the dock between you and the wind ... even if it means getting between the dock and bank, and shooting towards the front end of the dock.
Common sense tells you to use a heavier jig, to help with the wind/depth/line watching problems that occur during windy conditions ... but, experience has shown me that, using the 1/32-1/24-1/16oz range of jig weights is still the best approach --- you just have to put forth more effort in controlling the boat, to get that one good shot off. You're usually better off, and more productive, getting a few well placed shots in the right area ... than wearing yourself out trying to get a dozen shots off, at random.

More often than not ... I'm using a 5ft spinning outfit - 4lb hi-vis mono - 1/16oz weedless jighead - Panfish Assassin or solid body tube. I swim the jig back with a very slow, constant retrieve (no jumps or jiggles added). I set the hook on any line movement that I know I didn't cause, anytime the line goes slack and I know the jig hasn't hit bottom, and on any "taps" that I can feel thru the rod. MOST of the time, a Crappie hit is just one "tic" in the line ... and a Bluegill hit is a hit and run or machine gun burst of jerks. ALMOST ALL of the time, a sudden slack line is a Crappie !!

If you can find out the general depth the Crappie are holding under a dock, and dock shooting is wearing you out from fighting the elements/wind/waves .... get out the slip floats/longer poles/minners and anchor or hold the boat with the trolling motor ... and swing that minner/float up under there. Let it sit for 10sec's - bring it back out - and swing it back into another spot. Concentrate on the posts under the dock, and any areas underneath that you know (or have reason to believe) that brush exists. Those are usually the prime holding areas of docks. BUT .... don't forget to fish around the front/outer posts, too.
It can also be a good idea to scan the area around the front of the dock ... up to a good 50ft away ... especially if the dock appears to be being used to fish off of. This is especially true of docks that may be in relatively shallow water, but are close to much deeper water. They may have brush piles planted out there, reachable by a cast from the dock itself, knowing that the fish are only going to be "under" the dock (due to the shallow depth of water under it) only at certain times of the year.

Don't give up on dockshooting !! If I had never learned about it, nor learned to do it ... I'd still be going to Watts Bar only in early May, and fishing the shallow brush & blowdowns. I'd be missing out on almost a MONTH of good fishing, in the Spring (late March thru late April). And I'd probably still be going to Watts Bar in the Fall, fishing for Bass in the backs of the creeks/bays .... not realizing I was passing right by docks that were holding Crappie.

.... luck2ya .... cp

[crappiecrazy]

Thanks for the good info! Maybe I will catch a bunch and change my name to "Dock Shootin Crazy".
I gone!

[jh_blount]

I have only done this a handful of times, but when I have, we always anchored down in front of the dock we were shooting. Too much to concentrate on that and try and keep your boat where it needs to be(atleast for me). I always used a lighter jig than some other folks do. Not to say either ones better, just how I was taught. We used a 1/64 jig with the little 1" tubes. real slow fall, just watch your line. Try all you can. If you find'em, youll love it. Good luck!

[crappiecrazy]

The posts really helped! "slow down-dock shootin should be fun" helped the most I think. Crappiepappy hit on a very good point that docks were more black crappie habitat than whites. I guess this is why I was not doing any good on the "practice lake". It is mostly holds a white crappie population. If I had not learned to dock shoot, the trip would have bee a "bust".

[jstlovtofish]

Great pics. Thanks for sharing them with us. Makes me want to build some docks in my local lake just so I can shoot them.

[zappaf19]

Dock shooting is about the only way I fish any more. Yes I have the same troubles as you. I found I have better control if I shoot with my wrist not my arm. Plus I find my self shooting to hard and it does not go where I want it. Like they said slow down.
Bill

[ERNEST PATY]

Dock shooting is my favorite way to fish. Luckily Cedar Creek Lake in Texas, where I have my cabin, has about a thousand docks.

I shoot the jig (a 1/16 oz ball head jig with a bubble bellie glued on it) as far as I can into the shadiest area on the dock and let it fall all the way to the bottom. If nothing happens on the fall I lift it slightly and let it fall again until the jig is out of the dock. Reel in and repeat several times. If nothing bites within 5 or 6 casts I will usually move on.

Watch your line carefully, you will see as many of your strikes as you feel. I prefer 6# Mr. Crappie high viz line.

[crappiecrazy]

Dock shooting is my favorite way to fish. Luckily Cedar Creek Lake in Texas, where I have my cabin, has about a thousand docks.

I shoot the jig (a 1/16 oz ball head jig with a bubble bellie glued on it) as far as I can into the shadiest area on the dock and let it fall all the way to the bottom. If nothing happens on the fall I lift it slightly and let it fall again until the jig is out of the dock. Reel in and repeat several times. If nothing bites within 5 or 6 casts I will usually move on.

Watch your line carefully, you will see as many of your strikes as you feel. I prefer 6# Mr. Crappie high viz line.

Mr Paty,
I was using 1/32 oz jigs and 4# Mr. Crappie line. Had a good time!