Hey ya'll,

 

What are ya'lls favorite baits to sling around docks? Is your choice influenced by how well you can skip em? 

 

 

Senkos, jigs and Rage Bugs, primarily.   But, more and more I am using dropshot when I have enough clearance to pitch it back a bit.

  One thing I never got comfortable with is cranks....or any treble hook lures.  I see pros using or suggesting them all the time.  But for me, there's just way too much opportunity to get hung up on pilings and ropes and hoses and cables....  I will toss a lipless sometimes if I think I can avoid stuff....but that sort of goes against getting it in front of fish a lot of the time.

4 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Rage Bugs

How are you rigging the rage bug? Texas rigged? Pegged or not pegged?

I pretty much just use weightless soft plastics now.  Anything that has lead or a hard material is a no go for me anymore.  I don't need to be clanging lures off docks, boats, lifts, posts, etc.  If I bang a weightless senko into a dock, there's no noise.  I wouldn't even consider a lure with a treble hook.

 

I do use topwaters, spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits around docks, just not underneath them.

 

Lime green with black speck has been my most productive color.  You can actually see the dock I caught it under in the background too.

Jigs and squarebills have been my most productive two but a lot of lures work well around docks .

Tubes and shakey heads. I don’t use wacky rig but that’s what most pros throw around docks 

I don't skip very often. For docks, a light t rig plastic worm is my favourite.

Paddle tail swimbaits

12 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t use wacky rig but that’s what most pros throw around docks

Took a look at what the top 25 pros were using at the Hartwell classic. Whole lotta wacky rigs and jigs. Surprising number of swimbaits. The most interesting was Taku Ito's Norries Flip Gill

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

How are you rigging the rage bug? Texas rigged? Pegged or not pegged?

Always T-rigged....never pegged.  I almost always start with 1/4 and work up or down from that

1 minute ago, Choporoz said:

never pegged

One more for you. Why is that your preference? I played around with pegged versus unpegged recently. Want to get your thoughts.

Chatterbaits, and Wacky rigs are my go to for skipping docks. In the morning I will throw a spook, or a plopper around them as well. 

12 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

One more for you. Why is that your preference? I played around with pegged versus unpegged recently. Want to get your thoughts.

Lazy?

I tried years ago to figure when I should peg and when not to.  I was never able to convince myself that pegging a weight is advantageous.    Oh...except in one circumstance....when bobber fishing worms for sunnies.

4 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Lazy?

I tried years ago to figure when I should peg and when not to.  I was never able to convince myself that pegging a weight is advantageous. 

Well, I found it kinda interesting. Because while I found that a pegged texas rig skips amazingly well and ensures that the weight is connected to the bait throughout the skip instead of flailing wildly around and potentially becoming very far disconnected when the lure finally falls........ I had better results on skipping an unpegged texas rig. This was just a handful of experiences though. I need more time skipping.

Weightless, T rigged Senkos and Ned rigs are what I throw at docks. I can easily skip them, or just work the edges if I can’t go underneath.

wacky rig, jig, texas rig

Don’t forget a hollow frog. I’ve caught a ton of nice bass on a frog that’s skipped under or even just along side a dock. That’s one of my go to dock baits nowadays, with a tube or Berkley General for a follow up bait if a fish blows up and misses the frog. 

3 hours ago, Way north bass guy said:

Don’t forget a hollow frog. I’ve caught a ton of nice bass on a frog that’s skipped under or even just along side a dock. That’s one of my go to dock baits nowadays, with a tube or Berkley General for a follow up bait if a fish blows up and misses the frog. 

I think I’ve only made the follow up thing with a different bait work once. It’s worked a thousand times just throwing the top water in there a second time though 

7 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I think I’ve only made the follow up thing with a different bait work once. It’s worked a thousand times just throwing the top water in there a second time though 

Yeah, I should’ve mentioned that’s usually my first attempt. Most of the time if a fish misses a frog around a dock, it hasn’t felt any hooks, so it’ll hammer it a second time. If after a few extra casts back in there it won’t hit it, I’ll then toss a tube or wacky rig back in, which often seals the deal. 

Really hard to beat a wacky rig. I don’t fish docks much but my strategy is usually to throw a popper to see if any fish will expose themselves and follow the bait. After that, throw back with a wacky rig or 1/16 oz ned rig.
 

I’ve found bass around docks to be mostly skittish, and I’m not sure why. Sometimes the follow up doesn’t always work. 

On 3/24/2022 at 9:49 AM, TnRiver46 said:

Tubes and shakey heads. I don’t use wacky rig but that’s what most pros throw around docks 

Tubes have been good for me

Fat Ika

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/lake-guntersville-2012.html

We have a large lake ( Anna ) that I make it to a couple of times a year that has hundreds of docks and I only throw 2 baits....... wacky rig Senko's and Zoom flukes.

Yes, it's because they skip so well.

Anybody NOT TOSS at docks & piers ?

49 minutes ago, cyclops2 said:

Anybody NOT TOSS at docks & piers ?

AT docks and piers - no, I do not.

Beside or under - yes, quite often.

 

Hitting the dock, pier or docked boat is encroachment here and ticks off the dock/boat owners.