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I fish a Northern Minnesota lake that has really dark water and very little weed growth. I can catch crappie there in the fall but can’t find them in the summer. It’s my understanding that there are a lot of Crappies found under docks on this lake in the summer. Can anyone tell me what the best rod, reel, line and lures work best for this type of fishing? Also can you tell me the procedure for getting the lure to skip under the dock? Any and all information is very appreciated! Thanks!
Jim
Youtube is a good resource to see the mechanics of dock shooting. I prefer a 6' light action rod with a 2500 size reel for most of my dock shooting. I also prefer braid because of it's toughness and ability to wrestle out whateve graps your jig under a dock. Big bass, large cats and even a mirror carp have grabbed jig from under a dock
There's nothing eles like the sport of skipping or shooting docks. I learned the technique sitting in a lawn chair waiting on an engine rebuild in my yard. Like DSJ said plenty of videos out there on it...how.. when....where.
Plenty of choice differences out there from 4.5 ft all the way to 12 ft on rods. So anything you got will get you started. Good luck and welcome to the forum from N. Alabama.
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You can skip with just about any rod/reel/line combo out there. Bass guys do it with anything from a ML/F spinning rig with 6# Flourocarbon to a H/F casting rig with 65# braid. It's learning how to side-arm properly that's the trick. Just like skipping a rock...you don't toss the rock overhand to skip it, you side-sling it.
https://youtu.be/JtqQMP5xEFs
Rod length is not as important as the bend in that rod tip being in a vertical “plane” (for accuracy) ... when you pull that parabola in the rod tip = that rod tip (under the rod backbone) needs to be vertical (with the rod backbone) ... Any deviation from vertical will shoot that jig at an angle from where intended ...and create un-repeatable results ...
Note: Timing of releasing the jig vs releasing the line off the tip of the finger is gained with practice ... each rod will be different ...
If the vertical parabola (in the rod loading up) is correct = the direction (path) intended will be correct ...
Then the timing (of the jig release vs the line release) will determine if the jig “digs into the water” ... skips satisfactorily ... or sails into the air ...
Rickie
BTW ... in an open water casting scenario = “shooting” sometimes works just as well as “overhand” casting (in that windy situation) - where the wind can catch the line in the overhand cast ... and push the cast in an unintended direction ...
Try “shooting” in a windy open water scenario and see if target accuracy and retrieve path increases ...:twocents
Hint: longer “whippy” rods have more stored “shooting” energy than short “whippy” shooting rods ...
I have forced myself to learn shooting and casting with a 9’ Sam Heaton Super Sensitive - because it works for both casting and shooting - with practice ...
Rickie
I've shot docks with rods from 5ft to 10ft, but prefer a 6.5' rod (med action - fast tip)
I've used 4# & 6# mono, currently using 6#
Grip line with index finger & open bail
Hold jig by the head with hook pointing up and away from your hand.
Pull jig back to near the first guide past the reel or until rod is "loaded up"
Aim with your line - with a slight angle downwards from jig to rod tip (aim to hit water just under edge of dock)
Release jig ... then release line held by finger as jig passes rod tip (timing of release is trickiest part of dock shooting)
Practice can be done on driveway ... try to shoot jig into small bucket by making it ricochet off the drive just in front of bucket. 5gal bucket to start with is OK, then try a 2gal bucket. Work on your release timing FIRST, then on accuracy.
I try not to shoot a jig from more than 10ft away from the edge of the dock .... as in "rod tip is not more than 10ft from edge".
And if I'm shooting stationary docks (docks on poles), I'll use the Vertical Casting method around the outer poles before moving on to another dock. (Vertical Casting explained : Please Wait... | Cloudflare )
I use 1/32oz & 1/16oz jigs with 1.5-2.5" plastic grubs/tubes (prefer solid body tubes to hollow tubes, as they do seem to skip better)
you can cast and skip , it requires a bit of skill but can be obtained .
it is quite similar to skipping stones , fat body baits skip better .
very low angles to the water surface are required with pretty high velocities
stationary docks are the easiest to "learn" on , floating docks are really challenging .
most of the time sitting down on the front deck or in a kayak or something along those lines , gets you down closer to the water surface and helps with the trajectory .
some folks like myself can stand on docks and skip it backwards under their own feet up under the dock as well .
much more tricky than the original version for sure ....:Rofl
I’ve been shooting docks and such for a lot of years, and everything said so far is very good. Practice in the front yard is a real plus til you get to where you can get near a given object, like a coffee container. I want to warn you that some rods aren’t conducive to the necessary bend and will snap. I set my drag to where it’s beginning to slip when I’m pulling pretty hard. I had two cherrywood rods and broke em both. Nowadays I shoot with just about any rod I have in my hand and the need arises. As you begin doing this you’ll find a couple of rods that do it better than the others but for now I would start with something like a Shakespeare micro series rod in 5’6” to 6’6” and some four lb mono hi vis and a 1/16 or 1/32 jig and a Bobby garland baby Shad that’s flat sided and skips real well. Good luck and have fun with it. And enjoy the “Surprise” fish.
Being new to this myself the previous posts are excellent. I started with the Shakespeare rod and 4# line. Still working on being consistent with it but I am improving. My suggestion would be to take plenty of patience with you. Happy hunting :fish
All manner of things under docks ready to snag, cut, or break off a line. Getting hung up and having to retie is frustrating especially when the fish are biting, but is the reality of fishing under docks.
A bit off topic ........ and I have not done it but would assume boat control would also be a big factor when shooting and when you get the fish on especially with any wind. I would probably end up in a mess and scare all the fish away..
Indeed !! Boat control is a big factor in wind or current, and may dictate how many times you get to shoot your jig under the dock or even where you get to shoot it ... especially if your boat tends to drift with the slightest breeze.Quote:
Originally Posted by rufishn
Reminds me of a Spring Fling we had down on Watts Bar many years ago. Sustained winds of nearly 30mph made for some tough conditions. The winning team shot docks, but they pulled their boat in "behind" the dock rather than shooting from the front or sides. At least that was what they told me they did.
Learn to roll cast then you won't have to shoot much. Boat positioning is everything. Good luck
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Which is why I always had more than one rod rigged to shoot docks, plus always using weedless jigs. That always helped, but still wasn't 100% effective. But like you say, that's the reality of shooting docks !!Quote:
Originally Posted by DockShootinJack
Spotlock and spotlock jog features on the new type trolling motors certainly make boat control a whole lot easier. Being able to control the boat remotely from anywhere on the boat is also a good thing when shooting. I can spotlock the trolling motor with the baot pointed into the wind blowing at the dock and then shoot off the back of the boat. Before the new type of trolling motors that would have taken one person to control the boat the other to shoot the dockQuote:
Originally Posted by rufishn
That's a good point. I spend a lot of time shooting from the back of the boat.Quote:
Originally Posted by DockShootinJack
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I can walk the boat around the dock with a few pushes of the bottons to activate spotlock jog. The days where the wind is swirling from every direction can be the most difficult on boat positioning
A spincast reel is a great tool to skip docks. I can throw a jig with pinpoint accuracy with the same mechanics as skipping a rock. It's hard to explain but you flip your wrist during the casting motion. I would suggest anyone pull out the old spincast reel and try it. It really works.
I have a few underlever spincast hanging around thinking the wife will want to shoot docks some day
Boat control is a big issue, very true. But there’s many ways that you’ll deal with it. Learning to prepare and waiting for the window of opportunity to shoot deep into the shade as the wind eases you by. You’ll make a mess of things but that’s how we all learned. And when you blow in on top of these fish, you go to the next dock and come back to this one in a while. No biggie. If I’m running the TM and my guest hooks a good one, my first move is to open water giving him the time and space to control whatever ate his jig.took a friend once that pitched under a floating dock, a good deep shot, and I saw the line twitch. He set the hook and fought a 5+lb LMB for the next few minutes. Big fish like little snacks.Quote:
Originally Posted by rufishn
One of the better shooters I saw on lake Guntersville when I was just started came around the corner in a stick steer boat, dropped his electric anchor winches and commenced to wesring the fish out then he was on to the next. He had it down to an art. As Skip has said when you snag a good one I will point the trolling motor to open water, click it on high speed and get some diatance between me and the dock to work the fish out. Attachment 417770
This one grabbed a Bobby Garland Blue Ice jig and gave me a 10 minute fight. I was thinking catfish the whole time. Attachment 417772
Fishing buddy wrestled this one out from under a dock on UL gear. Those bonus fish make things interesting
I have a set of 10 ft power poles work great fishing into the windQuote:
Originally Posted by rufishn
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downwind side is typically the best approach , it is frustrating as heck to be on the upwind side .Quote:
Originally Posted by rufishn
on the shallower docks yes THIS ...Quote:
Originally Posted by 220cst
Thank you all for the great information. As soon as the 3 feet of snow on the ground melts ( likely sometime in April) I’m going to start practicing in my yard! Will let you all know how it goes!
Thanks again! Jim