Dock shooting line

[catchNgrease]

I have began to learn how to dock shoot. Got a long ways to go with distance and accuracy but when I do make a good shoot it pendulums back at me really fast. Can y'all make a recommendation for a line or am I over thinking. I was using 8# trilene sensation with 1/32-1/24 jigs. The guy that was tutoring me could fall almost straight down.

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[jawjatek]

I use K9 hi-viz flouro 4 lb to dock shoot, and love it. Much stronger than the rating, so you can horse a fish away from posts, but only 0.165 mm diameter, so it shoots well. Plus, it sinks, whereas mono floats. Your mono is too heavy - in my opinion only.

I always close the bail immediately after the shot, and watch the line like a hawk. Sometimes they grab it fast, and you need to be able to set the hook right away. Like right now, the fish are very shallow under the dock where I fish, so you need to start retrieving immediately, not let it sink. I find them with my electronics, and can see how deep they are before I make the first shot. A good rule is to start out shallow, and increase the depth on every shot until you get bit.

[catchNgrease]

To make sure I understand...my 8# mono is heavy in weight and effecting my distance...and because mono don't sink it's causing my jig head to fall back at me... Is that correct?

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[jawjatek]

The thicker line (0.250 mm) is definitely affecting the distance. I would surmise that the line is harder for the little jigs to pull under water, hence more pendulum effect. All lines are going to do this to some degree. The only way to get it to sink straight down is to free line it with bail open, but you will miss strikes, so I think it is more important to close the bail. A thinner line that sinks would pendulum less, but that is a guess. I don't have a problem with it, and I always use 1/32 oz. jig heads, maybe 1/24 oz. at the heaviest.

[deathb4disco]

I'd drop down to 4# line max.

[Rojo]

When I switched to 10# NANO shooting 1/32oz with #4 sickle hooks my catch rate sky rocketed. Also pulling carp and the like, the bi-catch strong fish, out of the pilings became much easier. Now I even shoot over horizontals, with a fish on the hook, I drag them over the boards back into the water. You just have to time their flop with your quick tug to get their head started over. When shooting clean docks, no cables, horizontals, diagonal braces, etc. I shoot with 4# NANO, especially if the water is deep under the dock. Hope this is helpful, may not be super "Sporty", more commando fishing.

[Slabprowler]

Have wasted prolly 100 bucks on trying different line ! For shooting docks my it doesn’t get any better than Berkeley solar it’s hi viz green and is the toughest line I’ve ever used and I use the 4# .not going to name all the high dollar/name brand lines that’s supposed to be so great that got threw in the trash. for the fact of hurting lots folks feelings . Other than that I use a fresh roll high viz Vicious or Mr crappie.

[CrappiePappy]

I have began to learn how to dock shoot. Got a long ways to go with distance and accuracy but when I do make a good shoot it pendulums back at me really fast. Can y'all make a recommendation for a line or am I over thinking. I was using 8# trilene sensation with 1/32-1/24 jigs. The guy that was tutoring me could fall almost straight down.

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I would have to ask what line & jig weight your tutor was using. You close the bail after the jig splashes down and ANY size/weight jig is going to pendulum back to you, if you're not reeling in.

I shot docks for years with 4# mono Stren Gold / Mr Crappie (USA made) and they worked just fine. Nowadays I'm using 6# Vicious Panfish Copolymer and would use it for dock shooting. When I was shooting docks I would be using 1/16oz jigs most of the time, and 1/32oz jigs on occasion. (just for clarity, the docks usually had between 12 & 20+fow under them, for the most part)

I never was one to wait on the jig to pendulum back to me, instead I'd start reeling as soon as the jig started sinking ... but, control depth by the speed of my retrieve. If that failed to produce, I'd let the jig sink for a couple of seconds and then start cranking ... and continue to add a couple of seconds to the sinking time until I was satisfied that no fish were there, in any part of the water column. Then I'd move around to a different section of the dock or a different angle and repeat the process. And, in almost all cases, I'd key in on the dock posts, or the darkest section under the dock, and finish off by Vertical Casting the outer dock posts (if in shade). And if you haven't read my article on Vertical Casting, it's basically dropping the jig straight down beside the post, to the bottom, and then very slowly reeling the jig straight back up.

It works in other scenarios, too, so here's a link to the article : Crappie Pappy Article

[catchNgrease]

CrappiePappy

I have read that and I will read it again. I use my variation of your pendulum cast. If the fishing is tough I shuffle the lightest jig I got out the distance of the depth of the water and let it fall to the bottom. The number of fish I've found. Sometimes it involves just a gold hook & a minnow.

My tutor was using 4# hivis and come to think of it probably was solar.

I've tried a coated floro before and it was junk. Might have been before I could successfully spool a reel.

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[lowe175]

Have wasted prolly 100 bucks on trying different line ! For shooting docks my it doesn’t get any better than Berkeley solar it’s hi viz green and is the toughest line I’ve ever used and I use the 4# .not going to name all the high dollar/name brand lines that’s supposed to be so great that got threw in the trash. for the fact of hurting lots folks feelings . Other than that I use a fresh roll high viz Vicious or Mr crappie.

Berkeley is where it's at. Wonder who turned you on to that line?

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