Dock Fishing for Dummies
By Ed Whited

I have been fairly successful in fishing the docks for Spotted Bay Bass and whether deserved or not, obtained some degree of notoriety. Most of my fishing has been in Mission Bay and San Diego Bay with a couple of trips to Newport and Dana Point. A number of people have asked me what my secret is, and I have told them. Get close to the docks and pilings and drop your lure straight down. Not all believed what I told them, as it sounds too simple. Like most things however, there are some subtle tricks and approaches to fishing the docks.

Take a look at the aerial photo of Mission bay. The red lines are tournament boundaries for an upcoming event. There are 3 main areas within the boundaries; Area “C” is fully one third of the total area available to fish. It makes sense to know how to fish such a large percentage of the total area available.

I believe that the docks offer the best area to target “Resting” Spotted Bay Bass. For fish actively feeding or mating, other areas are likely to be more productive. But bass are definitely opportunistic and omnivorous, so will strike at a food object even when resting. So I will discuss targeting resting fish in this article.

There are a number of variables to consider when fishing the docks. Water depth, clarity, dock configuration, piling construction and amount of encrustation, sun position and brightness, wind, current and tides, types and size of boats and the number of open slips.

As with all equations, the greater the number of variables, the more complex the equation is. Adding into the mix is that the relative strength of each variable is not constant. In one set of conditions, a bright sunny day may be the dominant variable; on other days it may be the amount of tidal movement or relative water depth that is the determinate factor.

So to start looking at some of the variables and putting them into context, I will use the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs theory modified for Spotted Bay Bass. We will use Body, Security and Social needs, dispensing with Ego, Self Actualization and Spiritual needs for the more existential individuals among us to discuss. Body needs are just that, things to do with health and nourishment. Security is a feeling of safeness and lack of fear. Social needs we will define as mating, schooling and personal space requirements or behaviors.

So what about this new age crap? Well it is one way of looking how “needs” drive behavior, in people or in bass. It is my contention that bass are able to use docks and pilings to satisfy the majority of its needs. A well-aged, encrusted dock and piling system will provide hiding areas for small fish, mollusks, crustations and invertebrates for bass to feed on satisfying the “Body need”. Additionally the docks and associated pilings meet the security needs by providing both shade and reducing the area a bass can be approached from while keeping lines of escape open. This satisfies the ”Security need” of this “Bass”tardized Maslow theory. To take the metaphor farther, the “Social Need” of a bass is solitude except during mating or schooling periods. Big fish do not hang together. Little fish do, but not big fish. More importantly, big fish will get their way, so if a smaller fish has a resting place that the bigger fish wants, it will displace the smaller fish and take it for its own. Using the above information we can surmise that in an area with little bottom relief and hiding places, similar to Mission bay and most of San Diego Bay, docks and pilings will provide the best areas to meet the fish’s “Bass-lowvian” requirements. Additionally docks and pilings will hold larger fish on average since the smaller fish will tend to be displaced.

I believe that Spotties are creatures of habit and as such, if you can learn their daily patterns, you can more effectively target them. When there is a large tidal movement, it is my opinion that the bass will move to the current breaks to take advantage of food objects floating past them. Mating periods for Spotties are not well understood. It is a guess, but they probably school up at night in the mouths of the bay and group spawn [i] . This has not been proven as of yet so it would be difficult to try to target them during their spawning period as we do with Sand Bass. Keeping with the discussion on habit, I believe bass will find a favorite area to hold up and rest and return to that spot day after day, until driven out or they find a better spot. Often that place will be a dock or piling.

We have been discussing why a bass will be at a dock and or piling, now lets talk about how to target them. Lets start out with two summations. One is that they are noise sensitive, the other is bass are light sensitive as well. Wait a minute, noise sensitive? How can that be when they live with boat motors running, people jumping, and running, clanking and in general making a lot of noise just over their heads? Well I believe that bass are not scared off when there is noise being made, but they do become more wary, cautious and less likely to feed.

Spotties, being light sensitive will tend to hide on the shadow side of a piling or in the shadow of a boat. If the docks are north south oriented, as the sun travels, the docks on the west side will be in shadows during the morning and east side will be shadowed afternoon. The fish will be either on the bottom in the shadow side of the piling or suspended under the dock or boat again in the shadows.

[ii] What do Spotties eat? Anything that moves and they can get their mouths around. There are, however certain prey items that are eaten more often than others. Whether it is because they prefer certain prey to another or that one is more common and therefore more available is a good question. However the examination of stomach contents tends to help us decide which is eaten more often. If you exam the chart above it is readily apparent that the two largest grouping of food types are crabs and clams at 27% and 21% respectfully, with fish being only 5% of their diet.

Spotties are pugnacious opportunistic feeders. However they can be very picky. If they are in a mood to eat micro sized smelt then they would ignore anything else. I have been in South San Diego bay where the bass were feeding on tiny smelt and the only thing they would hit were 2” Fishtraps ® with a 1/16th or 1/8th oz lead head. It is almost impossible to cast these with anything else than a trout sized micro light spinning rod and reel. But that day, with that combination, it was nonstop catching for two hours as the tide changed.

Let’s talk a little about tackle. Fresh water medium or light saltwater tackle is all you need. Do not bring your Penn Jigmasters or other tackle you would use for yellowtail. I use a small freshwater baitcasting reel almost exclusively. In fact I am very particular about what type of baitcaster. In this kind of fishing you are going to get bit on the drop almost exclusively. You have to be in control as your bait drops towards the bottom, so you can react instantly. Because of this I use a bait caster that I can “Thumb” the spool as the bait drops. I do this to control the speed of the drop, to impart some action to the lure as I start and stop the bait as it drops by tapping the spool with my thumb and most importantly to thumb and hold the fish as I strike when I get a bite. Often your rod is stretched out towards the piling and you cannot get your other hand over to the reel to turn the handle to engage the reel before you strike. Therefore your thumb must stop the fish from running. You cannot effectively do this with a spinning reel.

Some baitcasters have a “Thumb bar” spanning the width of the spool along the spools centerline to disengage your reel. Examples of this kind of reel are the Shimano Corsair ® and Chronarch ®. These are fantastic reels for casting, but you are at a disadvantage fishing the drop since when you mash your thumb on the spool, you also tend to partially disengage the reel. The Abu Garcia Ambassador C3 ® series reels have a spool disengage button on the side plate that is off of the plane of the spool and you can reach around with your free hand and engage the reel with out having to release your thumb pressure on the reel. It is not my intent to tell you that the Ambassador reels are better than Shimano reels, but to discuss the pros and cons of different disengagement mechanisms for this particular type of fishing. These are but two examples of reels to illustrate my point.

During a discussion I had at a pre-fishing seminar last week, I was introduced to a reel, which had a “Flipping Switch”. With the “Flipping” mechanism engaged, the reel will be in free spool as long as the thumb bar is depressed. Once the thumb bar is released the reel automatically engages and you can use your drag to fight the fish. I have never used one of these reels, but it appears that this will be very useful when fishing the docks.

I use 6-pound test and sometimes 8-pound test line. I have had my best luck with a good monofilament like Ande ®or Maxima ®. I have tried some of the fluorocarbon-coated lines and some braided line as well. Most of the fluorocarbon-coated lines I used such as Vanish ® did not have very good knot strength. Or to put another way, I found it difficult to tie a good knot using these lines. I would often have the line break at the knot. It is extremely frustration to lose a big fish when a line pops at the knot. I noticed that the coating would abrade exposing the underlying monofilament when the line was pinched as in a bird’s nest. As for the vaulted “near invisibility” of these lines, I had two different experiences that lead me to believe that it may not be true. The first is when I was fishing with fluorocarbon line; I think it was Berkley’s Vanish ®, on a sunny day in crystal clear water. The line acted like a fiber optic filament and the whole line glowing white from my rod down to my lure. I have also compared fluorocarbon line with regular Mono in my fish tank at home and notice no difference in my ability to see the line under water. As for braided line, you still need to use a leader of some sort of mono. This adds an additional failure point to the equation. Most of the docks are in less than 20 feet of water so line stretch is not an issue. Spotties prefer to slug it out with you and for the most part do not make long runs not try to wrap you around the pilings

Currently I am using Clear “Cuda” fluorocarbon coated line 8-pound test with very good results. It does not form coils when left on your reel too long, has good knot ability, has low stretch, casts well and seems to withstand abrasions well. The 8-pound test designation is actually a comparison to other lines 8-pound diameter; it breaks at a much higher test than 8-pounds. This will only be an issue if you are trying for a world record on a specific line test.

The knot that I have been using is the “Rapala” knot. It is a loop style knot and is easy to tie. The reason I like it is that I believe it allows the jig to move more freely as the bait moves through the water. On the long range boats the hooks of choice seem to be the “Ringed” hooks for the same reason. I do keep checking my knot for any sign of abrasion in the loop, particularly after I have landed a fish. The other knots I like are the Palomar knot and the improved cinch knot. My advice is just pick one you can tie well and use it.

So lets put it all together, if you buy my assumptions and collections of facts above the following will be true. Spotted Bay Bass will tend to rest near pilings and under docks in the shadows. Spotties will tend to eat crabs more than anything other single food item. Docks and pilings tend to have more crabs crawling around them than sand or mud bottoms. This brings me to my current favorite lure for fishing the docks, the Storm Rattlin Craw ®. This is a tube bait and has a hollow chamber with the opening at the mouth area. It also has an imbedded rattle and comes with two 1/8th oz football head jigs with good quality hooks. I like a ¼ oz football head jib myself. The 1/8th oz can be too light to fall freely at times. I can control the speed of the ¼ oz lure with thumb pressure on the spool. To sweeten this offering, I will often squirt a little “Hot Sauce”® or similar fish attractant into the hollow tube of the lure, that way when the fish bites the lure, it gets a instant flavor rush like it would when crushing a crab or shrimp. Even though there is no hard shell, the lure may mimic a soft shell crab, a Spotty delicacy. Thread the hook through the tail of the bait, in through the tube, and out the back of the craw. Nestle the back of the football jig head up against the flat of the tail. You can use “Super Glue”® to help secure the tube if you like.

Other lures that have worked well for me are motor oil with red metal flake “Blam” swimbaits and brown with orange tail 3 inch grubs. I fish the Blams with a yellow Cotee jig head. The Cotee heads are poured off center so during the drop, they will spiral down in a tight circle rather than gliding off from the piling. As for the grubs, I like to hook them with the tail pointing down vs. the more traditional tail pointing up. I think you get a little better tail ripple as the bait sinks when hooked this way. All of these lures are tied on with a loop knot on 6 to 8# line to eke out the most action possible.

The way I fish the docks is usually a straight drop next to a piling, no casting, just a straight drop. You cannot stay twenty feet away from the dock or piling and cast next to it and get the same results. No matter how quite your presentation you will make a splash.

The other reason is that your lure will transcribe an arc due to your spools inertia and the friction of the line in the water so that your lure will end up some distance away from the base of the piling. You must be quite in your approach and presentation. This is important. If you clank your paddle or make any noise the fish will not bite. Wait for a few minutes or come back to this piling and try it again. Also if you get a bite but miss it, come back after 20 or 30 minutes and try it again. Often times you will get bite again. Sometimes there are more than one fish near a piling, so if you catch a fish, try dropping down again, just to check.

Fish the shadow side of the docks and pilings if possible, glide up to till you can reach out and drop your bait softly next to the piling. Make sure your thumb is ready to clamp down on your spool when you get a bite. The bite will be one of two kinds. One is unmistakable. It will be a rip-roaring bite followed by a hard charging run. The other is a very light pressure bite. The bait may just stop falling of you may just not feel the weight of the lead head. It will be subtle. Set the hook anyway. Sometimes your bait just landed on a piece of weed projecting out from the piling, but most of the time a bass just slurped your lure in and is holding it in her mouth.

Variations to consider. When you are dropping your bait, tap the spool lightly with your thumb; it will give momentary pauses or jerks to your bait as it fall making it flutter and pulse in a more life like manner. Once your bait gets to the bottom, leave it there for a count of 5, and then pick it up of the bottom just an inch or so and let it drop again. This can be deadly for the bass that followed your bait down and haven’t committed to bite it yet. Fish opposite corners of a piling, Bass can see in an arc of almost 360 degrees, but they can’t see through a piling. Be prepared to set the hook at anytime. Often the bass will be resting just under the bottom of the dock and when they see your bait hit the water they will rush out and clobber it. It is very exciting to get hit like that because you can see the bass attack your lure.

If there is a open slip, try casting parallel to the dock and do not let your lure sink, you are targeting suspended fish hiding just below the bottom of the dock, try to keep your lure about level with the bottom of the dock, maybe a foot deeper but not much. Bass will rarely attack a lure that is deeper than they are. Again in an open slip you can often paddle in and get at pilings that are along the center walkway of the dock. These can often be the most productive as they are the most protected and least fished. Be extremely careful casting around boats and docks. The last thing you want to do is bounce your lead head against some guys million dollar baby and take a chip out of his gel coat. Nor do you want to leave sharp Christmas ornaments hanging from his shrouds.

You got bite and you set the hook, now what? Push yourself away from the dock, piling, boat, whatever you are next to with your free hand. Try to get a few feet out into open water and then work your fish around your bow to the other side of your boat so you can fight your fish in open water. You may have to use your paddle to push off from the dock, just be careful you do not damage your blade or someone’s boat.

Approaching docks and pilings; as I said a couple of time before, quietness is the key to being effective. This is stealth fishing. You must learn to approach slowly and quietly. Here are some of my tricks. Use the swim steps of powerboats to help you approach your target. Outboard motors and tenders can be used in a similar manner. Paddle in slowly to the swim steps as parallel as possible and grab hold. Do not bang against the boat but move slowly to the piling. Watch your speed so you do not over shoot your approach, you need to be able to judge your boats gliding distance. Be careful that your rods in the rod holders do not get entangled a moored boats rigging, tender or other overhead obstructions. Wind except in rare occasions is not your friend. It will either push you towards the docks or away for it. Sometimes you can let the wind push you towards the docks or pilings and use your paddle to hold you off.

Fishing docks has been very productive for me. I took a 4th place win in a tournament at Newport Harbor. This was the first time I had ever fished that area. I fished in an Ocean Kayak fishing tournament during the summer of 2002 in the same boundaries as the upcoming “Plastic Navy” tournament. I took second place with a five fish total of over 10.0 pounds. The second place prize was a new high back fishing seat from Surf to Summit®. I won first place in the San Diego Sailing Center’s January 2003, Mission Bay bass tournament with a five fish total weight of 9.82 pounds. There were 90 anglers entered in that tournament. This was a bright clear sunny day with little tide movement and quite a bit of wind in the afternoon. The prize was a $1,000.00 kayak. I chose a Cobra Fish-N-Dive. Later that year I fished in a smaller tournament in South San Diego Bay out of “J” Street Marina. This was the “Plastic Navy’s” second “Fishing Among Friends” mini tournament. I took top prize again which was the jackpot of over $240.00.

I am not trying to brag, but to use some of my wins as a testimonial to this particular style of fishing. It is not a sure fire, always win strategy but can be a back up plan when your main plan doesn’t seem to be working. At times it is very effective. Please use any of the information above as you please with two caveats. First employ catch and release, preferably releasing your fish I the same general location as they were caught. Spotted Bay bass are fairly slow growing and the larger fish are the major spawners. Second, share this information with anyone who wants to learn more about fishing.

Good luck and practice catch and release.

Ed Whited

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Spotted Sand Bass: Part II, Dr. Larry Allen: http://www.csun.edu/biology/nmfrp/ page 19. “We have observed that spotted bass congregate near the mouths of the bays during the breeding season (May - September) and possibly show spawning activity associated with the full and new moon phases. Depth sounder readings over these suspected "spawning groups" suggest that the fish move into the water column to breed. In August of this year, based on a tip from Mike Gardner, we had the opportunity to observe just such a large spawning group near the mouth of San Diego Bay during a full moon period. This large aggregation of fish alternated between sitting on the bottom at about 40 feet during the day and hovering in the water column at about 20 feet at night and in the morning.”

Spotty Food, Dr. Larry Allen: http://www.csun.edu/biology/nmfrp/ page 22.