(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
The Carolinas are a hotbed of dock-fishing wonderlands and these manmade pieces of cover are fully within three-time Bassmaster Classic competitor Jake Whitaker’s wheelhouse. He has a particular fondness for the floating variety, which may be necessitated by Corps of Engineer restrictions and/or fluctuating water levels. But don’t think it’s just limited to places like Lake Norman.
“This is not just a Carolinas pattern,” he emphasized. It’s something that can work from ankle deep out to 30 or even 40 feet, any place such docks exist, and he particularly likes it during the pre-spawn. “It’s just a fabulous way to catch those big ones.”
Sometimes it’s an all-day deal, but often he waits until the late morning or early afternoon, when the sun is high and the shadows sit directly under the docks. That positions the fish predictably on those ambush points. He particularly likes the docks with black floats, which hold the heat. Fish just leaving their wintering holes gravitate to that heat source and it’s often possible to see them with a good pair of polarized sunglasses.
Targeting them can involve multiple different presentations, everything from swimbaits to jerkbaits to all manners of soft plastics. “It’s basically pick your poison and do your best and make that cast and you can get them to bite,” Whitaker said. His favorite tool, it seems, is a wacky-rigged soft stickbait. Part of the reason for that is because it skips exceptionally easily and for long distances. On top of that, it doesn’t sink to the bottom quickly, which keeps it in the strike zone for fish suspended beneath the floats. It’s a very subtle, very easy meal.
On lakes with hundreds of docks, there may be key stretches, so Whitaker said that the key strategy is to cover water quickly but effectively.
“I’m a dock fisherman by trade, so I try to fish as many boat docks as possible in a day’s time,” he said. Until he patterns the fish, or finds an area that’s holding a disproportionate number of biting bass, he’ll hit key spots on each dock – those may include the front corner on each side, the back corner on each side, and the boat slip if one exists. Another place he’s found them patterned is under walkways. If there’s a single float halfway down an extended walkway, that’s also another good pattern in many cases.
Forward-facing sonar has changed the game, allowing him to pinpoint many active fish, but he noted that sometimes the bass tuck in so tight to the floats that sonar won’t distinguish them. That’s why it can be key to throw a lure like a large swimbait down the side of the dock to draw them out. Even if the bass just follows and won’t commit, it’s possible to come back later and catch them with something else.
Whitaker also pays close attention to his surroundings to find docks that may have a little extra attraction underneath. If landowners are cutting trees or clearing brush, he looks for evidence of those remains around the visible cover and then gives those areas extra attention.
If you want to learn some of the other secrets Whitaker employs when fishing floating docks, including information on how he identifies the best older floats, check out his full video filmed at the Bassmaster Classic, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
