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I shoot a panfish assassin on a 1/24 oz head 99.9% of the time but was curious what all you guys use, weight, soft plastic and what color do you usually start with. What rod and line do you use also. I'm not really happy with my Fenwick 6'3" medium light after I broke a old 6'2" medium light Shimano Clarus. I'm not as accurate with my new rod.
Panfish Assassins 1.5" - Popsicle
1/16oz weedless ballhead jig
6#test Vicious copolymer hi-vis
6'6" ESP PowerLite rod
Wally Marshall seed shooter is my favorite! I like a stiffer rod ! And it’s a good all around rod ! Good sale on them at Academy sports just bought 2 more 7’ . 4#hi viz any brand that is fresh works well for me ! 1/16th and 1/32nd hand tie in white/chartreuse or black/chartreuse. Or 2” stinger shad monkey milk
BnM Sharpshooter Six with 1/32 Shad stinger plastics.
I love my hand ties but think smooth plastics skip a little better.
1/32 #2 red sickle jig head, Power Pro slick 8 2 pound diameter, 7 foot ML Okuma Celilo rod, Pflueger President XT reel. Bobby Garland baby shad in Lights Out color to start
I have 3 rods I dock shoot with: Denali Pryme 6', ACC Crappie Stix 6'6" (new), and a Cadence 6'3" MLXF CS7 one-piece. I like them all, I keep all three rigged and ready in case of break-off, color change, etc, I just grab another. Favorite? I give the nod to the Cadence, must be the xtra-fast action, but it really shoots farthest, and is also the lightest. Any hi-viz 4# line is fine, usually Mr Crappie. Usually shoot a 1/32 jig head with plastics which vary wildly in brand, shape, and color.
I use several rods for shooting, usually whatever I have in my hand. They all have different personalities but a couple of shots and I’m up to speed. 5’ ul to 6’6” medium light fast. I do better with a larger spooled reel like a 1500 series, but my President 6920’s do well also. Mostly 4lb BPS offshore angler tight lines, hi vis. My shooting these days is under branches and into small pockets around the base of trees so accuracy is key.
Most often used lately is a 5’6” lightning rod UL, President 6920 with 2lb nanofil with a 4lb clear mono leader launching a 1/48 oz jig. I’m sending the little jig as far as I have been shooting a 1/32 jig on my 6’6” with 4lb line. Fighting bigger surprise fish has also been successful.
Hope this helps and you find what you’re after. Practice and time on the water will develop this technique faster and better than anything else. In TN the docks were all floaters and the small holes of today will be the same for time unending. If you couldn’t hit it today you better practice because it will be the same tomorrow. I could barely hit an 8” square when I started shooting docks, now I am confident that I can hit a 4” square at 20’ and pull that fish out. You’ll be able to do the same. Find a rod that works for you, cheaper the better, and set the drag to where it slips before the rod lets go. Then don’t use any other rod to shoot with until you can hit what you target without much thought. By then you will have your casting rod in hand and not think anything about shooting the dock you’re approaching. Keep us posted.
bnm sharpshooter6 also ozark dock shooter, 1/32 from lite wire hooks Curtis Hobbs, 4 & 6lb stren crappie hivis, bobby garland and strike king color depends on conditons
I use some older model BnM Sharpshooter rods with size 20 Okuma Stinson spinning reels. I use 8lb hi-vis power pro with a 1/24 jig head. Bait so choice are 2" slab tails or shadpoles. If I have a foot of half of clearance on the docks I will use a Daiwa spincasting reel with a 6ft Daiwa rod. I can cast this rig under handed and the jig way back in the slips.
Thank you gentlemen.
I’m jealous of you guys that can shoot docks on your home lake. The only docks I have available are the floating type and no way to get under them except the small spaces between the floats.
Oh well, someday...
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Those hold fish too. Some days those floaters hold the best fishQuote:
Originally Posted by CrappieDreamer
Yeah floating dock are some of my favorite cause they are harder to fish, many people don't mess with them.
I've tried a bunch of rods to shoot docks and I don't even fish that way more than once a month. My favorite rod by a long shot is my 6' G Loomis E6X 721S SJR. It's a pretty stiff action rod. It doesn't deflect at all if you whip it back and forth. I don't like a rod that's "whippy" on the tip for dock shooting. You spoke about the accuracy of the shot, with the rods you've used. I can put the jig exactly where I want it through the tiniest hole with this rod. Not so with others.
I'm not great at catching them while dock shooting yet, but I am gonna get there. It's not the shooting that hampers me, it's the having time to find docks with fish on them on this grass covered lake I fish.
I think I'd like a Denali Pryme 6' dock rod. I bought a 5' dock rod on closeout last winter and tried it for the first time last week. It's got a similar action to the G Loomis but it's too short for my tastes. The action is a little on the heavy side, compared to the G Loomis but I think it's workable.
One of my new favorite baits are Crappie Magnets. I was up 7-0 on my fishing buddy Saturday before he put one on.
So are you guys normally “shooting” by pulling back the bait to load up the tip and then release, or simply “skipping” the bait by casting side arm?
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When I do it I shoot it like a slingshot. Pull back by bait and then fling it somewhere.....lol.
"Shooting" for me !! I never really got the hang of sidearm casting (with any accuracy), plus I started dock shooting with a 5' rod ... so it would have been hard to do that & maintain boat position for my partner. Besides, I generally don't shoot docks at the lakes I fish here in KY, as most of them don't have private docks (stationary or floating). Most of my dock shooting has been done in Tenn & Ala. and I haven't been making many of those trips in the last several years.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappieDreamer
I shoot with a spinning reel and sidearm with a spincaster. I tried using the sidearm method with a spinning reel and you really have to be good to be accurate. It's fairly easy with a spincaster.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappieDreamer
Pull back and slingshot under the dock also.
I do both. A stiffer rod is better for shooting, a softer rod is better for casting and skipping. I can shoot accurately with a stiff rod but not skip, I can skip very accurately with a soft tipped rod but it has to be a Xtra fast action or it doesn't shoot well for me. I could do both with my old rod thus this thread. I'm mainly looking for a rod.
The ESP PowerLite rods have good backbone & very fast action tips. The 6' version and the 6'6" version are basically the same rod, except for the 6" of extended handle on the 6'6" rod. The handle on the 6' rod doesn't have the extension. ESP rods have graphite handles (Tenn style) with high impact plastic rings to hold the reel, and the Tenn style handle allows you some wiggle room in placing the reel on the handle so that the outfit balances. Inside the hollow graphite handle there are metallic rings around the blank that transmit vibrations from the blank to the handle. The rod has a large gathering guide, then decreasing sized micro guides & tip (to keep the line as straight as possible during the cast, for better accuracy & distance).Quote:
Originally Posted by T-roy 120
I originally taped my reel to the handle (over the rings) because I wasn't confident the rings would hold ... currently there is no tape on the rod and I've not had any problems. The micro guides/tip are not real conducive to using most forms of "bobber stops", but I will admit I haven't tried the string ties. I have other rods more suited for slip float usage, so I don't even bother using the ESP rod for anything but for casting purposes.
(Disclaimer ... I was a Field Tester for the VP of Marketing & original designer of ESP rods, and received my ESP rods for free & feedback to him. I am not in the employ of ESP or Norsemen Outdoors, nor am I beholding to them to advertise/recommend their products. I do so because I love the rods and enjoy using them.)
I have a 6 ft esp power lite and it is a really good rod for crappie... I am a land bound and have never fished a dock but imagine the esp would fit the bill... I cut the rings off mine and taped the reel on it... great rod
I load and shoot myself mostly, but will skip one sidearm if the need arises. This is what I speak of when I say that one must have the right rod. I can fish with any rod, but certain rods have things they are better at than others. The one rod that fits the bill for most all of the way you fish is the one we all seek, and it changes from person to person. Good backbone, fair middle and tip soft enough to load and launch a light jig without dominating the rest of the rod. I have a couple and they are sweet, and none are expensive. Most surprise fish get a lesson in little rods as these handle them nicely. A 5’6” , 2 piece Lightning Rod with a President 6920 and 2 lb line goes all the way down to a 1/64 jig nicely, and has no trouble controlling a 1/32 with a 2” Bobby garland baby Shad. All of my other rods are long since out of production. My all time favorite is a 6’6” lightning rod that states medium action but has a soft enough tip to fit the bill. The newer ones are too stiff everywhere to be valuable to me. It took me quite a while to perfect the technique and understand what I needed and longer to find it, but man, it’s sooooo much fun I would do it again. Hope I have helped some.