Best bait for Skipping distance?

I fish with a buddy who is very, very good at catching fish from under docks. I'm okay at skipping my 1/16 oz lead head with a normal 2" curl tail grub on 4# mono. My question is How to get more skipping distance? Is there a couple of plastics that just generally skip better/farther? What is the give/take with a fatter body plastic vs a heavier or lighter jig head. I don't "shoot" much, only when the wind has us hemmed and the boat is blowing around.

I'm on the back deck and many times when the boat is being corrected from the wind, I'm trying to skip an extra 12-14' more than him on the front deck. I do switch between a 5' and 6.5' rod depending on how tight we are fishing to the docks.

And I really need to learn to cast with my left arm and/or back-hand with my right.

What bait set ups skip best for you?

Thanks,

Dayton

Dayton ... I found that a solid body plastic bait does seem to skip better/farther than a hollow body tube. So far, in my somewhat limited experience of dock shooting, I've found the Bass Assassin 1.5" Tiny Shad to be one of the better "skippers". I normally use a 1/16oz weedless jighead ... 6# hi-viz Vicious line ... and use my 6'6" ESP PowerLite rod (Very Fast Action tip) & Okuma Stratus STX20 reel.

These are not what I started my dock shooting with, which was a 5' UL rod/reel outfit & 4# test mono, but it is what I'm using nowadays. And I rarely, if ever, attempt to sidearm cast to shoot a dock, simply because I can (slingshot) "shoot" the jig farther and with more accuracy .... especially when the openings are narrow.

In those instances when the wind makes boat control a little dicey and the rear seat angler is kept "out of range" ... I tell the rear seat angler to stand in the floor of the boat & behind my seat to get his shot off. That does two things (in his favor) : he's lower to the water's surface, so his shot trajectory helps him skip the jig farther, and he has to bend over a lot less than when sitting in the raised platform seat of my boat. It also means that both lines are more parallel to each other, and there's a lot less chance of crossed lines.

Dayton,
Come on down to Buggs and go out with me and GeneC for a day when the weather warms and fish are on the docks. Gene is the best dock shooter I've ever fished with and has taught me allot. I also believe a longer rod will help you increase your distance as well.

I have been using the brush glider and the slim stick for dock shooting and have been very pleased.

Check out the Bobby Garland crappie shooters. They’re made to rig flat so they skip across the water then glide as they sink. Don’t have docks here on my home lake but they catch a ton of fish when I skip them under branches or on a float.

Bobby garland baby shad has flat sides and works good for skipping, along with any that are built similar. I use a 1/32 with a #4 hook mostly and find a 1/16 a bit heavy for my taste. Use the rod that you’re most comfortable with but try your buddies longer one when you can.

I had a bud tell me the best dock shooters he ever saw were using super stiff 7 foot rods and fat body plastics
I cast some baits myself and don't shoot per say and have seen some baits do better than others skipping on the surface
sometimes it seems a heavy bait does well to me ….that said 1/16 is about all the higher I go on weight
that's my 2 cents

A straight tail (stinger) type bait is going to skip better than a curl or paddle tail. Simply because their isn't as much bait to touch the water. You know, physics... :)

A heavier head is going to give you the potential to skip it further but I still use a 32 instead of a 16 most of the time.

Discalimer.... I can get a jig way up under a dock, but I ain't worth a flip at catching anything doing so.

Hey fur, just wait til,that day when the planets align and you can do no wrong. You’ll be telling people you don’t know how good it is.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

that day when the planets align and you can do no wrong.

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Skeet, I could mess up a one car funeral procession.

This weeks warm weather has me getting kinda itching for some skipping!

Go get em Ranger! Let us know how you do.