Dock Fishing Article

I enjoyed this article on fishing docks. Unlike much of what is written about bass fishing, the author is from Minnesota, so he's fishing water more like ours, than say the swamps of Florida or the gigantic lakes down south.

I'd like to add something to his basic point. While I agree with his notion that many people (including myself) fish docks too fast, in my experience, other than during the spawn, it is very unusual to catch more than one fish off a dock or pontoon. In our area there are some special docks that tend to hold a bunch of fish, but they are special.

I find that docks are best fished on days when fish are in a neutral mood. Days where fish are aggressive, there's much better pattens to fish, and one of the easiest is to fish/drift flat areas adjacent to deeper water. There are few better options than a jig worm or grub for doing this in our area. (Crankbaits work, but pike will empty your wallet pretty quick on some lakes.)

The other thing about the article is the idea that you need to flip. While that's not an issue for an experienced fisherman with the necessary skill set, most people I see around our area aren't in that category. And as such, I don't think you can beat skipping. Tubes, grubs and wacky style baits are easy to skip up and under docks and floating pontoons with just a little practice. Flukes are also great options that can be texas rigged for less hangups underneath docks.

It may be hard to believe, but we'll be gamefishing in 15 days.