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A buddy and I decided to brave the rain this morning and headed out to fish Sinclair. We had hopes of pulling in a good mess of crappie, but the fish didn't cooperate very much. We did manage to boat a couple of crappie, a 6 lb. bass, a few hand-sized bream, and several 1-1.5 lb. catfish. Is it normal to catch catfish while shooting docks for crappie? Also, does anyone have any tips to hopefully make our next trip a little more productive?
Thanks,
Kent
Kent:
I don't get a chance to shoot docks much , but I have at Sinclair a few times. look at a good map or lake map chip in your sonar unit. docks in 8-15 fow OLD, CLOSE TO WATER , SOLID TOPS, DOUBLE DOOR BOAT HOUSES...ETC.. SHADE IS THE KEY....AND WITH ALL THIS NICE WEATHER,...WELL...THERE GOES THAT EQUATION. 1/24 oz sugar bugs or jiffy jigs... try different colors...4lb hi viz on a 5-5.5 ft spinning rod.... I'd look at the whole left side of crooked creek...little river to Haslam's... best I can tell ya for now....good luck!
It is normal to catch catfish when you shoot docks. I usually catch at least 3 or 4. When you are shooting docks you can catch almost any fish that is in the lake. All fish love the structure and shade of docks. One of the fun things about dock shooting is every dock is a new adventure. I have caught 88 fish off of one dock and they were still biting but we had a limit. Dock fishing is fun and it kind of reminds me of bass fishing. Good luck with your dock shooting.
88 fish off of one dock...WOW!!! Where did you say that dock is? Just kidding, but seriously, what areas of the lake should I focus on. We fished mostly in Rooty Creek. Also, what color jigs are best? We fished a variety of colors, but mostly fished a pink and white head with an acid rain curly tail body.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slabby15
You need to pm Riverhawk. He's the man on Sinclair. The catfish are eating the eggs under the dock. Andy-1 Cove
All areas of the lake have good docks. It depends more on the depth of water, and the shade. In general like Jody said you need to look for docks with at least 8 foot of water or deeper. They seem to hold more fish. I have caught fish on docks in as little as 4 foot of water but that was always in the spring. Sometimes the fish like jigs like Hal Flys or Jiffy Jigs and sometimes they like curly tails and other types of lures too. You just have to try different lures and colors. Some days everything works. The main thing is you have to learn to watch your line. Most of the hits you see your line move or jump. When they are hitting hard you can feel them like a bass hitting a worm or crank bait. You have to practice until you can shoot way back under the dock. Fish the dock every where there is shade. You never know where they are stacked up at under the dock. Sooner or later you will find a dock with a lot of willing fish and you will catch 20 or 30 from it. Those are the docks to remember.
Thanks for the info guys. I'm trying to talk my buddy into going again this weekend. Also trying to get permission from my wife. The latter is probably gonna be tougher to convince.