Funded by MAFWA Multistate Conservation Grant #F25AP00104-00
While docks are a great place to find crappie year-round, in the spring and fall crappie can suspend under docks by the dozens. The docks act as great cover from predators and the harsh sun. Additionally, the docks are full of baitfish that the crappie can snack on! The technique of shooting docks involves using small lures to imitate these snack sized bait fish and shooting them deep under docks right under the nose of a hungry crappie.
When you are shooting docks, you want to use a small light lure. Sometimes it is believed that a flat lure can skip just a little bit better than others, but most jigs with a soft plastic trailer will do the trick. You’ll want a rod with some backbone to it so that when you go to “slingshot” the bait, the rod can snap back into its normal position with ease.
This was my first time shooting docks and I had a lot to learn. Getting that bait to skip wasn’t as easy as I initially thought. I watched my friend do it and he made it look so simple! My first couple attempts weren’t pretty.
Here’s a few things I learned that made the skipping part of dock shooting a little easier on me.
- Hold the jig head between your fingers. Pull the lure back far – down by the butt of the rod. Aim the rod where you want the lure to go, and let go. Try your best to go as parallel as you can to the water to help the skipping capability. If your aim is too perpendicular to the water it’ll just make a big splash.
- Only have enough line out so that the lure is level with the rod eye closest to the reel. At first, I had way too much line out so when I tried to slingshot it, it had no velocity and kind of splatted in the water right in front of me. It wasn’t skipping at all. Less line out and really pulling the lure back made a huge difference in the distance of each pitch.
- It can be helpful to use line that you can easily see. Sometimes the crappie bite pretty subtly, so watching your line for any sudden movement could be key to catching finicky fish.
- For me, the crappie I caught all hit on the fall. Once I got the jig under the dock, I’d let it fall and I’d get the bite – but this isn’t always how it goes. Sometimes some jerks to the lure do some good. Other times slow reeling with pauses is the way to go. Mix it up if you aren’t getting any bites.
It took me quite some time to get the hang of the action of shooting the lure deep under the docks, but it was a fun afternoon on Lake Palestine! Keep in mind, getting lures deep under docks comes with a few snags. There’s often debris, posts, and even whole brush piles under docks that you simply can’t see that you’ll get tangled in. This is to be expected! Don’t be too hard on yourself for getting stuck every now and again. It’s all part of fishing docks. Ask me how I know. I learned a lot on the water today and found a crappie along the way! I was shooting docks from a boat today, but I’d love to try this from my kayak sometime soon. I’ll be sure to update y’all on any differences I notice between shooting docks from a boat and kayak. If you’ve never had the opportunity to shoot docks, I highly recommend giving it a try! Pick up your Texas fishing license, give yourself time to practice, and then just go for it!
