Dock Talk
By David Hart

As a multi-species guide on Virginia’s Lake Anna, Chris McCotter is constantly searching for the next hotspot on his popular home lake. It’s his job to put clients on fish, and when the crappie are spawning, he needs to find them. When the spawn is on, that usually means grass. McCotter, however, learned a valuable lesson several years ago during the second spawn, a brief period that typically surrenders quality fish.

“I went back to the same grass lines in early May that produced so well during the spawn in early April, and I just figured the next wave of fish would be in the same places,” he says.

They weren’t, so McCotter went looking for fish in places he normally didn’t look that time of year — docks. Not only did he find crappie, he found good concentrations of quality fish around docks with a few key ingredients.

“I catch them off docks quite a bit in fall, but I didn’t realize docks were so good in late spring as well,” he says.

That lesson early in his career turned out to be a valuable one. Now, McCotter probes docks throughout the year, targeting the popular panfish with a light-action rod and a 1-inch jig while his clients cast for bass. It’s a great way to stay on top of current patterns, and it’s one of the best ways to learn new spots.

“I’ve really learned a lot about crappie and docks because I’m constantly looking for those fish on docks, pretty much all year,” he adds.

The Perfect Dock
No matter what season crappie gather around docks, some of those wooden structures are clearly better than others. Before he makes the first cast, McCotter will study a map to locate those places where the main river channel swings close to coves.

He also likes to concentrate his efforts where a creek channel meets another main channel, either a larger creek or the main river itself. Again, he likes to see that type of intersection relatively close to the bank, usually within 100 yards.

On his home lake, docks are liberally scattered along the shore, so there’s a good chance an area that looks good on a map will also look good in person. Deep water is a primary ingredient in his dock equation, and piers located near that deeper water is a great place to start searching for crappie.

“I’m looking for depths of at least 20 feet,” McCotter says. “That gives the fish the freedom to move up and down as conditions, fishing pressure and boat traffic change.”
An even better situation is the presence of some sort of cover near those creek or river channels. Brush or rocks within 50 or 100 yards of a line of docks mean crappie can retreat to deeper cover on a whim. They don’t have to travel far, which means they will move in and out as conditions change, holding on either deep cover or shallower docks.
The dock itself is equally important as the presence of deeper water. Some seem to hold more fish than others. While virtually any structure can attract crappie, docks lower to the water offer overhead cover and extra shade, an important feature on sunny days. McCotter also scores on docks with lots of pilings, cross-ties, ladders and other noticeable features.
“If I find a dock with all those features and it’s close to deep water, I’m going to spend some time on it,” he says. “You can be sure of that.”

Depth is far less important to Garry Mason, a multi-species Kentucky Lake guide who specializes in panfish. For him, few things are as important as the presence of some sort of brush adjacent to or even under the dock. Without cover, the crappie often won’t use docks on his home lake.

“Fortunately, fishing is a big deal on Kentucky Lake, and just about every dock has some sort of cover around it,” Mason says. “The lake is usually lowered about 5 feet in winter, so I’ll cruise around during that period and look for new brush around docks or I’ll scout areas that I’m not thoroughly familiar with then so I can locate some new spots for spring and fall.”

McCotter also likes to see brush but says it can be something as large as a pile of Christmas trees or as small as a few branches anchored to the bottom or tied to one of the pilings. Too much brush only crowds the fish out of the prime spot and makes fishing difficult. Still, neither guide will skip a dock with lots of brush because it’s just too attractive to the fish.

McCotter is far less concerned about the presence of brush on docks in the upper reaches of his home lake. That’s because the water is dirtier, often downright muddy, and crappie feel secure under that stained water. He’s convinced the fish hug the pilings and don’t need brush for security.

Developing A Pattern
Like any successful pattern, establishing a dock pattern is simply a process of elimination, one that involves hitting lots of the best spots to weed out the ones that don’t have fish on them. Of course, McCotter searches for the primary ingredients first and then goes fishing.

“I move pretty quick when I’m trying to figure them out for the day,” McCotter explains. “They change every day, even throughout the day, so it’s real important to try to get something going so you can eliminate the docks without fish on them.”

Once he finds fish, he looks for other docks with similar features. A map can help eliminate lots of water, but it often takes personal observation, even a few casts, to figure out if a dock holds fish.

“It usually doesn’t take long,” McCotter says. “If the fish are there, you can usually get them to bite.”

Mason agrees. He only makes a half-dozen casts before he decides to stay or go. If he doesn’t catch anything, he moves down the line, casting to the outside corners of each dock, the inside corners and the boat slips themselves. He’s found that crappie typically favor the same sides or sections of docks on any given day. In other words, if he catches fish on the south side of a dock in one cove, he tends to find them on the same side in other parts of the lake.

He also has noticed that the sun — or lack of it — positions crappie in specific places.
“If it’s sunny, they get up under the dock and face out toward the sun,” Mason says. “If it’s cloudy, they seem to be more up under the dock itself. I’m not sure why that is, but that seems to be the case on Kentucky Lake.”

Top Tactics
Because most of the docks he fishes are floating and not fixed to the lake bottom with wood poles, most of the time Mason fishes Charlie Brewer Slider grubs rigged on a 1/16-ounce Blakemore Roadrunner head about 2 feet below a bobber. He adjusts the depth, but he makes sure the bait hovers right under the same level as the underside of the floating dock. This rig allows him to keep the bait at the same level as the fish, and it keeps the lure in a single spot for a few seconds. Sometimes, that’s what it takes.

“I’ll slowly reel it along the edge of the dock, and I’ll stop it for a few seconds and just shake my rod tip to try to coax the fish to bite,” Mason explains. “It usually works. They seem to hit it once I start moving it again. I think they see the flash of the spinner, and it just is too much for them to pass up. I really don’t know, but it certainly has worked for me.”

McCotter is a big fan of skipping 1-inch tubes rigged on a 1/32-ounce jighead. Although the lure may seem too light to reach up under a dock, McCotter has no problem putting it far up under low structures.

He rigs the bait on 6-pound Berkley XL monofilament and uses a 5-foot-6-inch Berkley Cherrywood light-action rod. Together, they can get a bait in places other anglers can’t. That’s important, especially on pressured lakes like the one McCotter fishes. Even on lakes with light fishing pressure, bigger crappie tend to take the prime spots, and that often means far up under docks.

According to McCotter, the key to getting that light lure under low cover is practice. The motion used to push a bait involves the wrist and forearm almost entirely. When he skips a lure, he typically points the bow of his boat at the target, allowing him to move his rod tip back and forth without bumping into the trolling motor or the side of the boat. He then whips the bait forward while holding his rod almost parallel to the surface of the water.
“I’ll drop down on a knee to get a lower angle,” McCotter says. “That helps. A good skip will get the lure 10 or 12 feet up under the dock.”

Once he puts his lure in the deepest shade, McCotter simply allows it to fall slowly toward the bottom. If the initial drop doesn’t draw a strike, he lifts his rod tip, turns his reel handle a few times and allows the lure to sink again. He repeats the process until he pulls the bait out from under the dock. Sooner or later, he’ll find the fish.

Indeed, catching crappie around docks can be downright easy. Follow the advice of the experts and you’ll be catching slabs from docks on your next trip.